All the signs are here. Lights on neighborhood houses. Cars drive by with Spruce trees tied to their roofs. Holiday tunes fill the air, everywhere you go. It’s that time of year again! What’s your favorite part of the holiday season? Mine is baking cookies with my family! Let’s be honest, Christmas time doesn’t truly arrive until your house is filled with the scent of freshly baked Christmas cookies! So grab your aprons and fun-decorating supplies and let’s get started!

• Sugar cookies: (classic!) Bake in an oven at 375 degrees for eight minutes or until done. This makes 36-48 cookies.

– 2 cups all-purpose flour

– 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

– 6 tablespoons butter or margarine

– ⅓ cup shortening

– ¾ cup sugar

– 1 egg

– 1 tablespoon milk

– 2 teaspoon vanilla          

Stir together flour, baking powder, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Beat butter and shortening for 30 seconds. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to the mixture, stirring till well combined. Cover and chill for at least 3 hours. Working with ½ of the dough at a time, on a lightly floured surface roll to ⅛- inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. 

(Don’t forget to decorate! Have fun with it!!)

– Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book

Here are some fun ways my family has decorated our sugar cookies in the past:

• Oatmeal raisin cookies: (I don’t care what anyone says they are sooo good!) Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Makes 6 dozen.

– 3 eggs, well beaten

– 1 cup raisins

– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

– 1 cup butter 

– 1 cup brown sugar

– 1 cup white sugar

– 1 ½ cups flour

– 1 teaspoon salt

– 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

– 2 teaspoons baking soda

– 2 cups oatmeal (substitute ½ cup wheat germ for more healthful cookies) ((though I do not recommend ;))

– ¾ cup chopped pecans

Combine eggs, raisins, and vanilla and let stand for one hour, covered with plastic wrap. Cream together butter and sugars. Add flour, salt, cinnamon, and soda to the sugar mixture. Mix well. Blend in the egg-raisin mixture, oatmeal, wheat germ, and chopped nuts. The dough will be stiff. Drop heaping teaspoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet or roll into small balls and flatten slightly on the cookie sheet. 

Note: delicious. The secret is soaking the raisins.

– Recipe from the Colorado Cache cookbook ( A goldmine of recipes from the junior league of Denver)

These next few recipes I got from a very close friend and they are absolutely amazing. You should definitely try them!!

• Santa Claus cookies: Ready in 1 hour or less; Makes 32 cookies.

– 2 packages (6 ounces each) white baking chocolate, chopped

– 1 package (1 pound) Nutter Butter sandwich cookies 

– Red-colored sugar

– 32 vanilla or white chips

– 64 miniature semisweet chocolate chips

– 32 red-hot candies

In a heavy saucepan over low heat, melt white chocolate, stirring occasionally. Dip one end of each cookie into melted chocolate. Place on wire racks. For Santa’s hat, sprinkle red sugar on the top part of the chocolate. Press one vanilla chip off-center for the hat pom-pom; let stand until set.

Dip the other end of each cookie into melted chocolate for a beard, leaving the center of the cookie uncovered. Place on wire racks. With a dab of melted chocolate, attach semi-sweet chips for eyes and a red-hot for the nose. Place on waxed paper until chocolate sets. 

– Recipe from an issue of Taste of Home’s Quick Cooking Catalog (November/December 2003)

• Canadian Honey Drops: Heat your oven to 350 degrees, makes three dozen double 2” cookies 

– 1 cup shortening (part butter or margarine)

– 1 cup brown sugar (packed)

– 2 eggs

– ⅓ cup honey 

– 1 tsp. Vanilla

– 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour

– 2 tsp. apricot jam

Mix shortening, sugar, and eggs thoroughly. Stir in honey and vanilla. Measure flour by sifting. Blend together flour and soda; stir in. Chill until firm, several hours or overnight. Roll dough in 1 ¼” balls. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until almost no imprint remains when touched lightly. When slightly cooled, put together in pairs with apricot or other jam. 

Note: if you use self-rising flour, omit soda

– Recipe from Betty Crocker’s Cookie Book A Complete Collection- For All Occasions, For Every Taste

• Candy Cane Cookies: Heat your oven to 375 degrees, makes about four dozen canes.

– 1 cup shortening (half butter or margarine)

– 1 cup sifted confectioners sugar

– 1 egg

– 1 ½ tsp. Almond extract 

– 1 tsp. Vanilla

– 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

– 1 tsp. Red food coloring

– ½ cup crushed peppermint candy

– ½ cup granulated sugar

Mix shortening, sugar, egg, and flavorings thoroughly. Measure flour by sifting. Mix flour and salt; stir into a shortening mixture. Divide dough in half. Blend food coloring into one half.

Roll a 4” strip (using 1 tsp. dough) from each color. For smooth, even strips, roll them back and forth on a lightly floured board. Place strips side by side, press lightly together and twist like a rope. For best results, complete cookies one at a time–if all the dough of one color is shaped first, strips become too dry to twist. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Curve top to form the handle of the cane. Bake for about 9 min. Until lightly browned. While still warm, sprinkle it with the candy and sugar mixture.

Note: if you use self-rising flour, omit salt.

– Recipe from Betty Crocker’s Cookie Book A Complete Collection– For All Occasions, For Every Taste

• When you’re all done making your cookies, don’t forget to put together some plates for your neighbors, family members, and close friends because that’s what the holidays are all about 🙂 Sharing some love and smiles is one of the best things you can do, especially this year. Happy Holidays!