Flour and chocolate chips aren’t the only core components of beauty publicist Julia Labaton’s famed holiday cookies — there are also hours of first-lady biopics fueling every batch.
“I watched PBS’ ‘The First Lady’ and it sent me down kind of a rabbit hole of memoir movies — I went through Jackie O and Grace Kelly next,” said Labaton, who founded her boutique beauty and fashion PR firm, Red PR, in 2000 and has been baking Christmas cookies for fellow industry denizens ever since.
“I couldn’t give very lavish gifts, but I knew I wanted to do something — so I made chocolate chip cookies,” said Labaton, harkening back to her childhood nanny Peggy’s weekly tradition of baking cookies for their neighborhood in New Jersey.
“We lived on a small street; people could literally smell them and be like, ‘Oh my god — Peggy’s baking cookies,’ and everyone would come over,” said Labaton.
Now a New Yorker, Labaton still bakes her annual mega-batch — usually between 1,200 to 1,300 cookies — from her father’s house in Jersey over Thanksgiving weekend. Beyond the right entertainment (this year, back-to-back biopics — last year, a “Yellowstone” marathon), Labaton’s staples also include her signature red cookie tins which read “Baked with love by Julia” and, last but not least, room-temperature butter.
Labaton’s signature holiday cookies.
courtesy
“My cookies are supposed to be thin and crispy — kind of like a Tate’s Bake Shop cookie — and that’s all in the butter,” said Labaton, who, like Peggy before her, otherwise follows the signature recipe featured on the Nestlé Toll House’s Semi-sweet Chocolate Chip bag.
Among her OG (and to this day) cookie recipients are beauty editors Didi Gluck, Gwen Flamberg and Jean Godfrey-June.
“I send them to clients, press, influencers and friends — at some point, it just started feeling like a tradition, and I’ve wanted to keep doing it since,” said Labaton, whose clients include Bellissima Hair Tools and natural psoriasis relief brand Phoilex.
“Next year is our 25th anniversary — our silver anniversary — so I’m thinking silver tins and labels for 2025.”
Julia’s Go-to Nestlé Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (two sticks) butter, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups Nestlé Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate morsels
Steps:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Combine baking soda, flour and salt in a small bowl.
- Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy.
- Add eggs one-by-one and gradually beat in flour mixture.
- Stir in morsels.
- Drop mixture by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
- Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden-brown; cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes.
