Holly Clusters

Holly Cluster cookies are the cookie tray’s craft project. Underneath the green leaves and red berries lives a perfectly respectable chocolate chip pecan cookie with a soft brown-sugar chew, but the marzipan topping turns it into something that looks like it came off a Hallmark card.

The cookie base is unusual in that it skips butter entirely in favor of vegetable shortening. The trade-off is real: less buttery flavor, but a cookie that stays soft for days without going stale. Shortening also gives the cookies a taller, fluffier rise instead of the spread-and-crackle look of butter-based drop cookies.

Don’t overbake. The instruction in the recipe shouts that for a reason. The cookies finish setting on the hot baking sheet as they cool, so pull them when the edges are just set and the centers still look slightly underdone.

Marzipan is the smart choice for holly leaves because it’s pliable enough to roll thin, holds a sharp cut, and dries firm but not crunchy. Tint it with green gel food coloring, never liquid, because liquid throws off the dough texture and the leaves end up sticky.

Pro Tips

• Roll the marzipan between two sheets of waxed paper to prevent sticking and tearing.
• Use a small holly-leaf cookie cutter if you have one. A sharp knife and a paper template works fine too.
• A drop of glycerin in the powdered sugar paste keeps it shiny instead of crusting matte.
• Use red hot cinnamon candies or Red Hots for the most traditional berry look.

Variations

• Skip the pecans for a nut-free version (add another ½ cup of chocolate chips as the recipe notes).
• Swap marzipan for tinted fondant if you don’t like almond flavor.
• Brush the holly leaves with edible gold luster dust for a fancier Christmas-party look.