Christmas Cookie Recipes

[bvanpeltsw]

I would like to make various cookies to give as gifts this year.

Does anyone mind sharing their favorite Christmas cookie recipe?

I am also looking for a good chocolate and/or peanut butter fudge recipe.

I will post my favorite (which is quite simple) for all of you!:)

[bvanpeltsw]

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
20 individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped
1/4 cup light cream
30 milk chocolate candy kisses, unwrapped

DIRECTIONS
Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg yolks and vanilla and mix well. Mix in the flour then knead in the finely chopped walnuts. Cover and chill dough for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Roll chilled dough into 1 inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Make a thumbprint in the middle of each cookie.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 12 to 15 minutes.
In a small pan over medium heat melt the caramels and the light cream together. Stir until smooth. Spoon 1/2 teaspoon o the caramel into the thumbprint of each warm cookie then top with a chocolate kiss.

You can add so many things to the thumbprint besides a kiss. I also like mine with jam or jelly. These are my avsolute favorite and remind me of childhood.

[lain]

This is the first one that came to mind, it's always a big hit amongst my friends. I also just got an email from a friend, with links to about 100 cookie recipies. I can't post it here, but if anyone would like it, PM me your email and I'll forward it to you :)

Oatmeal-Dark Chocolate-Cranberry-Almond-Cookies

This is the Oatmeal Cookie recipe from Martha’s Baking Handbook, with a few variations

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tspn ground cinnamon
1 tspn baking soda
1 tspn salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/3 cup pure maple syrup (Martha suggests grade B, but I just use whatever I have around)
1 large egg
2 tspns pure vanilla extract
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup dark chocolate chips or chunks (Use whatever brand you like, but remember, the better the chocolate, the better the cookie)
½ cup toasted almonds sliced or slivered

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F, and line cookie sheets with parchment or Silpats.

In medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Cream butter and sugar, until light and fluffy, about 4 min in electric mixer with paddle attachment. Add syrup and mix to combine. Add egg and vanilla, beat until well combined. Add flour mixture in two batches; mix until just combined. Add oats, cranberries, chocolate and almonds; mix until combined.

Shape into 1 ½ inch balls and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Let sit for 2 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

The recipe says it makes approximately two dozen cookies, but I always make at least a triple batch, so I’m not really sure if that’s 100% accurate.

My favorite variations:
-Sometimes, I make these as bar cookies in a sheet or half-sheet pan. When they first come out of the oven, I will throw some extra chocolate chips on the top. They’ll melt almost instantly, and I spread them across the whole pan. When they cool, you get these really nice looking chocolate covered bars. Besides, extra chocolate is always good 

-If you like blueberries, I’ve also made these with dried blueberries instead. Usually if I do that, I also substitute white chocolate and diced macadamia nuts for the dark chocolate and almonds.

[bvanpeltsw]

This is the first one that came to mind, it's always a big hit amongst my friends. I also just got an email from a friend, with links to about 100 cookie recipies. I can't post it here, but if anyone would like it, PM me your email and I'll forward it to you :)

Oatmeal-Dark Chocolate-Cranberry-Almond-Cookies

This is the Oatmeal Cookie recipe from Martha’s Baking Handbook, with a few variations

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tspn ground cinnamon
1 tspn baking soda
1 tspn salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/3 cup pure maple syrup (Martha suggests grade B, but I just use whatever I have around)
1 large egg
2 tspns pure vanilla extract
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup dark chocolate chips or chunks (Use whatever brand you like, but remember, the better the chocolate, the better the cookie)
½ cup toasted almonds sliced or slivered

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F, and line cookie sheets with parchment or Silpats.

In medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Cream butter and sugar, until light and fluffy, about 4 min in electric mixer with paddle attachment. Add syrup and mix to combine. Add egg and vanilla, beat until well combined. Add flour mixture in two batches; mix until just combined. Add oats, cranberries, chocolate and almonds; mix until combined.

Shape into 1 ½ inch balls and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Let sit for 2 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

The recipe says it makes approximately two dozen cookies, but I always make at least a triple batch, so I’m not really sure if that’s 100% accurate.

My favorite variations:
-Sometimes, I make these as bar cookies in a sheet or half-sheet pan. When they first come out of the oven, I will throw some extra chocolate chips on the top. They’ll melt almost instantly, and I spread them across the whole pan. When they cool, you get these really nice looking chocolate covered bars. Besides, extra chocolate is always good 

-If you like blueberries, I’ve also made these with dried blueberries instead. Usually if I do that, I also substitute white chocolate and diced macadamia nuts for the dark chocolate and almonds.


YUMMY! Thank you!