Downers Grove Woman's Cookies Take Top Prize in Tribune Contest

A family recipe with a few special ingredients topped the competition in Chicago Tribune's 2013 Christmas Cookie contest.

Fresh from the kitchen of Downers Grove's Kim Koenig, the cranberry coin cookie combines the flavors of a sugar cookie, with dried cranberries, chopped pistachios and cinnamon. 

Koenig, her mother and grandmother spent years fine-tuning the recipe for Neapolitan cookies—though none of them can say exactly where it originated. 

Koenig separates the dough into an almond layer, a walnut layer and a chocolate layer before baking in a bread pan. The result? Something the likes of a container of Neapolitan ice cream. 

This recipe was adapted from a recipe called Neapolitan Cookies that I made each year with my grandmother at Christmas.

2 ½ cups flour                                        

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

1 ½ cups sugar                                       

2 ½ tsp. cinnamon

1 cup butter, softened                           

½ tsp. salt

1 egg                                                               

1 cup dried cranberries, chopped

1 tsp. vanilla                                         

¾ cup pistachios, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper or use a silicone mat.

With your mixer at low speed, beat all the ingredients until just mixed; increase speed to medium and beat 3 additional minutes scraping the bowl when necessary.  Add cranberries and nuts, mix till just combined.

Divide dough in half and form into two logs about 1 inch in diameter. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 4 hours. 

Remove wrap and slice logs crosswise into 1/8 inch thick slices. Sprinkle with decorative sugar and bake for 10-12 minutes until light brown. Remove cookies to wire racks, cool.