Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Twists

December. Cookie season. I bake in the Grinnell kitchen — the full production, the same production I'd do in Des Moines, because cookie season doesn't move for geography and doesn't shrink for grief. Chocolate chip with browned butter. Snickerdoodles. Sugar cookies. Peanut butter blossoms. The cranberry pistachio biscotti. The Russian tea cakes. Every recipe, every variety, every cookie from the list that lives on the Grinnell refrigerator the way it lives on the Des Moines refrigerator, because I am a woman with two kitchens and two refrigerators and one cookie list and the cookies will be made in both kitchens because the holidays require cookies and the cookies require making and the making requires a woman at a counter with butter and flour and the belief that Christmas still matters, even now, especially now.

Marlene decorated sugar cookies. She sat at the table — she always sits at the table now — and she held the piping bag and she decorated cookies. Stars and trees and tractors. The lines were shakier than last year, the icing less precise, but the cookies were beautiful because the hands that made them are beautiful, even trembling, even tired, even finishing a task they've done for forty years and will not do for forty-one. She piped a star with green icing and held it up and said, "This one's for Jack." I said, "It's perfect." She said, "It's not. The point is off-center." The correction. Still correcting. Still seeing the imperfection. Still Marlene, even now, even in December, even with the piping bag shaking in hands that used to be steady. The correction is the proof of life. As long as she corrects, she's here.

I packed cookie tins for the neighbors, for church friends, for the mail carrier, for the woman at the Grinnell grocery store who has been saving Marlene's prescriptions and not charging for the delivery and doing the small kindnesses that small towns do when someone is sick, the invisible network of care that holds a community together with casseroles and prescriptions and the unspoken agreement that we take care of each other because who else will.

Every tin I packed for the neighbors, the church friends, the woman at the grocery store — I wanted something in there that felt a little extra, something beyond the expected. Marlene’s decorated sugar cookies were the heart of the tin, but these cinnamon sugar pretzel twists were the thing I tucked in around the edges, warm and sweet and just different enough to feel like a surprise. They’re the kind of recipe that doesn’t ask much of you when you’re already asking a lot of yourself — simple enough to make between batches, festive enough to mean something.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 32 min | Servings: 24 twists

Ingredients

1 package (16 oz) refrigerated pizza dough or homemade soft pretzel dough
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt (optional, for topping)
Cream cheese dipping sauce or icing for serving (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven. Heat oven to 400°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Mix cinnamon sugar. In a shallow bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg until evenly combined.
Portion and roll the dough. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 24 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope about 8 inches long.
Twist and place. Fold each rope in half and twist the two strands together 3–4 times. Press the ends together to seal. Place twists 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets.
Apply egg wash. Brush each twist lightly with beaten egg. This helps the cinnamon sugar adhere and gives the twists a golden finish.
Coat in cinnamon sugar. Immediately sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture generously over each twist, pressing lightly so it sticks. If desired, add a pinch of coarse sea salt over the top.
Bake. Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the twists are puffed and golden brown. Rotate pans halfway through baking for even color.
Brush with butter and finish. As soon as the twists come out of the oven, brush them with melted butter. This gives them a rich, shiny coating and deepens the cinnamon flavor. Let cool 5 minutes on the pan before transferring.
Serve or pack. Serve warm on their own or with a simple cream cheese glaze for dipping. For cookie tins, allow to cool completely before packing in a single layer between sheets of wax paper.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Twists — The Cookies We Make When Christmas Still Has to Matter