Thanks so much, Rob!

If only one, I'll make up a package of sugar cookies with the extra flour so we can decorate them. It's a family activity we do almost every year. It's not the ingredients, it's the people you are with.

I experimented a lot with cookies last year. I find chocolate chip is probably most everyone's favorite. I'll make a double batch with the intent that I can freeze some dough for later. Raw egg or not, the dough often gets eaten from the freezer.

Our other favorite is the holly cookies made from rice krispy treats using cornflakes instead of rice krispys. The highlight of that is the green teeth and tongue from the green dye.

I love this thread, and it is so timely as I have to make a batch for a cookie swap with 3 other couples (our supper club which of course doesn’t meet now except via Zoom). My favorite cookie is a chewy peanut butter cookie, so I am looking for a really good recipe for one again. I do love peanut butter blossoms too and that may be what I make. I have also been thinking about snickerdoodles, another favorite.

I make a fruit-filled spritz that I love, along with a date-filled one, and Marlen's Chubby Hubbies, and Marilyn's Pecan Meltaways, and, and......I love cookies, but we won't be having our usual family crowd this year, so I probably won't be making the many, many that I usually do.

Peanut butter criss-cross cookies from a VERY old cookbook-1930s or 40s, I think. We always put the red/green sugar crystals on them.

Maple Syrup Tuiles

I remember Burbon Balls that an aunt from Nashville use to make for the family gathering when I was a kid. They were for adults only because of the booze but I sneaked in and got one. Didn't like it and spit it out and never have liked burbon. I got the recipe later as an adult and substituted rum but only made them once or twice.

Moosemac, you just brought back a memory. I don't think they had maple syrup. They were called lace cookies and looked like yours. The first time I made them, I made the dough, carefully measured them out and put in to bake. I opened the oven door to ONE 18x12" cookie. Clearly my spacing wrong. Does that count for Annie's 'What one cookie'......

If you like Molasses Cookies, the Silver Palate has a great recipe. This is an old photo from several years back. At Christmas I pipe royal icing dots on the edges to dress them up a bit. These are chewy...just bake longer if you prefer crispy.

Silver Palate Molasses Cookies
(Makes about 24 cookies)

12 T. butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Preheat oven to 350.

Melt butter, add sugar and molasses, and mix thoroughly. Lightly beat egg and add to butter mixture; blend well.

Sift flour with spices, salt and baking soda, and add to first mixture; mix. Batter will be wet. (See *Note below)

Lay a sheet of nonstick foil on a cookie sheet. Drop tablespoons of cookie batter on foil, leaving 3 inches between the cookies. These will spread during baking.

Bake until cookies start to darken, 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven while still soft. Let cool on foil.

*Note: Chilling the dough makes it easier to work with. You can chill it (covered) for 30 minutes to an hour. I often leave it several hours or even overnight. Use your hands or a cookie scoop to form little balls for the cookie sheets. About a tablespoon of dough works nicely for each cookie.

My family's Christmas cookie selection included viennese crescents (Russian teacake / mex wedding cake but with pecans and shape dif), spritz, sand tarts, and bourbon balls.

This has become my own iconic christmas cookie finnish spoon cookies. shttps://photos.app.goo.gl/HHvd3iNto5H8FL7f7. They keep well and seem christmas-special to me.

Thanks a bunch, Mtn. I fell into this thread while simultaneously placing a grocery order. I have now added Tate’s CCC and Tate‘s Butter Cookies to my grocery order. I’m so weak!

At some point in the holidays, I’ll make chocolate chip cookies. I will freeze the portioned dough and give them to the neighbors with small children. They can then bake them when they like.

One of my favorite cookies is BraveTart/Stella Parks’ Sugar Cookie. It is just simple and delicious!

When I was a kid, my oldest sister (20 years older) would bring her chocolate chip cookies for the family gathering and they were the best.

Our neighborhood bakery, Engler's, made THE BEST cookies ever but they have passed away now so that is lost for all time.

I like Snickerdoodles and I made some good ones, though they are a bit of work but I just may go ahead and do it to brighten up the season. It's certainly one I wouldn't make on a "regular" day, so it seems appropriate to get to baking!! Thanks for this fun thread.

My sister makes the PB cookies with the Hershey Kiss in the middle. Those are my favorites.

Annie, another one is the Polish pierniki cutouts with the anise. So good!

Yeah, one thing with this year is that there are no parties with too much food and desserts.

This thread made me grab the 3 for .99 package of Toll House cookies when I ran into Target today. Not homemade but a good substitute. And just 3 so I don't make a pig of myself.

Our favorite little cookie is the Italian Christmas Cookie recipe on Mr. Food's website. At the cookie sale for the dog rescue, this lady would make these and my husband and I were addicted to them! So, I went on a search to see if I could recreate them and finally after several different recipes, I tried the one on Mr. Food and it's a match! Just a little soft cookie with powdered sugar glaze icing with almond extract. It's the Almond extract that makes them! Italian Christmas Cookie Recipe

Just a note, if you want to make these, the recipe is HUGE so I always make half of it and use the smallest cookie scoop I have and roll the dough in my hand. That makes 30 something cookies with the half recipe!

Ginger snaps!

Krumkake or Pizzelle. I never have had them except at Christmas - over the years baked by different people. I never have had an iron to make them, but they are both favorites for the holidays.

While I love chocolate chip cookies, or oatmeal chocolate chip, to me, they are "everyday" cookies. Christmas cookies are special cookies that we only have at Christmas. There are three that I usually make for Christmas:

Nanaimo bars

Snowball cookies, aka Russian tea cakes or Mexican wedding cakes

Magic Cookie bars

If I had to choose one, I think that it would be the Magic Cookie Bars, which my grandmother called Hello Dolly bars.

When I think back, my Polish Gramma used to make kolaches for every holiday...

https://www.carolinescooking.com/kolache-cookies/

My Hungarian Gramma used to make krustchiki which I haven't had in 20 years or more.

https://www.keyingredient.com/recipes/84146638/polish-bow-cookies-kruschiki-or-chruschiki/

And one of my favorite cookies since I was a child was from my MIL who would make pie crusts from scratch and then take the left over bits and bake them sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar...love them!

Growing up, I think the powdered sugar Pecan Puffs were my favorite -- 7 Layer Bars (aka Magic Cookie Bars, Hello Dollies) because we had them only at the holidays. But another favorite then and the one I enjoy most now is my grandmother's Dutch Santa Claus cookies -- a slice and bake icebox cookie with the traditional Dutch almonds and spices. My aunt used to send my dad a tin every year and I new they were special, but I didn't realize they were the favorite cookies their mother used to make. I used to do tin after tin of cookies at Christmas, but now it tends to be just 2 or 3 -- and always the Santa Claus Cookies, of course.

I love way too many types of cookies for n my own good. I am doing great at my fitness and health goals so I am happy not to bake my usual assortment this year. If I do bake at all it will be DH's favorite Christmas cookie. He requested plain traditional sugar cookie cutouts with sprinkles and a bit of decorator icing.

A few years ago our extended family went to Mexico for Christmas. I thought that I'd be saved from the temptation of Christmas cookies, but my son and his girlfriend made and brought all my favorites. ☺️

Growing up, I always loved mom's butterfinger cookies... we made them together, and I always insisted we make a few without the pecans.

I really don't care these days if I have cookies or not.

Sorry for being off subject but this post is the only one I can open. :(

I don't post much but I do like to read the posts each day.

I've tried everything they recommended to fix the problem but nothing helps.

Anyone else having problems?

TIA

MM, 🤞I’m not having that problem. Have you tried shutting everything down and restarting your device, including closing all of the open tabs in your browser? (Every time I see that as advice for fixing computer problems, I’m reminded of a quip back in the day that likened it to curing car problems by making everyone get out, turning the car off and then turning it on again! 😂)

Terri - I love Hello Dolly cookies too! My mom made them. I can only imagine what my parents grocery bill was around the holidays because my mom made candy and cookies and gave to so many. I remember one year she burned her mixer (motor) up making candy.

MM, some of the features were not available to me this morning. I logged out and back in and it's fine now. Maybe try that.

The recipe for these came in an email. Was thinking they might be fun to try.

Chloebud, my mom made pinwheels at Christmas every year. Chocolate/vanilla, and some that look like the picture you posted. She used Jello powder to color and flavor them. We kids thought they were yummy!

This thread has brought back some fun memories for me. Mostly things my Mom made, and then my older sister & I would get together & bake cookies as young adults. And, of course carrying on traditions myself as a Mom & with my kids, & then with my three GD. Spritz was a big fav for us & I own several presses, but also Toffee Bars, Peanut Butter Blossoms, the Pinwheels, Russian Teacakes, Cut out Sugar Cookies, frosted & decorated. I had a couple of cookie exchanges at our home when I was a young Mom. Maybe DH & I will pull out one of those presses to make Spritz as he likes to do that. We live on a dead-end street with seven other houses filled with awesome neighbors, so that would be nice to take to them in some cookie boxes I ordered. Thanks for the motivation!

The one cookie that says "Christmas" to me more than any is a cut out sugar cookie decorated with icing. I still have Mom's set of Christmas cut outs--Santa, reindeer, bell, star, Christmas tree, candy cane. I think I added stocking and snowflake out of plastic. Mom's are copper and aluminum. I don't make them much anymore though, no appropriate event or folks to give to. Everyone in my set is watching their weight or sugar intake . . .

Fruitcake cookies - my MIL’s family recipe. I do not like fruitcake but these are impossible to resist.

Interesting Jlhug, I am going to be making a fruitcake cookie in the near future. It's sitting right on top of my recipe file, waiting for me to have the right conditions to get it made. Not today, too nice outside, but soon . . .

In general, I am a moody eater, so if something sounds good, I will make that no matter the time of year. A lot of time it will be the biscochitos that Lynn mentioned above. I can buy them locally but I eat them too quickly so I have resolved to only eat them if I make them. And since I usually have to soften butter and then refrigerate the dough, the craving will pass and I am safe. One of my favorite cookies though, One of the few cookies that I eat seasonally though are these orange frosted cranberry cookies. I like that it uses fresh cranberries instead of dried. The cookies are still good without the frosting so I usually make a half recipe of the frosting, let it go as far as it can and eat the rest unfrosted.

One thing I made for our December book group was a swirled brownie/cheese cake thing. It was pretty good.

I've never made these...has any one here tried them?

https://www.browneyedbaker.com/the-famed-neiman-marcus-cookie/

I think it's kinda funny, the "related discussions" on the right side of the screen is picking up on the word cookie...

Always1, so funny. Wonder what those 2-8 year old ‘cookies’ are like now?

donna_loomis, one year I made checkerboard cookies with vanilla and chocolate dough. They were easy but took some time. This photo's from the recipe I found online.

I mailed cookies to my bachelor son alone in his Brooklyn apartment for a few weeks. His favorite is a Spritz wreath cookie with a half red candied cherry in the center. I also mailed a new to me recipe I found online, perhaps here. Santa's Whiskers. Now I want to bake springerles, the picture cookies made with a special rolling pin. They were going to be mailed to him, but I think I will keep them as our only Christmas cookie for DH and ME!

sheilajoyce, I love that you mailed cookies to your son. I would like to mail cookies to some elderly relatives who have been alone during this pandemic. How did you pack the cookies, and what method mailing did you use? Thanks!

Annie, yes, I have made those cookies. Does anyone remember Mr Food? He used to do little segments on TV.....and he gave out that recipe, calling them, The Best Cookie Ever. They really were great. It was in the mid '80's....when I was in my cookie baking prime. I collected cookie recipes and super good ones went in my permanent file. This was one of them. I lost those recipes in the flood. I had forgotten all about this cookie. I think I am going to make them again.

I've decided on chocolate crinkles as my one cookie. Chocolate-y but not too sweet. Chewy. Easy to make.

I decided after this put me over the top:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/voraciously/holiday-cookie-recipes/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR2lQhMQY9-v77Jlzc2c3NdVXQVsc_HQ1_guypKlBcKQuL9I1QZJsuG1AF8

It's cookie baking day here today!!

Good choice Annie. I almost made a variation of those with peppermint this year.

I decided instead to make snickerdoodles and peanut butter blossoms, classic recipes, for our cookie swap. A friend made a variation of snickerdoodles that had cardamom and cut up dried figs for our cookie swap. Those were so good. Very different from the classic.

Biscotti dipped in chocolate is what I typically make for Christmas

They don't have that many calories because they have no butter or oil in them, which is why they are so crunchy. They are best with coffee, which I do not drink, and so I have to have them with tea.
I also sometimes make Chocolate CrinklesThese are a lot easier and less labor-intensive than biscotti, but they also have more calories.

Lars, you and I are cookie twins. I also made biscotti and chocolate crinkles. My biscotti had pistachios and apricots and just a drizzle of chocolate.

I don't have a sweet tooth and eat very little desserts, but I do feel like making shortbread cookies.

Can someone post their favourite recipe? I've seen recipes for brown sugar and some for white. Which is better? Is there a difference?

Jasdip, maybe this will help...brown vs. white isn't quite so simple.

https://www.seriouseats.com/2015/12/faq-difference-brown-white-granulated-sugar-baking-cookies.html

I've only ever used white sugar for shortbread cookies.

I've not made this one, but it's gotten 5 star reviews, lots of them and it uses confectioners sugar instead of white or brown.

https://preppykitchen.com/shortbread-cookies-recipe/