(ended)Countdown contest : 21 days till Christmas

[sunshinecindy]

During the holidays we cook and bake things that we don't normally make during the year. One of our favorite things is that special Holiday Cookie. Today, I want to know what your favorite Holiday cookie is, its one that either you make or someone else always makes for you but you only have this time of year.

Same rules apply. Contest ends at midnight. BTW, if you feel so inclined, so ahead and post the recipe too.

[disney_girl]

Not considered a true "homemade" cookie, but this is the only time of the year that I make chocolate dipped Oreos. We've never bought the ones at the store- always make them along with a handful of other chocolate dipped things. I send most of it to work with DH, but we certainly eat our share!!

[catnapfan]

My favorite holiday cookies are gingerbread. They taste delicious and look so cute! I spend many hours decorating all the gingerbread boys and girls and making sure they are perfect and no two are alike. My family is always impressed with these cookies and comment on how they are too pretty to eat- but they do eat them!

[JillyFish]

My sister makes these peppermint patty brownies at Christmastime that are to die for!! They really are like a heart attack in a pan, but they are SOOOooo good!

[jd3921fl]

I'm easy and simple. I just like a warm sugar cookie. If its shaped, great, otherwise a few red and green sprinkles and I'm a happy camper.

[Magical JenK]

Are we limited to just one favorite?? :blush:

LOVE the shortbread candy canes (I can make them & they're good)
LOVE spritz cookies (my aunt makes those)
LOVE frosted sugar cookies (my SIL makes those)

YUMMMMM can't wait!!

[Blessing and Miracle]

Homemade Sugar Cookies! Yummy!

[faithhope]

spritz cookies- I make these with my girls.

[pbhall13]

mine is not a cookie.........but it is what I make only at christmas time (no other time of year). It is called Tigers Butter......and it is a chocolate/peanutbutter/vanila swirl soft candy (fudge like, but so much more creamier)

EVeryone looks forward to it.........I had one year that I did not make it and I was nearly whipped and chained by my family and friends!! Oh so yummy...

[Pooh's Pal]

My Mom's best friend, whom I always called Auntie Helen even thou' she wasn't really my aunt used to make these to die for Candy Cane cookies. Oh I loved them soooo, couldn't wait to go over there on Christmas Eve and have some, and she always had a tin of them for me to bring home. A few years ago she shared her recipe with me too. She is now 85 and still makes them! They look similar to these...

http://www.bettycrocker.com/images/beautyshots/r34180fp.jpg

And my MOM made killer Fudge, every year till a few years ago, she used to make pans and pans of it and chill it outside on the screened in porch (I got that recipe too)! I make Cashew Brittle every year which is really good too.

[Hedy]

Spritz cookies...but they're made by other people. ;)

[sammielynn]

I LOVE spritz cookies! I make them every year.

[PSL1013]

We have a family cookie recipe that is only made at the holiday's and it's called..Sesame Cookies. It is a ball of cookie dough rolled in sesame seeds and then you press down the center to make a well that is filled with Strawberry or Raspberry seedless jam and then baked....they are absolutely delicious and they just melt in your mouth. I've made them for years, the recipe was given to me by my aunt who also makes these every year. :love:

[sarah4770]

kiffles
I like the walnut filled ones the best!

[bartleby1]

I love my grandma's pink cookies. I know she uses a cookie press and they have jello in them, but they are cookies, not jello-like at all.

[gpp2001]

My favorite is not a cookie but fudge - I love my fudge!!

My favorite cookie to make is Ginger Snaps - I'm not a big fan but DH and DD are and it makes me happy to make the cookies for them!!

[memanana]

My daughter makes an Italian cookie that her husband's grandmother always made Of course they have eaten a few before she ever gets them to my house They live 4 hours away

[jnorth1007]

Homemade cookies? :eek: Can't say as I have EVER made homemade cookies. :rolleyes: But a baker I am not. Now if you asked about EATING cookies OH YEAH I have been there and done that and have the big butt to prove it. I think my favorite are those soft sugar cookies with frosting and sprinkles. Yummo!

[cuppycakemom]

OOOH! Mom, those Italian cookies are yummy!! She needs to make two batches this year so that we have more than half a batch by the time her family makes it home!

I have two:
One is a cookie that I just started making in the last couple of years that is a chocolate covered rum cheesecake truffle...OOOOH YUMMY!

The other are the beautiful sugar cookies that are at my Aunt's house every Christmas Eve (she pays someone to make them). The are so well decorated that you hate to eat them, but ooooooh are they tasty!

[Tiggerific711]

My sister-in-law Jen makes the best coconut macroons.
My friend makes me pizzelles every year.

Yum, now I'm hungry!

[~Kathie]

DH makes awsome chocolate with white chocolate chips and macadamia nut cookies. I'm not supposed to eat cookies but I eat those. :blush:

We also like Wandi's. They're Italian cookies, we get at the bakery. They are very light with confectionary sugar on them. Almost like funnel cakes but a lot lot lighter.

I love the pizzelles too. :)

[jenvance]

I love plain old chocolate chip cookies, but at Christmas I always make buckeyes. Peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate. They are so yummy. I also love homemade sugar cookies.

Any chance we can make a cookie recipe thread, some of these cookies sound great!!

[emtntn]

Mine would have to be the decorated sugar cookies. This is not my favorite because I love the taste...they are my favorite because my kids have such a great time making and decorating them...No taste could beat their excitement.

[juliokirkland]

The kids and i make frosted sugar cookies, pecan tarts and russian tea cakes during the holidays. My fil loves the russian tea cakes, so we always make an extra batch for him.

[joiev98]

The first year i was a mom I wanted so hard to have a great Christmas for my DH and DD. I made a whole Christmas dinner (first time..ever!) and baked a bunch of different cookies the whole day before. None of the recipes were tried and true, only recipes i had found in a recipe book.
Well, my dinner was awful, and i mean awful, and none of the cookies were edible except for one kind, a white chocolate cherry shortbread. I was so upset. Ever since that first Christmas, I always make the cherry shortbread cookies and remember how they came to be a tradition. Oh, and by the way, I can make a mean turkey dinner now :)

[Alice28]

anise and almond biscotti. My grandma used to always make them, and I started to after she passed away. Not Italian in our family, but we can appreciate a divine cookie!

[askomsky]

My fav is Santa's surprise it's a PB based sugar cookie that you then roll a snickers, milky way or 3 muskateers in the middle and bake. When your done you drizzle hot fudge/chocolate over the top. They are so good and every cookie swap I go to this one is requested.

[jendon1997]

Definitely gingerbread. My DD4 actually loves these and she is a very picky eater. I may venture this year and try to make my own!!

[amarazas]

There are some awesome sounding cookies! Who's gonna have that cookie swap!?!

My favorites are chocolate muddies.... which is a Chocolate Chip Chocolate cookie with fudge and different types of chips (white, milk, dark) Also, I love my sugar cookies!

I keep thinking of more and more cookies... you can't go wrong with cookies! YUMMY!

[bbangel]

My family always makes traditional shortbread at this time of year. So yummy!
I have also started making ginger sparklers this time of year although they are so good I sometimes make them for other occasions as well.

[MrsWonka]

My holiday cookie is the chocolate chip cookie dough truffle. You make the cookie dough with condensed sweet milk instead of eggs, then dip it in milk chocolate and drizzle with white chocolate....yummy!!!

[leelee9878]

Peanut butter cookies with a hershey kiss center. :love:

[missangie]

Ok, I know I can't win, but this one is just too yummy to pass up! I have to be involved in anything sweet. :rotfl:

I always make Mexican Wedding Cakes. . .you know the rolled shortbread cookies filled with chopped pecans and coated with powdered sugar.

I also make fudge every year. Christmas wouldn't be the same without rocky road and peanut butter fudge.

[wdwabby]

I love heavily frosted sugar cookies! (Yes, I like a little cookie along with my frosting...)


and this year I'm going to attempt to make chocolate shortbread ...

[Candi]

I also have to go with sugar cookies. I love them nice and thick with lots of frosting. Yummy.
Angie, my kids love Mexican wedding cookies. We have a local store that gives kids cookies at the bakery. One day my son asked for a wedding cookie and the lady told him "no, he wouldn't like it." I had to tell her several times he likes them and does want it. Strange!

[kimntrent]

My favorite are pumpkin spice cookies with cream cheese frosting. I love baking cookies for the holiday season.

[stacieps]

ours would be the peanut butter cookie with the Hersey's kiss on top! Not very Christmas-y, but we like it - along with chocolate cream pie!

[arob414]

We have two - Wedding Cookies that I found in my mom's OLD Betty Crocker cookbook when I was a teenager and have been making ever since. I make them especially for my mom, she loves them. And, for me and my sister, she makes pecan tarts that she has made since we were little girls. Yummy.

[mollyeilis]

Russian Tea Cakes. I've tried to make them outside of December, but it just doesn't feel right.

[KJFAE]

Cute little gingerbread men cookies that the kids think are so cute & like to decorate

[deana]

Buckeyes!

Peanut butter fudge balls dipped in chocolate... I only make them at the holidays and get complaints if I try to skip making them!!

[dparra]

i don't know the name of it or the recipe actually.. but it is a buttery/toffee graham cracker cookie.. you make it on a large cookie sheet then break it up.. it was a gift, but i LOVED them!

[Soccer Princess]

Gingerbread cookies and peppermint chocolate cookies are my holiday faves! :)

[tarheelpat]

I have the most fun making and decorating sugar cookies with my "kids" (youngest is 14), but we have the most fun eating fudge. I make it just once a year -- can't justify putting all that real butter and sugar on my hips any more often.

[spring]

I guess my all-time favorite cookie is Peanut Butter Blossoms - the ones with the big Hershey's kiss on top. Yummmmmmm!:love:

[penn19]

Peanut Butter Bars. Love this tiime of year!!

[lkturner]

The Barefoot Contessa's Rugelach. cream cheese cookie dough filled with walnuts,cinnamon and sugar, and apricot jam...:angel:

[missymouse]

Mine are Gingerbread men. That is what I had for my birthday every year from the time I was 1 year old. It was also the kick off of the Holiday season with the tree going up on Dec. 10th which is my parents Anniversary.

Also I love frosted Sugar cookies.

Tonight I will be making Gingerbread men, and the third batch of Chocolate Caramels.

[speechteachri]

Mine and dh's fav. cookies that we only have a Christmas time is an old standby....oatmeal scotchies. My s-i-l makes them and we eat them all when we go up to NH after Chrismas!!!

I don't make them myself ever...because we would just eat them all WAY to quickly!:blush:

[bajam]

I like them all, but my favorites are the easiest to do. Dip pretzel rods in melted white chocolate then sprinkle with christmasy sprinkles. They are a huge hit every year.

[piglet-for-me]

I think they are magic cookie bars or something like that. I make them at Christmastime for my family - which is truthfully more for me, as they don't really care for them but it's a good excuse. They have just about anything and everything you can imagine on a graham cracker crust - chocolate pieces, butterscotch pieces, coconut, caramel pieces & nuts.

[lanny76]

I love homemade divinity, and I've only ever had it around Christmas time.

[jo93]

Peanut Butter Blossoms. Peanut butter cookes with a hershey kiss in the middle. :sunshine2:

[linanglab]

I really like the cut out cookies with the icing. I have such a good recipe that uses cream cheese....yummy....

But I also really like "coal" It is melted white chocolate with oreos crushed up in it, and then dried. Looks a bit like coal! Again....YUMMY!

[MdCaterer]

Spritz Cookies. It isn't Christmas until we bake the Spritz (butter cookies pressed from a cookie gun) Yummy!!!

[mmm611]

It's not Christmas without my grandma's butter cookies! It's just like a sugar cookie with sprinkles, but I think she only makes them in winter. She brought me a box of them when she and my family were over to put up my tree last Sunday.

[disneymomma]

white chocolate pumpkin cookies....sooo yummy

[jl8595]

Definitely frosted sugar cookies for me! :eat:

[JOLAROCHE]

I love homemade biscottis my friend makes

[wilsonfamily4]

My favorite this time of year is a molasses cookie I got from Martha Stewart. they are big and so chewy and so good. LOVE THEM

[mseg16222]

I would have to say Lady Locks, I only make at Christmas and I just love them. Never think to make them any other time of year.

[rumrunnergirl]

My Mom's Peanut Squares! She only makes them at Christmas. The recipe is a highly guarded family secret that Mom has refused to share with her sisters, LOL. I do have it and tried to make them once, but they came out nowhere near as good as my Mom's.

She makes a special cake in a jelly roll pan. Not like cake from scratch - this has scalded milk and other stuff in it. She cuts the cake into rectangles and coats the rectangles in a special frosting she makes. Then she rolls these in finely chopped peanuts.

There have been serious family fights over these if someone eats too many and others feel they haven't gotten their share. One year my oldest sister practically gobbled a whole container, and my Dad pitched a huge fit (I joined him!) so now Mom gives everyone their own Tupperware container of squares, LOL.

They freeze really well too. One year I found a container hidden in the freezer that she had forgotten - it was like striking oil! Woo hoo!

Melanie

[shmily1]

I love the Sugar Cookies with sprinkles that we make for Santa!!

My mom use to make awesome pecan pies so DS18 and I now make them in her honor!!

[ladyjane98]

My Grandmother's Sugar Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, Chocolate Drop Cookies....YUMMY

:santa: :eat:

[3dog2kidmom]

A tradition I do with my kids is every Christmas Eve we make reindeer cookies. I used to have a recipe, but now we just do slice 'n bake peanut butter cookies, mini pretzel twists for antlers, M&M's for eyes, red hots for noses. They come out so cute, are so easy, and we HAVE to make these for Santa every year.

[tink1212]

Bourbon Balls-Lots and lots of them!!!

[fanofree]

We gave up on "Holiday" cookies. We bake the ones we like the best - peanut butter with the Kiss - all year long. Our recipe is flourless and the cookies are great.

But, once a year, I buy cookies - the star shaped ones. They are sort graham cracker-like with dark chocolate covering them. Pretty much the only store bought cookie I like. We also buy Panatonne (spell?) this time of year as a special Holiday treat.

[chipndale]

My favorite is Pizzelles! But I really have never met a cookie that I don't like!

[Sahmy]

Butter Horns - yum!

[Sunni]

This was hard to answer because I make a lot of different holiday cookies/treats each year.
I will pick Joe Froggers....a really large molasses cookie. yummy

[kxmeeh]

snowballs are great! they have to have the nuts in them and covered in that yummy powdered sugar. my second...my aunt marie's snickerdoodles. mmmmm, snickerdoodles.

[Belle]

I'm another one for simple decorated sugar cookies.

[zoodoyle]

I am not a baker, or a cook for that matter. But my Mom makes 40 different kinds of Christmas Cookies every year, and makes up wonderful trays to give out as Christmas gifts - she's incredible!! So it's hard to pick a favorite - but she does have a brownie with chunks of peppermint patties in them that are fantastic!! Can't wait to get mt cookie plate!! :love:

[DarcyDog]

Gee! Nearly all of the cookies our family makes at Christmas are only made at this time of year, so this is a tough choice.

Probably the most memorable is a an oatmael/brown sugar cookie similar to lace cookies but when they come out of the oven, you roll them up on a dowel rod or pencil (cursing the entire time because they are screaming hot!). When they cool and become hard, you dip one end into melted chocolate. The first time we made them, my very young (at the time) nephew called them "Reindeer Hooves." So they have now become a family tradition. It wouldn't be Christmas without them . . . or the burnt fingertips!

[luvhockey]

My favorite cookie I make for the holidays is a Gooey Butter cookie (it's so easy!).

Although it isn't a cookie, my Grandma always made Struvoli an italian dessert. I try to make a batch every Christmas in honor of her. I have a great appreciation for the time she took to make these because it's time consuming and she would make tons to give away.

Angela

[sunshinecindy]

Ok, no more food ones from me, you guys have made me wayyyy to hungry.

The winner however is, post #64....Ladyjane98

Congrats. Open up a TT with your full name and address to claim your prize.