Tuesday, December 16, 2008

CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Are you looking for Christmas cookie recipes? And just what is your idea of a Christmas cookie tray anyway? Some people make a tray of rolled sugar cookies with frosting and sprinkles. For me, I like to have an assortment of flavors, textures and shapes on a Christmas cookie tray. So I carefully select my recipes with the goal of not having too much of one thing. I never have chocolate chip cookies on a Christmas cookie tray. Not that I don't like them, it's just that I don't think they're "Christmas special." Note the exception below: Chocolate Gingerbread Drops. They are worth putting on a Christmas cookie tray because they're holiday-ish and taste really good.

Though I don't have my whole repertoire of cookie recipes posted, I have made a list for you of some possible candidates for your cookie tray this year. I do hope you'll try some and let me know if you do. As always, I look forward to your comments.

BAR COOKIES:
1.Caramel Shortbread Sticks --These are super yummy and super easy.
2.Apricot-Orange Shortbread bars
3.Chocolate Hazelnut Bars
4.Lemon-Orange Curd Bars--fast & easy curd recipe
5.Pecan-Pumpkin Butter Cheesecake Squares--uses pumpkin butter instead of pumpkin
6.Pumpkin Streusel Cheesecake Bars--this is my prize-winning recipe. It's easy and good.
7.Blue Ribbon Rocky Road Caramel Bars--super super yummy

DROP COOKIES:
1.King Arthur's Copykat Berger Cookies--These are better than what you think and the first to go on a cookie tray.
2.Chocolate Gingerbread Drops--Glorified chocolate chippers, but oh, so good, and they have the holiday spirit.
3.Judy's Cranberry-Ginger Chai Latte Cookies--great Chai taste
4.Alison's Chewy Chai Meringue Cookies--These are the bomb!


MOLDED AND SHAPED COOKIES:
1.Dee's Chess Pies--An oldie but goodie; they look great on a cookie tray.
2.Peanut Blossoms--Look great on a tray, but not one of my faves because I don't like biting into a big hard piece of chocolate.
3.Cousin Helen Heavenrich's Lemon Ginger Cookies--no great beauties, but, boy, are these good.
4.Checkered Cookies in the Style of Piemonte--This is a Mario Batali recipe, and it's very, very good.
5.Chocolate Cherry Cookies--These are yummy.
6.Kisses--One of my all-time faves -- don't make them with anything except Lekvar, even if you have to make it yourself.
7.Amaretto Butter Balls--these are the best butter balls, IMHO.

ROLLED COOKIES:
1.Rugelach--An all-time fave; a lot of work, but worth it because they're so very good, and this is the best recipe for them.
2.Little Lemon Hearts--Look cute on a tray.
3.Frosted Lemon Cookies--You can decorate these any which way -- red and green sprinkles, nuts, colored icing. They look cute and taste good.

3 comments:

Shanbanan said...

I tried to pull up the recipe for the Frosted Lemon Cookies, but it was a no go. Can you fix the link or post the recipe yourself?

I'm quite anxious to try the gingerbread/bitter choc cookie recipe. Love both of those

Great blog.

Shan

Judy said...

Shan - I had the frosted lemon cookies in the wrong place. They're a rolled and cut-out cookie. I fixed the link so it works. These recipes are all on this blog, so they can also be accessed through the category list on the right side under cookies. Thanks for stopping by.

Sara said...

I have a lot of baking to do this weekend, so I may give some of these a try!