Kelly Dill refers to herself as a “cookie-making machine” and it must be so as she made 47 dozen cookies over one November weekend. Submitted photos

Judging by the number of cookies Kelly Dill gives away each Christmas, it would appear she bakes for weeks on end, but this is not the case.

The well-organized and focused woman makes baking and decorating multiple varieties of cookies happen much faster than one would expect. All of this year’s cookies were made over the weekend of Nov. 13 and 14 and have been safely tucked into her freezer until they are needed for gifting.

“Each year I typically bake between 8-12 types of cookies and between 45-50 dozen,” the Bemus Point woman said. “Most of them are gifted to others and a small selection is kept for our family Christmas celebration. This year I made nine types of cookies for a total of 47 dozen.”

Although she calls herself a cookie-making machine, she knows it is teamwork that allows her to get the job done in record time. She gives credit to her husband, Ben Dill, who cleans up as she plows through the baking.

“I am blessed that my husband will clean up so I can keep going,” she said.

A sampling of Kelly Dill’s 2021 Christmas cookies: top-frosted cherry, chocolate cut-outs, middle-cream cheese cups, apple crisp cups, taste of cheer bottom-cranberry cheesecake cars and frosted almond cookies.

Not only is it her goal to bake soft cookies, she aims for delicious flavors and eye appeal. She doesn’t just drop mounds of dough on a cookie sheet, throw them in the oven and call the end product “good.” Some of her cookies require extra steps, but she has come up with the most efficient way to produce them and keeps helpful tools at hand, including a tart tamper, pastry bags and various size scoops.

She frosts and decorates each one with individual care, which makes the end result attractive and appealing.

So, what will become of the 564 cookies in Dill’s freezer?

Large quantities of holiday baking began when she decided to send cookies with her husband to his former place of employment. The following year the managers bought lunch for the other employees and Mrs. Dill provided the cookies. In time, her children started to request cookies for their co-workers. Mr. Dill has a new job this year and his wife intends to send cookies to all 100 employees.

“Baked goods make people happy, so that’s why I love to do it,” she said. “When I make a dessert, it makes people so happy that I want to do more. It’s how I show someone I care.”

She jumped into cooking out of necessity as a young wife and now prefers baking over cooking, but enjoys doing both.

“Taste of Home cookbooks became my best friend until everything went online and now it is super easy to find anything (recipes),” she says.

As the years passed, she started compiling a personal cookbook of her favorite recipes and adds new family-approved recipes from time to time. It has become her tradition to give brides a copy of a version of the ring-bound book, which has moisture and stain-protected sheets and divided categories.

“I personalize with their picture, some scripture and a special note,” she said. “Every bride or couple who has received one said it is definitely one of the nicest gifts.”

The grandmother loves hospitality and says she got it from her mother, Jeanne Humble, who was very thoughtful and came up with ways to do nice acts for others. A special memory comes to the daughter’s mind of the many months her mother collected whipped topping containers in order to leave a floating rhododendron blossom in the staff lounge for every teacher.

“My husband will tell you I plan a party so he will finish a project,” she said with a smile.

As with most families, the Dills have had to adapt their Christmas traditions since their children are grown. Their “most solid tradition” began on their son’s first Christmas with the giving of a Christmas ornament on Christmas Eve. The tradition continues today, but now each family gets an ornament to hang on their tree.

“We always did stockings for our kids until they moved out. Ever since my daughter got married, we have been incorporated into my son-in-law’s large family on Christmas Eve at a big, big, big family party.”

They have a small intimate family dinner on Christmas Day and exchange gifts.

“So much just changes after your kids get married. Now, just the two of us attend the Christmas Eve service at church.”

The avid baker works in human resources at Southern Tier Brewing and Distilling. She received her degree at age 50 and now has a double certification for human resources. She enjoys golfing, boating and downhill skiing. They are members of Bemus Point United Methodist Church where they are marriage mentors and have led several small groups over the years. She is currently doing children’s ministry and taught cooking and baking classes to the youth for a few years. Mr. Dill has served with the tech team on the sound board for about twenty years. He is a quality engineer at Snap-Tite in Union City, Pennsylvania. They will celebrate thirty years of marriage in a few days.

The couple has a daughter, Alicia Snow, and a son, Alex Dill.

“We are very, very involved with our grandchildren,” says the grandmother of four. “Family is the highlight of our life.”

Mrs. Dill has shared the recipes of some of her annual repeats, as well as some new cookies.

“There are certain cookies my family likes to have every year.

She tweaked a recipe from a Betty Crocker paperback cookbook to make it into Frosted Almond Cookies by substituting almond extract for maple flavoring and then garnished the top with sliced almonds. She has made this same recipe with coconut extract and placed flaked coconut on the frosting. This year, because her family likes cherry, she used cherry extract and finely chopped maraschino cherries.

The idea for Cream Cheese Cookie Cups came to her when Mr. Dill mentioned how good chocolate chips and cream cheese sounded together. She adapted a recipe from a Bemus Point bakery she worked at for a summer several years ago by exchanging the flavoring with Southern Tier Distillery’s Creme Brule, a whiskey cream liqueur to create Taste of Cheer.

The Chocolate Cut-Out Cookies made it to her Christmas cookie list when she wanted a cut-out that didn’t require tinting frosting many different colors. In order to keep the cookies true to their original flavor and texture, she dusts her counter and rolling pin with powdered sugar, rather than flour. When she was trying to figure out a way to end up with soft, consistently thick cookies, she thought about how her husband would approach the same challenge and then purchased two square dowels to roll the rolling pin over. This method has worked perfectly, allowing her to produce cookies of a uniform thickness.

Merry Christmas from the Dill home to yours.

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1 T Southern Tier Distilling Creme Brule

In mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and liqueur. Unroll crescent rolls, pinch perforations together and roll out to make an even rectangle. Spread generous amount of cream cheese mixture on one half of crescent roll.

Roll up pinching the end of the roll into the rest of the roll. Cover and refrigerate or freeze for at least 30 minutes. Evenly slice roll into four pieces. Place cut side up on baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 13-14 minutes. Cool at least 5 minutes before applying glaze.

4 T Southern Tier Distilling Creme Brule

Combine sugar with liqueur to make a glaze. Swirl glaze from the middle out in a circular motion to properly cover the top allowing some to run down the side. A little goes a long way. Serve warm.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half. Shape each into a disk; cover. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until firm enough to roll. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly powdered surface (using powdered sugar), roll each portion of dough to 1/4-inch. thickness. Cut with cookie cutters. Place 1 inch apart on baking sheets with parchment paper. Bake 10-12 minutes or until set. Remove from baking sheet to wire racks to cool completely.

In a large bowl, combine confectioners’ sugar, water, meringue powder and cream of tartar; beat on low speed just until blended. Beat on high until stiff peaks form, 1-2 minutes. Using pastry bags and small round tips, decorate cookies as desired. Let stand at room temperature until frosting is dry and firm.

1 c butter, softened (plus more for cooking apples)

4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 mini-muffin tins with cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, add butter, 1 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until evenly combined. Add flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and stir until just combined. Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop dough into muffin tins, and press to flatten. Bake until cookie cups are golden brown and set, 18 to 20 minutes. While cookies are still warm, make the cups using a tart press. If you do not have a tart tamper, spray the bottom of a small shot glass with cooking spray and press shot glass down into center of each cookie to create cups. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire cooling racks to cool completely. Meanwhile, melt about 2 tablespoons butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add apples and cook until they begin to soften. Add remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 c granulated sugar, cornstarch, nutmeg and cinnamon and cook until soft and caramelized. Spoon apple filling into cups. Drizzle with caramel and serve warm or at room temperature.

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