It seems like everything's beencanceled this year, butWe Energies' cookie book tradition is forging ahead.
With some modifications, that is.
"We're hoping to have some sort of normalcy with this," said Amy Jahns, spokeswoman for We Energies.
It might be needed this year more than ever. With more people staying home and baking because of the pandemic, "this is the ultimate comfort food for the holidays," said Beth Straka,senior vice president for corporate communications and investor relations for WEC Energy Group, the parent company ofWe Energies.
So, the company is again publishing and handing out tens of thousands of copies of the cookbook, a utility-company tradition in Milwaukee for more than 90 years.Last year, We Energies gave away 135,000 copies across Wisconsin andparts of Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
This year's version of the "We Energies Cookie Book" contains 26 recipes from professional bakers and caterers throughout the company's coverage area in Wisconsin. The recipes either are cookies sold through their businesses or family favorites.
The cookie featured on the cover is the salted pecan bourbon cookie made by Adija Smith of Confectionately Yours by GGG, at Sherman Phoenix in the Sherman Park neighborhood.
Smith said We Energies asked if she'd submit a recipe for consideration after she came recommended to them.
"That was an automatic yes for us. For me personally, the 'We Energies Cookie Book'has been a staple in our family for many, many years," she said, recalling how she'd look forward to it every year.
Then she was told that her cookie was among those that had been selected to be in the bookletand would appear on the cover, no less."That was super exciting for me," she said.
"Growing up, looking at the cookie book, looking forward to the cookie book," and then havingone of her own cookies on the cover was "one of the biggest accomplishments I’ve had so far in my career," said Smith, who appeared on the Food Network's “The Christmas Cookie Challenge" in 2018 and opened her shop the same year.
She began developingthe cookie recipe in 2019 in a collaboration with Lush, the popcorn shop in Sherman Phoenix, which sells maple-bourbon-flavored popcorn. Smith added bourbon to her chocolate chip cookie, but it didn't strike her as enough — it didn't provide what her mother calls "that ring in your ear that you get" when you can remember the flavor long after food is eaten. "The toffee was a slam dunk," she said.
Now she sells the cookie at her shop, and in November, Smith will begin selling it and other varieties as cookie dough in tubs to take home and bake, yielding at least 2 dozen larger cookies for $22 to $36.
Other cookies in the booklet include lemon cornmeal pistachio slice-and-bake cookies from Sugar & Flour Bakery Cafe in Greendale, chocolate chunk peanut butter crunch brownies from the Gingerbread House in Muskego and hot chocolate shortbread cookies from 600 Sweets and Treats caterer in Glendale.
The booklet includes gluten-free and vegan recipes.
Free copies of the color booklet will be given out around the state as always, from Nov. 4 to 18. That includesthe big giveaway at Miller Park, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 14 in the Yount and Uecker lots. Last year, 26,000 booklets were handed out at Miller Park alone.
But the usual appearances at Miller Park by Mrs. Claus and reindeer are off; no hot cocoa or cookie samples this year, either, for safety's sake.
This year, the cookie books will be handed out in drive-thru fashiononly,to limit contact. We Energies workers will be wearing gloves and masks, and customers picking up booklets are asked to wear masks, too.
The booklet will be available online beginning the same day as the first distribution, Nov. 4. Booklets dating to 1932 can be viewed online, as well; the links are at we-energies.com/recipes.
The 2020 list of cookie book distribution sites with dates and times includes two new locations this year, in Menomonee Falls and West Bend:
RELATED:New bakery owner credits her grandma while realizing her dream
RELATED:2019 Journal Sentinel holiday cookie contest winners
Nov. 4
Franklin — 6000 W. Ryan Road, at the Milwaukee CountySports Complex, noon to 3 p.m.
Iron Mountain, Mich. — 800 Industrial Park Drive, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Jefferson—503 N. Jackson Ave., at Jefferson County Fair Park, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Port Washington — 700 Sunset Road, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Nov. 5
Bonduel — 110 S. Jefferson St., 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Burlington — 700 S. Kane St., 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Elkhart Lake — 220 Lincoln Ave., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Menomonee Falls—W220-N7884 Town Line Road at Menomonee Park, 10 a.m.to 2 p.m.
Waukesha — 1000 Northview Road, Waukesha County Expo Center, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Weyauwega— 819 Commercial Ave., 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Nov. 6
Sun Prairie—315 Park St., at Angell Park Speedway, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Nov. 10
Amery —811 S. Keller Ave., 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Monroe—N3025 14th Ave., just north of the YMCA, noon to 2 p.m.
Montello— 118 E. Second St., 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Nov. 11
Wautoma— 355 E. Main St., 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Nov. 12
Rice Lake—104 W. South St., 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Somers/Mount Pleasant — 201 First St., just west of Highway 32, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
West Bend—3000 HighwayPV, at Washington County Fair Park, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Wisconsin Rapids—521 Lincoln St., atWitter Field west parking lot,10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Nov. 13
Land O' Lakes—4352 County Road B,10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Nov. 14
Appleton—Fox Cities Stadium parking lot at 2400 N. Casaloma Drive, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Milwaukee— Miller Park at theYount and Uecker parking lots, One Brewers Way off Miller Park Way, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Nov. 16
Sparta—1213 W. Wisconsin St., 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Nov. 17
Owen/Withee—117 Division St. (HighwayT), 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Nov. 18
Marshfield—3015 E. 22nd St., 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
*****
Recipe
This recipe, which is featured on the cover of the 2020 "We Energies Cookie Book,"is from Adija Smith, owner of Confectionately Yours bakery and confectioneryin the Sherman Phoenix,3536 W. Fond Du Lac Ave.
Note that the recipe's first step should take place about an hour before you plan to begin mixing the dough.
Salted Pecan Bourbon Cookies
Makes about 2 dozen large cookies
Tested by Carol Deptolla
- 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons bourbonwhiskey
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup toffee bits
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- 1¼ cups pecan halves (optional)
- 1 tablespoon sea salt flakes
In small saucepan, melt and brown the butter. (See note below.) Place in refrigerator to cool and firm up, at least about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 345 degrees. In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In separate bowl, cream butter; add sugars and beat until fluffy. Addeggs one at a time, mixing completely after each addition, then the vanilla and bourbon. Gradually mix inflour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips, toffee bits and chopped pecans.
Roll dough into 2-inch balls and place on parchment paper-lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart; flatten slightly. Top with pecan halves if desired. Bake at 345 degrees for 8 to 9 minutes. Garnish hot cookies with sea salt flakes. Let cool 2 minutes on pans and then transfer towire racks to cool completely.
Note: To make brown butter, melt butter in saucepan over mediumheat, swirling occasionally as it melts. It will begin to foam and then bubble as the water in the butter evaporates. Swirl frequently as the milk solids settle to the bottom and the butter begins to become golden. It will then quickly become a light brown color; let it continue to darken a bit but then remove from heat to avoid burning the milk solids, as the butter will continue to brown. (Take care that the butter doesn't burn, which can happen rapidly.) Pour it into a heatproof bowl to cool once it's a nutty brown.
Contact dining critic Carol Deptolla atcarol.deptolla@jrn.com or (414) 224-2841, or through the Journal Sentinel Food & Home page on Facebook. Follow her on Twitter at @mkediner or Instagram at @mke_diner.
