While my name is an ode to my German side, the most prominent side of my family tree is the Welsh. Both my parents are half Welsh, each with a full Welsh parent, making me, oddly, half Welsh (a quarter from each side). Having two Welsh grandparents on opposing sides of the family might make you think everything was kumbaya… but instead it created family feuds — about recipes.

The worst of this coming out during Christmas time, when it was each sides respective tradition to make Welsh Cookies (also called Welsh Cakes). Both sets of grandparents would cook a large batch and pass them to us — trying to get each grandchild to decide what sides recipe we enjoyed best. All these decades later, with most of my grandparents passed on, we have collectively decided to use my Grandma Deitzer’s recipe (my paternal side).

The original recipe from my Grandma Deitzer’s Cookbook.

If you are like most people in this country, you likely have no idea what a Welsh Cookie is. It wasn’t until I moved away from my home town of Scranton, Pennsylvania for the midwest hub of Kansas City, that I learned these weren’t a cherished part of most people’s Christmas traditions.

Scranton’s culture is heavily influenced by it’s flood of working class immigrants during the 19th century. Irish, Italians, Welsh, Germans, and the Polish flooded to America, seeking a better life and a chance at a story outside of their family's farm and homeland economic status. After liking arriving in New York, they started migrating inward, many landing about 120 miles away in Scranton, Pennsylvania; a burgeoning coal mining hub.

This migration aided in Scranton’s food scene. As close as my grandparent’s generation, most people were still pressured to marry inside their original country’s origins, creating large ethnic homelands inside the communities. These also created authentic restaurants and food culture tied back to their various European roots — one being Welsh.

All that to say — for those outside of this culture, Welsh Cookies are an interesting winter delicacy. The best way to describe them would be a cross between a tea cookie and a pancake. They are best enjoyed with a hot beverage and difficult to resist for breakfast (and when you see how much Crisco is in these, you’ll understand why they likely aren’t the most nutritious way to start a day).

As I’ve introduced them to people in the Midwest who have never heard of them — I’ve come to realize that you either like them or you don’t. If you are someone who enjoys something lightly sweet, or a snack with a cup of tea or coffee throughout the day, you would likely love them. They are often an intimidating process to make, but it always takes less time than you think and the good news is that they freeze beautifully!