Back in 2020 when Twitter was still fun/enjoyable and not a total cesspool, I documented that that year’s cookie weekend via 60+ tweets, with pictures. Given I don’t want to direct anyone to visit that platform anymore, I’ve recreated the content here. But first, a quick Q&A regarding the event.
- What is cookie weekend? This is my family’s oldest tradition, extending before I was born (2024 marks the 52nd year) where we bake a lot of cookies over three days. The number and variety of cookies steadily increased throughout the 1990s and early 2000s until we were regularly making 3000+ cookies across 30ish varieties. We have been making around 4000 cookies each Cookie Weekend for the last decade, with the exception of 2022–the 50th anniversary of the first time my parents made cookies together for the holidays–when we made 5000+ cookies across 50 types. This took four days and nearly killed me.
- How does cookie weekend work? At this point, we have it down to a science. We work in my dad’s kitchen, which is pretty small (I should check the square footage) and a single oven. That oven runs 12-14 hours each of the three days we’re baking. I make all the doughs; my dad does most of the scooping and oven management. My sister helps with the oven management, detraying cookies, and packing cooled cookies in tins. We cover the entire dining room in cooling racks. We have upgraded storage options in recent years to handle up to a dozen cookie trays waiting to go into the oven. We also have an order of baking (with some flexibility), working from the cookies that bake at the lowest temperature (and often the longest) to those at the highest temperature. Most cookies bake at 350′ or 375′. Everything is documented and organized. We have a binder with recipes, a printout with all the cookies and bake temperature/time. I make sure the oven is never empty for more than a minute or two. It’s the only way to make this work with one oven. My family (jokingly?) calls me a dictator but I’d like to think I’m just a good manager. 🙂
- What do you do with all those cookies?? This is the question I hear the most. And the answer is simple — we give 90% away! For many years, I have sent my friends a Google Form where they can build custom orders that I package and mail to them. I take a large box to work (picture below), as does my sister. My dad gives many to friends. Back in 2020, The Eater interviewed me for two articles on mailing cookies, which was honestly a highlight of my career.
So without further ado, here is my very detailed accounting of the 2020 cookie weekend, running from December 11-13, 2020. I kept everything in the original format–including silly gifs–so this will read through like a long series of tweets.
Day 0 (December 10, 2020)
My out-of-office reply is turned on for the next four days because this weekend is COOKIE WEEKEND! This is one of the most important weekends of the year for the Vitaks, as we make 4000 cookies over three days with one oven.
I’m planning to document it this year and capture some of the details that let the magic happen. This year is the first without my mom, and my sister will be at her place (thanks COVID), but I’m confident my dad and I can get this done.
So if you have any questions about the process (like, how the hell do we make 4000 cookies with just one oven? or what do you do with all those cookies?), let me know and I’ll try to respond. Here’s the box I normally take to work each year–but not this year thanks to COVID.
Day 1: December 11, 2020
Cookie weekend officially started this morning at 7:30am, which explains why I look like I just woke up. Required uniform: my Snoopy apron.
9:20am: First cookie is done! Every year, it’s always the same cookie (oatmeal raisin), because it cooks at 300’. We try to make cookies from lowest to highest temperature so the oven temp isn’t constantly changing.
10:49am: We’re most of the way through Cookie #2, Chocolate Coconut Meringues. They’re a little different this year because my dad bought fancy “coconut chips” instead of the shredded kind you normally see.
With the large batches, it can mean a lot of flour (9.75 cups for a triple batch of Touch of Lemon Sugar cookies). So I tend to count out loud as I’m measuring, and I’ve been known to count like The Count at times (one ah ah ah), much to the dismay of my family.
Here’s a cookie you may never have heard of: the aptly named Kitchen Sink cookie. A pretty standard base dough (except for using majority dark brown sugar), with chocolate chips, PB chips, toffee chips, and mini marshmallows. This one’s currently in the fridge chilling out.
Sometimes we alternate between two types of cookies, especially if one takes a lot of prep time. In this case, we’re making Lemon Sugar and Lemon Stars at the same time because we have a limited number of pans for the stars.
5+ hours and 37 dozen lemon cookies later, and we are done with Cookies #3 and #4. Both these are low and slow cookies, which is why they took so long. Now we just wait for the glaze to dry on the stars before we can put them away.
Cookie #5 is Mint Truffle Cups: chocolate cookie, shaped like a cup, filled with chocolate peppermint ganache and topped with Andes Candies. Figuring out how to get the cups deep without holes took years. Our secret: an old potato masher and cocoa powder (to stop stickage).
Cookie #6 is the aforementioned Kitchen Sink. We cook these on parchment because the marshmallow can get everywhere and when it hardens, it’s like concrete.
Cookie #7, our final cookie for Day 1, is Fudge Ecstasies. These cookies have a lot of chocolate, a lot of walnuts, and not much flour or butter. They really are fudgy in taste, if not in texture.
Day 2: December 12, 2020
Day #2 of cookie weekend is officially underway at 7:30am. We’re starting by baking up a triple batch of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. These are one of our largest bakes, yielding nearly 300 cookies. I made the dough last night so we could hit the ground running.
Official shot of Cookie #8, Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip. They’re delicious because chocolate and peanut butter is one of those perfect pairings… like chocolate and most things.
Cookie #9 is Oatmeal Butter Brittle. You make the dough, press it into a sheet pan (or roll it out), and bake. When it comes out of the oven, I sprinkled a cup of chocolate chips on each tray, gave them time to soften, and spread it. Once hard, break it into pieces.
Cookie #10 is Ginger. These are rolled in a ball, then in sugar. I’m not really sure how they compare to other ginger cookies because they’re not my thing. But they look nice!
And now a quick preview of Cookie #11 prep. Any guesses?
Don’t worry, I’m not going to make you wait. The mini peanut butter cups are for Peanut Butter Temptations. You make a basic PB cookie dough, roll in a ball, put in mini muffin tins and bake, then place a PB cup inside as soon as it comes out of the oven.
Cookie #12 is the one, the only, chocolate chip. They misbehaved a bit this year and weren’t cooking evenly, but I forgave them, as it’s 2020 and we’re all a little stressed.
One of the more challenging things with cookie weekend is managing space, especially for cookies to cool before packing. We’re quickly running out of space at the moment because the PB Temptation and Mint Truffle Cups are still setting.
Cookie #13 is Mocha. This is a small batch (by our standards), making 79 of them. But if you like chocolate and coffee, you’ll probably like these.
Cookie #14 is the new kid on the block this year. Every year, the family decides if we want to add or remove cookies from the list. Over the last 40 years of tracking, we’ve made about 80 kinds of cookies. Some are made every year, some just once, and some leave and return years later.
We cut a few kinds this year, knowing it would be difficult to make them (thanks COVID), but we added Cookie #14: Oatmeal Scotchies. These cookies have lots of oats, a hint of cinnamon, and a rich flavor from butterscotch chips (not Scotch).
I can’t even remember exactly how I discovered these. Maybe I was intrigued when I saw a bag of butterscotch chips? This is the recipe on the back of the bag. There’s actually all kinds of interesting baking chips; sea salt caramel chips will make an appearance soon.
While I give my aching feet a few minutes’ rest, let’s play a game. Which of these was most expensive: a three-pack of almond paste, a 16oz bottle of vanilla extract, or “one yummy pound” (their wording, not mine) of macadamia nuts?
Poll (60 votes; answer comes in Day 3):
*Almond Paste: 20%
*Vanilla Extract: 40%
*Macadamia Nuts: 40%
This small and unassuming cookie may play a cruel joke on you if you think it’s a chocolate chip. It’s Cookie #15, Raisin Nuggets, and I hear it’s delicious from folks who actually enjoy wrinkled grapes.
Cookie #16 is our second newest cookie, only three years in the rotation, and I believe they win the longest name award. Say hello to Sea Salt Caramel Chip Chocolate cookies! Yes, these look a lot like Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip, but they’re very different.
The final entry for Day 2 of cookie weekend, Cookie #17, was introduced to us by a college friend of mine 10-15 years ago. I’m very glad he asked us to make these White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookies.
We’ll be wrapping up Day 2 in about 20 minutes. Today we made 10 varieties totaling 1594 cookies. Over two days, that’s 2559 cookies. We still have eight varieties to make tomorrow, plus my sister will be remotely making five more. So there’s still lots of baking to share!
Day 3: December 13, 2020
Day #3 of Cookie Weekend is underway. For the last 80-90 minutes, I’ve been rolling out cutting and twisting Cookie #18, which isn’t really a cookie. Sour Cream Twists are a yeasted pastry that you fold in sugar across several layers. These guys are currently rising.
Note that when you want dough to rise, it should be in a warm, draft free place. An oven that’s off but with the light on is the perfect place. These guys already spent 30 minutes in the oven and are waiting for the others to finish up.
And here’s what the Sour Cream Twists look like after baking and a light drizzle of a vanilla glaze.
Cookie #19 is Brown Sugar Hazelnut Rounds. They’re currently naked but will soon get a dip in chocolate and sprinkling of hazelnuts. These are one of my favorites and remind me of a Pepperidge Farms cookie. Will post again when they’re dressed.
Cookie #20 comes from my sister’s house, where she is busily working to fill her quotas as a Vitak baker. These are her favorite cookie, Hazelnut Crinkles. They’re a PITA to make (roll balls in egg whites, nuts, and powdered sugar) but they taste good.
Cookie #21 also comes from my sister’s house (she was busy last night). This is our second mint cookie, Mint Kiss, where you wrap chocolate dough around a Mint flavored Hershey’s kiss and bake, then dust with powdered sugar. I microwave these for 20sec so the kiss gets soft.
Cookie #22 is one of the few cookies that was taken off our list for several years, then came back 15-20 years ago and has stayed ever since. Say hello to Snickerdoodles!
Cookie #23 is another pastry, this time made with puff pastry sheets that are rolled out. Almond Twists are filled with a sweetened almond paste and glazed after they come out of the oven. Love these!
Remember those naked hazelnut cookies? I’ve been dipping them, and I think they are one of the prettiest final products.
Cookie #24 is the classic peanut butter, complete with the fork crosshatch. These were probably my favorite when I was a kid but I’m not as big a fan as an adult.
I asked my father what happened to this poor cookie, given that nothing else was remotely burned, and he told me that this must have been the cookie’s destiny.
Cookie #25 is coming at you from my sister’s house. An all-time favorite for many: Peanut Blossoms. My sister decided to philosophize about this cookie, suggesting it was indecisive. “It’s a mood,” she says.
We’re in the home stretch friends. Cookie #26 is our second Nutella cookie, Chocolate Nutella. There’s also chopped hazelnuts in this one.
Cookie #27 is Toffee Crisps, which have a rich, buttery taste thanks to a whole lot of toffee “bits.” Once people try these, they tend to keep eating them.
Cookie #28 is Salted Caramel Thumbprints. Basic butter cookie, make a deep impression, and after it cools you fill it with caramel and top with a sprinkling of sea salt. The “caramel” never fully hardens, giving you a soft bite all the way through.
Yesterday, I ran a poll asking which ingredient was most expensive, almond paste, vanilla extract, or macadamia nuts, and 40% of you got it right. 3 pack of almond paste: $18; 1lb whole macadamia nuts: $22; 16oz vanilla extract: $34
You might wonder why vanilla extract is so expensive. Here’s a good thread on the vanilla bean market. Also, imitation vanilla is gross and I would never use it in a recipe; better to just leave it out. [links to this Twitter thread]
Every year, my mom made the sugar cookies. She’d have each of the grandkids pick out the cookie cutters they wanted to use (we have 100+ of them) and she’d help them cut out a tray’s worth. Then they could decorate the tray and got to take them all home.
More than any other cookie, I associate sugar cookies with my mom. So I’m glad my sister is making them with her children this year so that we still have multi-generations involved. And did I mention we have a lot of cookie cutters?
I’m going to pause tweeting for tonight. Day #4 of cookie weekend is about packing up boxes for mailing and, this year, drive-by pick ups from my house. I’ll share some of this process tomorrow as we begin to send out most of these ~4100 cookies to friends, family & coworkers.
Day 4: December 14, 2020
Okay, let’s wrap up this thread with an overview of what happened on Day #4 of cookie weekend, where I went back to my dad’s house to pack up cookie orders for mailing and pickup.
Before cookie weekend even starts, I send out a Google Form to about 30 friends to let them “make an order” for their preferred cookies. I used to mail out a Word document but the form is much nicer (and I have more data!)
When I get to my dad’s house, we line up all the cookie tins on the dining room table. Sometimes the tins aren’t big enough for a cookie, so they go in multiple tins. They take up nearly the whole table.
Then we take the lids off and it’s time to start packing. I first prep all the custom orders. I have a print out of each one and go around the table filling the order. This year, local orders get placed in a box like this one.
You may notice that the cookies are each in their own bag. I don’t do this for all cookies (there’s 30 kinds, that would be ridiculous), but I separate out the strong flavors–lemon, mint, ginger, and mocha. The other cookies go in one bag together.
Here’s a nice view of what it looks like as I’m making my rounds around the cookie tins filling each order. Try not to drool.
After I fill the custom orders, I prepare general orders with all the more popular cookies. Most of these bags this year were prepared for coworkers willing to trek up to my house to grab a box in lieu of the big box that I normally take the office.
For folks who get cookies by mail, we pack them in USPS #4 boxes (only costs ~$8-$12 for most US destinations). Since my other hobby is card making, I drop in a holiday card as well. These boxes will get packaged up tight with bubble wrap or peanuts before shipping.
For folks who get cookies by mail, we pack them in USPS #4 boxes (only costs ~$8-$12 for most US destinations). Since my other hobby is card making, I drop in a holiday card as well. These boxes will get packaged up tight with bubble wrap or peanuts before shipping.
Every year has its own cookie card, by tradition a pink index card (because that’s what we’ve used since the 90s). My mom would always list that year’s cookies and the number of batches. We add final counts as we bake. Here’s the 2018 card.
A few years ago, my mom started importing the card data (we have most year’s cards from 1985 onward) into a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet reveals that, over the years, we’ve made *80* types of cookies. Here’s a screenshot.
Now that my dad has become a hardcore baker in his retirement, we have other advantages, like multiple bowls and paddles for our Kitchen Aid. We still need to do a ton of handwashing, but this set of rods next to the sink help with drying.
We have big storage containers for key ingredients like flour and sugar. My dad tends to buy these in bulk, and it’s easier to scoop out 5+ cups of sugar or flour when it’s stored like this.
My dad also invested in this, which has been such a help. Not sure it’s real name, but it’s a tray holder, and can hold 20 baking trays up to quarter-sheet size. We used to precariously store trays waiting to go in the oven around the perimeter of the dining room before this.
Finally, we have our “cookie binder” (no picture, but it’s just a binder) with all the cookie recipes in plastic sleeves. Importantly, we also add notes to these printouts with helpful information, like changes to cooking times, best weight/size of cookie, and so on.
In the end, what we do may seem like it’s magical, but it’s not. It’s the result of a whole lot of love, determination, and practice. We do this because we love sharing our family tradition with friends and colleagues, and it brings happiness to us when they enjoy the cookies.
And to top off everything else, I just discovered the folks at @Eater tested out different mailing options for cookies (including mine (!!) from a previous interview/article) and outside of appearance, I’m pretty sure my method came out on top. 🙂
Link to article: https://www.eater.com/21611746/how-to-send-cookies-in-the-mail
My mom may no longer be with us, but I know she’d be happy to see this tradition continuing, and she’d be proud of my dad, sister, and I for making sure folks still got cookies during the pandemic. I think people need cookie love this year more than ever before. Love you mom. ❤
And with that, my epic cookie weekend thread is finished. Thanks for following along; I think doing this was a bit therapeutic as I deal with this being my first Christmas without my mom. Next up, I’ll work on compiling recipes to share with anyone who wants them.
jessica vitak, phd 