I’ve been done with my holiday baking for a few weeks now. Let is suffice to say, I’m pretty over cookies for the time being. However much I’m kvetching about the amount of cookies I baked this holiday season, I know next year I’ll do it all over again. Mostly because I’m a glutton for punishment. And I love sending my friends cookies- because I love them (and its somewhat more fun than some gift cards).

This blog post is two part: One- to share ideas with you. Two- make notes for myself regarding holiday cookie baking 2022

I didn’t take a lot of pictures while I was baking, I was really focused on getting it all done and cleaned up. I don’t know how food bloggers do it!! You may be wondering why I made 10 different variety of cookie. Because I send many of them to my friends, share with the trainers at my gym (because the occasional cookie can be incorporated into a healthy diet), and honestly: eat too many cookies and be sick of cookies by Christmas. This year, we did our gift exchange with my family at Thanksgiving, otherwise they would have also eaten a ton of cookies too.

Here’s my list of cookies with links and some notes.

Cranberry Cashew Rugelach: (Really Cranberry Orange Rugelach) I modified the recipe for cashews because I don’t like walnuts that much. I used my EXTRA THICK leftover cranberry sauce, and omitted the orange zest. These did not get shipped, I felt the cookie was TOO wet. They were SUPER AWESOME and I have 4 in the freezer still.

Cinnamon Swirl: I combined the best parts of two recipes the cookie and frosting and the filling. The recommended baking time/temp was too much for my oven- next time bake for LESS TIME so they aren’t so browned and crunchy. 375 (taste of home recommendation) was TOO HOT. My oven makes cookies best at 350- I should stick to that.

Vanilla Coffee Biscotti: I used regular coffee and added extra vanilla to the recipe. I did a white chocolate dip or drizzle and some cool wintery sprinkles. No pictures, but theses were really great with coffee and tea!

Swedish Almond Butter Cookies: My ULTIMATE holiday cookie! I have a blog post all about them. They look kinda “meh” but are magic in your mouth. These are EVERYONE’s favorite, even if they don’t know it yet.

Gingerbread People: I’ve made this recipe every year since 2018. They taste good. No chilling. No spreading. Pronounced spice taste: which I LOVE. This year, we did Ninja-bread men and the traditional gingerbread man shapes.

Reindeer Poops: NO actual poo is used in the making of these no-bake treats. My kids find their name HYSTERICAL and beg to make them every year. Along the lines of a hand shaped rice crispy treat with melted chocolate (5ish oz) and peanut butter (generous 1/2 cup) in addition to butter (5 tsp), marshmallows (8 oz? it was a partial bag) and cereal (5-7 cups rice crispy cereal). melt all the not cereal ingredients. add cereal, coat, make into balls (portion onto parchment then press to form a TIGHT somewhat irregular ball)
If you like precise recipes here are options we made in the past: caramel or peanut butter

Chocolate Chip Cookies: Mine haven’t been turning out as well lately. I think I’m not adding quite enough flour. Tasty. Classic Tollhouse recipe. No nuts. Slightly less chocolate chips because 2 cups is TOO chocolaty for me.

Shortbread (Vegan): I can’t find the recipe I used. I DID use Miyoko’s Cultured Vegan Butter to make the recipe suitable for my vegan friends. I also added sprinkles on top of some (also vegan) to make them festive. I spent the last hour scouring Pinterest to find the recipe I actually used, to no avail. Since I never saved it.
From memory: 2 cups flour, 1 cup vegan butter, 3/4 cup powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla extract. I added my ingredients to the food processor, and mixed it (sandy texture) pressed into a tart pan. Cut into 16 pieces, pierce with fork. Top with sprinkles and stuff (if you want). Bake in 325 oven for 25 min (more? less??). Cool in pan. After completely cool, use your initial lines to cut through to separate your wedges.

Peanut Butter Blossoms: I made A LOT of these this year. I burnt some (again because 375 is too hot for my oven), at 350 they were PERFECT and NOT burned. I made a batch as PB&J thumbprints: make a ball, used the back of a tsp measure spoon to make a divot: bake with jelly inside. Jelly afterward is ok, but just rests on top. I used regular milk chocolate Hershey kisses because that’s what I had.

Sacher Torte Cookies: I used apricot preserves. And apparently took no pictures. My cookie scoop is a bit larger than the suggested size, and I didn’t get as many cookies as hoped for. They are a little dry and crumbly but very good.

Chocolate Crinkles: I made with vegetable oil instead of butter this year (to make them dairy free); this cookie has been made a couple times since 2018. SO good. SO messy (powdered sugar). Butter makes them a little richer, but the oil is still a chewy fudgy cookie. Its always nice to have a dairy-free option for allergies.

And there you have it: my 2021 cookie list with links to most items. Vague recipes for the rest!