Loberg Christmas Cookies

Growing up, we were a household of seasonal culinary predictability. For the past 35 (and more, I assume) our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners have consisted of the same basics. At this stage in my life, I try to throw in something new every year and, every year, whatever-it-is is met with "oh- this is good" but nothing seems to make an entry into the annual hall-of-fame. This could be a silent commentary on my mad cooking skillz. Hm. I'll have to think about that.
The one constant in our baking world was a cookie recipe that came from my dad's mother. Pressed cookies are apparently a Scandinavian thing. Those clever Norwegians...calling them "pressed" cookies almost makes you forget that the main ingredient is butter. Ooof. Like 6 sticks of butter for one batch. But they're good. And little. Deceptive little buggers- it's not hard to eat 6 or 8 (or 10) in one sitting. 98% of my running miles after Christmas will be dedicated to these:
Let me tell you a little about the procedure. To make a large batch in my single oven is at least a three hour ordeal. Once the dough is made, you can't refrigerate it or it ruins. I have no idea why, but it's true. I learned it the hard way. Every year, as I put the 6 sticks of butter, 7 1/4 cups of flour and other ingredients into my mixer, I think "really?? is it all going to fit??". Then I risk a finger or two trying to keep the dough from rolling out the top of the mixing bowl.
Then the pressing part comes in. I am the proud owner of one Mirro pastry press whose design hasn't changed since its inception back in the 50s. Seriously- I look at the instructional pamphlet sometimes and the little peach and gray stylized drawings of happy, apron-clad, daintily-coiffed housewives are so dated. They should almost have little speech bubbles above their heads that say "I love to cook in my GE Electric oven and then clean up with my automatic dishwasher".
But, every year, my mixer wins the battle against the massive volume of dough (barely); I satisfy myself with the ancient cookie press even though there are much improved models advertised at the beginning of every season; and this year, I had helpers!
The end result: about 250 cookies (about half of which fit into this picture). I've done this twice so far this Christmas. If you didn't get any, tough luck. Wait until next year.