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Place Your Ad Today!! Walworth County Sunday Sunday, November 30, 2008 19A
Cookie walks are tasty way to raise money
Church groups preparing for popular
Christmas-season bake sales
It’s time for a walk — a cookie
walk, to be exact. You don’t actually
do that much walking, but it
is a pleasant experience.
Cookie walks are popular this
time of year as fundraisers for
churches. Typically, members are
asked to make and donate baked
cookies for the event. The smaller
and more intricate cookies
often sell the best.
Margaret Voight’s apricot
danties are popular at St. John’s
Lutheran cookie walk in Beloit.
“I can’t remember how long
I’ve been baking them — 30 or
40 years at least,” Voight said. “I
make a German chocolate macaroon
filled with black raspberry
jelly that is good, too.”
Voight is one of dozens of bakers
who bring the cookies in for
the annual sale, held the first
Saturday in December at the
church (see related graphic).
The first weekend in
December is a popular time for
cookie walks. They’re slated in
Milton, Elkhorn, Honey Creek,
Edgerton and Beloit that weekend.
Take a bit of a breather,
and then go back on Dec. 13 to
the United Methodist Church’s
cookie walk in Janesville.
Elkhorn’s cookie walk celebrates
its 15th anniversary this
year. Money raised funds four
scholarships.
The Women’s Fellowship
organizes the event and will sell
cookies for $6 a pound.
“We figured, with the economy
the way it is, we didn’t want to
raise the price,” co-chairwoman
Mary Kay Opitz said.
Opitz works with Betty Gaiser
to coordinate the popular event.
“We start out with 100 trays of
cookies and go from there,” Opitz
said.
The cookies are arranged on
an array of tables. Meanwhile,
cookie buyers line up outside the
church and around the corner.
When customers get in the
door, they each take a box and
put on a plastic glove. They walk
down the row of cookies and pick
out the ones they want. The
cookies are weighed at the end of
the line. Other cookie walks set
the price by the dozen.
Most cookie walks have a few
standout cooks who bake above
and beyond the call of duty.
In Beloit, Beth Schultz fills
that role.
“She is just a dear soul that
brings in boxes and boxes of
cookies,” said Joyce Drost, a fellow
church member and baker.
In Elkhorn, Ann Serpe is
among the busiest bakers.
“Well, I’m a week and a half
away (from the cookie walk), and
so far I have about 90 dozen,”
Serpe said.
Serpe has always helped out,
but once she retired, she had
more time to bake.
“I don’t think mine are the
best, but they’re very good,” she
said. “I make a pecan one with
raspberry jelly and a rum/nutmeg
stick. There’s a butter and
cream cheese one that I roll out
and wrap around chocolate
chips.”
Everyone seems to have their
favorite cookie, but most like to
sample a wide variety.
“Sometimes they want this,
LYNN YNN GREENE REENE
LYNN’S PLACE
and sometimes they want that,”
said Joyce Schrader, one of the
organizers of the Honey Creek
cookie walk.
The Honey Creek church asks
members to donate cookies, and
also has an organized cookie
bake.
“We get together the Sunday
before (the walk) and decorate
the church,” Schrader said.
“Then we have our chili lunch
when everyone brings in a pot,
and we mix it all together and
then we do the cookie baking.
“It’s a joint effort to get our
cookies mixed up, baked and
frosted. It’s a fun thing to do
every year.”
My family always baked a
dozen or more varieties of
Christmas cookies. They were
boxed up and given away as
gifts, and arranged on trays for
holiday gatherings. Everyone
had their favorite.
I still make the date pinwheels,
and everyone knows it.
My sister says they’re too fussy
for her — can she have some
please? And my dad reminds me
how much my mom likes them.
(I suppose he eats a few, too,
don’t you think?)
This same sister, on the other
hand, makes the Danish sugar
cookies that I remember so well.
I shy away from those, because
when I make them, they just
don’t seem to be as good as the
ones she gives me nicely boxed
up.
I suspect a lot of families have
their own must-have Christmas
cookies, but there’s always room
for a new favorite, isn’t there?
Here are a few suggestions:
Date pinwheels
Makes 4 dozen
Cookie batter:
1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
4 cups flour
Filling:
1-1/2 cups dates, chopped
2/3 cup water
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup walnuts, finely
chopped
Cream together butter, sugar
and eggs. Sift dry ingredients
together and add. Stir by hand
until well-blended. Divide dough
into four balls and chill.
In a heavy stockpot, combine
the dates, water and sugar and
cook over low heat about 30 to
45 minutes or until thickened.
Remove from heat and stir in
nuts. Chill.
Roll each ball of dough into a
rectangle. Spread one-fourth of
the filling on each rectangle and
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Estella Fena, a member of the Milton United Methodist Women, works on
an original Christmas-card design. The painting is one of two that has
been made into cards that are offered for sale during the Milton church’s
cookie walk.
roll up from the short side to
make a log. Freeze until firm.
Remove a cookie log from the
freezer and slice into 1/4-inchthick
circles. Bake on a paperlined
cookie sheet in a pre-heated
325 F oven for about 10 to 15
minutes or until set and lightly
browned.
Pecan fingers
Makes 10 dozen
1 cup butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. water
2 cups flour
2 cups pecans, finely chopped
extra powdered sugar for coating
Cream together first five
ingredients. Stir in flour a little
at a time. Add pecans and mix.
Taking one tablespoon of dough
at a time, make a small log
about 3/4 inch thick and 2 inches
long. Place on ungreased cookie
sheet and bake in a preheated
325 F oven for about 15 minutes
until just lightly browned on the
bottom.
Cool completely on wire racks.
Roll each cookie in the extra
powdered sugar and store in a
tightly covered container.
Chocolate
snowswirl fudge
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate
chips
1 can Eagle brand sweetened
condensed milk
4 Tbsps. butter
1-1/2 tsps. vanilla extract
dash salt
1 cup chopped nuts
2 cups miniature marshmallows
Melt chips with 1 can sweetened
condensed milk, 2
Tablespoons butter, vanilla and
salt. Remove from heat; stir in
nuts. Spread evenly into foillined
8- or 9-inch square pan.
Melt marshmallows with
remaining 2 Tablespoons butter.
Spread on top of fudge. With
table knife or metal spatula,
swirl through top of fudge. Chill
at least two hours or until firm.
Turn fudge onto cutting board;
peel off foil and cut into squares.
Store covered.
Lemon crumb bars
1 pkg. (18-1/4-oz size) lemon
or yellow cake mix
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
3 egg yolks
2 cups finely crushed Saltine
crackers (
1 can Eagle brand sweetened
condensed milk
1/2 cup lemon juice
Preheat oven to 350 F. In large
bowl, beat cake mix, margarine
and 1 egg with mixer until crumbly.
Stir in Saltine crumbs.
Reserving 2 cups crumb mixture,
press remaining crumbs on bottom
of greased 9- by 13-inch baking
pan.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until
golden. With mixer or wire
whisk, beat three egg yolks,
sweetened condensed milk and
lemon juice together. Spread
over prepared crust. Top with
reserved crumb mixture.
Bake 25 minutes longer or
until set and top is golden. Cool.
Refrigerate within two hours.
Cut into bars. Store covered in
refrigerator.
Ginger cookies
1-1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup molasses
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
4-1/2 cups flour
4 tsps. baking soda
1 tsp. ginger
2 tsps. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. nutmeg
additional sugar in small bowl
Cream together the butter,
molasses, sugars, and eggs. Sift
together dry ingredients and stir
in until well incorporated.
Form into small balls about an
inch in diameter. Roll each ball
in sugar, flatten slightly and set
about 2 inches apart on
ungreased baking sheets. Freeze
until ready to use. Bake at 350 F
COOKIE WALKS
■ 15th annual cookie walk 10
a.m. Dec. 6 at First
Congregational United Church of
Christ Women’s Fellowship, 76 S.
Wisconsin St., Elkhorn. Contact
Mary Kay Opitz at (262) 723-
3246.
■ Mrs. Santa’s Pantry cookie
walk 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 6 at
the Honey Creek Community
Baptist Church, 35512
Washington Ave., (Highway D),
Honey Creek. Includes a bake
sale, crafts and lunch. (262) 534-
2244.
■ United Methodist Church
cookie walk 9 a.m. Dec. 6 at the
church, 112 Albion St., Edgerton.
(608) 884-6931.
■ Milton United Methodist
Women’s cookie walk 8 a.m. Dec.
6 at the Milton United Methodist
Church, 241 Northside Drive.
Christmas cards created from
original paintings by Estella
Fena will be available. (608) 868-
3585.
■ Taste of Christmas cookie
walk 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Dec. 6 at
St. John’s Lutheran Church, 1000
Bluff St., Beloit. Use Merrill
Street entrance. (608) 365-7838.
■ Cookie walk, craft and bake
sale 9 a.m. Dec. 13, New Horizon
United Methodist Church, 1726 S.
Murphy Road, Janesville. (608)
876-6256.
for about 10 minutes.
Rum balls
Makes 6 dozen
4 cups vanilla wafers, crushed
2 cups pecans, finely ground
2 cups powdered sugar
4 Tbsp. cocoa powder
4 Tbsp. maple syrup or dark
Karo syrup
2/3 cup dark rum
Extra 2 cups powdered sugar
In bowl, combine crushed
vanilla wafers, pecans, powdered
sugar and cocoa. Stir in maple
syrup and dark rum to form a
sticky mixture. Using a teaspoon,
form 1-inch balls and roll
them in the extra powdered
sugar to coat. Store in a tightly
sealed container for at least one
week to develop flavor.
Baking tips
Because eggs vary in size,
figure how many eggs you need
by measure — 1 egg should
equal 1/4 cup.
Chill cookie sheets before
using to prevent the cookies
from spreading too much.
Mix cookies by hand; electric
mixers can make the dough
tough.
Cool cookies on a wire rack.
This allows the moisture to
escape and prevents the cookies
from getting soggy.
Lynn Greene is senior editor for
CSI Media, which publishes Walworth
County Sunday. Contact her
at lgreene
@communityshoppers.com.