FAVORITE CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Here are some of my favorite Christmas cookie recipes.  Click on the links provided to get the recipes.

Bon Appetit’s  Chocolate-Peppermint Bark Cookies are one of my favorite cookies of all time.  They look beautiful and festive on a holiday cookie tray.   Dark and white chocolates and peppermint candy form a bark on a shortbread base -- I could eat these all day long.

Cinnamon, cloves, black pepper and two kinds of ginger provide a powerful punch to these soft, slightly chewy cookies.  Chocolate-Dipped Ginger Cookies are dipped in bittersweet chocolate to take them over the moon.

Who else but Pillsbury could give us the best version of this classic cookie?  Swedish Tea Cakes, aka Russian Tea Cakes, Mexican Wedding Cakes, Butterballs and Snowballs, should be on every Christmas cookie tray.  Everyone, including me, anticipates them at holiday time.

Santa's Spicy Gingersnappers -- This one's a $2500 Better Homes and Gardens prizewinner, and one of the best soft gingerbread-type cookies I’ve ever tasted.  The texture and flavors are reminiscent of Archway cookies.
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Four Seasons Hotel’s Chocolate Ginger Cookies are ultra-rich, chocolatey, spicy and absolutely delicious.


Good Housekeeping's Blueberry Linzer Bars are soft and tender and the flavorful dough is made with hazelnuts.  This is one of my new faves.

Peppermint Candy Fudge-Filled Butter Balls are a classic Christmas cookie from the 1954 Pillsbury Bake-Off.  Perfect in every way.

Joy of Baking’s Pecan Shortbreads are so versatile.  You can decorate them a million different ways or serve them with just a dusting of powdered sugar.  Cut them into different shapes or just into squares.  It’s up to you to decide on the shape and decorations, but they are tender, buttery and delicious no matter how you do them.


Aunt Ann's Italian Anise Cookies have been a treat in our family for many years.  You can change the flavors  to vanilla or lemon, if you like.

Chocolate and ginger go so well together, and Chocolate Gingerbread Drops are super easy to make.  Dried cherries combine with chocolate chips to marry the ginger-spiced cookie.


Pecan Cinnamon Crescents  have a very mild cinnamon flavor.  They're delicate, tender, not too sweet and absolutely delicious.

Glazed Coconut-Almond Rum Balls are a delicious and different take on the classic Mexican Wedding Cakes, and would look beautiful on your Christmas cookie tray.


Kisses will always be a top fave of mine, because I love Lekvar.  If you can’t find Lekvar, all is not lost.  It’s easy to make – instructions are included in the recipe.  These cookies are loved by all.


A recipe I've been making for over 50 years, Scandinavian Cookies have a rich, caramel-flavored shortbread base rolled in chopped nuts and filled with tart jam.  They may look like Kisses, but the dough is different and so is the flavor.  It's a toss-up to see which one wins, because both cookies are to-die-for.

Fudgy Pumpkin Cranberry Cookies are delicious little morsels that have a fudgy texture but no chocolate, and a sweet cream cheese glaze.

Caramel Shortbread Sticks, from Land o’ Lakes -- a yummy delicate shortbread cookie dipped in caramel and pecans.  They’re wonderful!


Amaretto Butter Balls are another delicious variation on the traditional vanilla-flavored Mexican Wedding cakes.
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Don't forget these insanely good Rugelach.  This recipe is excellent, and I guarantee they won’t stay on your cookie tray very long.


Fig-Filled Bars, from Pillsbury, are deliciously reminiscent of Fig Newtons.

If you're tired of the same old thumbprint cookies, try my Chocolate Heath Bar Thumbprints.

SPRUCE UP YOUR ARTIFICIAL CHRISTMAS WREATH

Want a free and easy way to spruce up your artificial Christmas wreath?  Try this idea.

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.