2nd Day of Sock Yarn

On the second day of sock yarn, Simply Sock Yarn gave to me...

my own Christmas mug by Charan Sachar!

To have your chance at your own piece of knit-inspired art PLUS a $20 gift certificate to the shop, simply answer the following question in the comments below:

What is your favorite holiday cookie? Is there a particular recipe that you or a loved one makes that you can't get enough of this time of year? Please share as much info as you like, or a link if you can. Your comments are how many of us incorporate new holiday traditions!

I've been craving Snickerdoodles this past week. I love butter and sugar and cinnamon together. It's a dangerous combination for me. It's been a few years since I made them, and I'm betting the kids would really love them too, but that means I'd have to stop making this for a week or two, and they have been loving this lately (with a later of Oreo Thins in the middle to give it even more umph.)

I'd say the most memorable cookies I've made are the stained-glass inspired Christmas cookies I made with my Grandma. She went all out for Christmas cookies, and these were so creative and fun. I remember her having much more intricate cookie cutters than the ones featured in the linked recipe- a church, a Santa, a christmas tree... in my mind the ones we made were much more special.

Want to join us in the 12 Days of Sock Yarn? Just comment below to enter, with details of the whole thing here.

Comments

[Jaime G]

My favorite cookies are the sugar cookies we got to decorate every Christmas at my Grandparent's house. Nothing tastes better than a cookie you made all by yourself!

[Amy C]

I love the German Lebkuchen that we used to buy when we lived in Bavaria many many years ago. My mother used to make some that were a pretty close match. That delicious aroma always signals Christmas to me.

[Linda]

Mary’s Sugar Cookies! My mom made them for us and I make them for my grandchildren. I roll them out bake them and decorate them as artfully as I can. Sometimes I even have small helpers

[Nancy]

This year I am into finding the best sugar cookie bar recipe. I have tried 3 so far. For me it USA great option for a little traditional flavor when time is limited.

[Joyce]

Nut horns or Hungarian Walnut Cookies (cream cheese crescents filled with walnut filling). Here's a link that's close (I have my mom's old recipe) http://americanheritagecooking.com/2014/02/authentic-hungarian-walnut-rolls/

I love all the cookies, but the nut horns scream Christmas for me.

[SuEllyn]

Mmmm - my aunt always made a Polish cookie with apricot filling. I can never remember the name but they were the highlight of the holiday food for me!

[Sarah DeSalvo]

I love 7 layer bars, or what my grandma called "Hello Dolly". Oh, look! I found a recipe that actually calls them Hello Dolly! Mine have 7 ingredients because I add butterscotch chips, too. They are scrumptious, and you can cut them small because they are so rich. Yum.

[Sarah DeSalvo]

Oh no! And I forgot to include the link! Here it is: Hello Dolly - https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/05/hello-dolly-seven-layer-magic-cookie-bars.html

[SusanB]

My favorite are Mexican Wedding Cookies. I only make them this time of year.
(not sure how to insert the link)
https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/mexican-wedding-cakes/

[Lisa]

There's something about a simple sugar cookie - a holiday cut-out shape, with red and green sprinkles, or colorful frosting!

[Marla]

Snickerdoodles are still the best this time of year.

[Jeanne Bush]

My Mom always made butter cookies using a cookie press and decorated them with red and green sprinkles. After she died, I made them for my Dad every year. I haven't made them for several years now, so maybe I should whip up a batch.

[becki_steier@yahoo.com]

My favorite Christmas cookie... all of them! It's the only time of the year that certain recipes come out therefore all of them are my favorite! Each recipe has a special memory from my mother or grandmother so it's hard to choose one!

[Diane Nocivelli]

I love good old-fashioned butter cookies.

[Terri Kelly]

Hands down Peanut Butter Cookie with the Hershey Kiss n top!

[Tam]

Mincemeat Cookies! I top them with a brandy icing made with powdered sugar and brandy. http://www.nonesuchrecipes.com/recipes/recipedetail.aspx?recipeid=4352&foodname=Mince%20Oatmeal%20Cookies

[Suzy]

One of my favorites...my mother always called them Mexican Wedding Cakes but I've seen them called Russian Tea Cakes or Snowballs.

http://www.suzysgoodies.com/post/12-Days-of-GoodiesDay-7-Mexican-Wedding-Cakes.aspx

[Michelle B]

Oh my goodness.... if it’s a cookie I’ll most likely like it !! I love all things sweet !! Today I had a Texas Pecan Cookie and it was the best ♥️♥️🥳🥳

[Morgan]

Snickerdoodles, Candy Cane cookies (peppermint flavored shortbread), classic no-bake oatmeal cookies and frosted sugar cookie cutouts were staples growing up

[Donna H]

Rugelach from The Barefoot Contessa. They are the best!

[Pat]

Simple holiday sugar cookie with frosting and decorations. They re the best.

[Debbie]

My favorites are shortbread with cashews and pecans

[Michelle]

Pretty much any cookie! :D Anything with a seasonal flavor in it--pumpkin, cranberry, all of the cinnamon--are always the best.

[LOUANN CHATFIELD]

A nice soft molasses......but of course any other will do..oh.....Scotish Shortbread. ..

[Laure]

My favorite is Andes Peppermint Crunch Cookies (with the drizzled dark chocolate, of course). I love the combination of peppermint and chocolate!
https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/dessert/cookies/andes-peppermint-crunch-cookies.html

[Mindy ZW]

My favorite cookies are Russian Tea Cakes with pecans. Or Rum balls. Either are easy to make and very easy to eat.

[Norma Scheidecker]

For over 50 years I've religiously made Mississippi Mud Bars (many recipes online but I use marshmallow creme instead of marshmallows). These are a favorite as my recipe makes at least 4 dozen and when I add canned icing in green for leaves and red for a flower, they really brighten a plate of cookies for friends and neighbors. http://cantstayoutofthekitchen.com/2012/06/27/mississippi-mud-bars/

[Terri Bringar]

We always bake butter cookies, to cut into shapes and decorate. My favorite is double chocolate mint cookies. Someday, I will bake my grandmother's cookies - Hamentaschen- they are alot of work, and I never seem to have the time!

[Geri Heagy]

My favorites are Mexican Wedding Cookies! I like to make them like a bar cookie in a pan instead of individual little balls. They are addicting!

[Anny O]

My favorite cookies are what my family calls sandies. They're basically crescent shaped pecan shortbread coated in powdered sugar!

[Beth]

Though I did not make these when I was young and living in New Mexico, in recent years I have been making biscochitos, a traditional New Mexican holiday cookie, each year. Cinnamon and anise are the predominant flavors.

[Mary Anne]

Chocolate balls with raisins, nuts, little black pepper and a little rum - frosted with chocolate - yummy!

[Lisa Smith]

I love Peanut Butter Blossom cookies. They are my very favorite Christmas cookie. https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/peanut-butter-blossoms-cookie-exchange-quantity/78806839-e0bd-4710-8b10-82abbece7ce5

[Brenna Delosier]

My mom makes Molasses Raisin cookies. Love them.

[Lisa Loback]

Mexican Wedding Cakes are the best by far!!! Followed by peanut butter with Hershey Kiss on top!!!

[Kelli Layher]

Hmmm...I have a sweet tooth and anything chocolate. I LOVE the sorrow cookies with the cookie press...nice and light and kids love to use the “gun”. Classic!!

[Ann]

Pumpkin chocolate chip..I got the recipe from my BFF, Judy, about 35 years ago and we make them every year!!

[Aimee Brough]

Mmm...my favorite Christmas cookie were the Italian wedding cookies that my grandmother and mother would make. I remember, as a child, being allowed to put the red and green sprinkles on them.

[Elaine]

My favorite Christmas cookies are snickerdoodles that are contain almond paste in the dough. They are so much better than standard recipes for snickerdoodles.

[Wendy]

I love making cookies for Christmas! My husband would eat my lemon press cookies all day. I use the tree disk and color the dough green.

[Kathy (Yarndork)]

My favorite Christmas cookies are from an old recipe of my Mom's. It the kind you roll out and use cookie cutters and we'd make them every year when I was a kid. My mom passed away back in 1994, before I had kids, but I still remember the first time I made them after she died. I was making them to share at work and mixed and rolled and cut out and baked and they smelled wonderful. I let them cool and tried a bite, ready for the memories to flood back. Something was wrong; they didn't taste like I remembered. I messed them up and my mom was gone and I'd never know what I did wrong. I mean, they were edible, just not the taste I remembered. I cried a while and packed them up. That next morning, I opened up the container to repackage them for work, and when the smell hit me I had tears in my eyes. They smelled like the ones my mom would make! I took a bite and they tasted right! Turns out I just had to let them sit overnight...the cookies were not ruined. I still make them every year with my boys...we call them the next day cookies!

[Elizabeth Crow]

I love chocolate chip and snickerdoodles. Recipes passed down for generations.

[Natalie H]

I love Gingersnaps! But I’m a real sucker for sugar cookies with fancy icing

[mellenknits]

My mom only makes these at Christmastime - they are my daughter's favorite, so I will definitely keep up the tradition!
Chewy Ginger Cookies

Ingredients:
•¾ c margarine or shortening
•1 c sugar
•1 egg, well beaten
•⅓ c molasses
•2 c flour
•2 tsp baking soda
•½ tsp salt
•1 ½ tsp ground ginger
•1 ½ tsp nutmeg
•1 tsp cinnamon
For decorating: colored sanding sugar (red or green for Christmas, but white looks nice too)

Instructions:
•Preheat oven to 350 deg F
•Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices – set aside. In a separate bowl, cream together margarine and sugar. Add egg and molasses. Add dry ingredients and mix well.
•Refrigerate dough for 1 hr. Form into small balls (~1 tsp ea) and roll in colored sugar.
•Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 9-10 min. Cool 1 min on sheet before removing to cooling rack.

[Linda L]

Snickerdoodles are my favorite, with snowballs being a close second. My grandmother made Snickerdoodles every year, it just didn’t seem like Christmas until she made a batch!

[Renee Huffman]

My favorite to make are monster cookies (a little bit of everything all in one cookie, oatmeal, PB, choc chips, m&ms) my favorite to eat are Cheryl's sugar cookies!

[Kate S]

My favorite holiday cookies are Pfefferneuese - German spice cookies covered in powdered sugar!

[Sheree]

For me, it's a tie between smore's cookies and chocolate chip toffee cookies. I make both of them and everyone (especially myself) love them!

[Susan]

My favorite Christmas cookie is the spritz thar is put through the cookie press. So buttery. And small so you can eat more than one.

[Annette]

coconut macaroons and snickerdoodles.

[Kathy]

My favorite Christmas cookies are the thin, rolled sugar cookies we always made together growing up. Our aim was always to get the"perfect" cookie ready for my Dad when he came in from milking. They had to be "just so" not too thick or thin with a delicate light brown around the outside. And not too much sugar! Dad passed away in 2015 but so many of my best Christmas memories are about such moments with him!

[Linda L.]

No-Bake Rum Balls.
Because, rum.

[Mel]

Christmas cookies are my favorite tradition! I usually make a bunch of different types, but this year I'm craving Pioneer Woman's brownie cookies. I make them with extra dark chocolate and they're perfection

[JB Pierce]

I always loved the cookies made to look like candy canes. This blogger describes the process of making them: https://homecookingmemories.com/candy-cane-cookies-recipe/

[staci]

Gingerbread! My grandma’s recipe is my favorite.

[Renee Anne]

I'm never sure of what they're called but I can remember getting them at the local craft/holiday fair when I was a kid. They were green Christmas trees and they were delicious (I could eat an entire plateful in one sitting). I don't know that we ever made them but I can remember buying them by plates. My mom liked them so I know they didn't have anything like cream cheese or sour cream in them.....no idea what they were called, though. ::sigh::

[Beverly]

Hands down, rugalach! I love them more than
chocolate, and that’s saying something.

[Faith]

I make shortbread cookies for my parents every year at Christmas. They are so easy and so good!

1 pound butter (no substitutes), softened
1 cup powdered sugar
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch

Cream butter and sugar together. Mix cornstarch and flour, and add gradually to creamed mixture. Pat into ungreased 15x10x1 baking pan. Pierce with fork. Bake at 325 for 40-45 mins or until lightly browned. Cut while warm. Makes about 6 dozen.

[Dana Snyder]

I love the little Russian Tea Cakes! Another favorite are the chocolate ones rolled in powdered sugar! Yum!

[Brenda Michalsen]

Pecan Tassies always remind me of my mom's Butter Tarts so they're my favorite.

[Bonney]

I love pizzelles but I'm getting some great ideas from these comments!

[Jacqueline Taylor]

My favorite are White Chocolate Cherry Chunkies with Macadamia Nuts. It’s a Paula Dean recipe that I saw her make about 10 years ago on her show! Now I have to make them every year and send some to my daughter and her husband! I usually make 2 batches so I ca send some and have some to eat! But I may need to make some Snickerdoodles. I love them and haven’t made any in a long time!

[Alice]

Definitely my mom's thumbprint cookies!

They're a simple shortbread cookie, but before you put them in the oven, you make an indentation about the size of your thumb and add a small amount of jam/preserves. When I was young, we always used my grandmother's homemade raspberry jam. After they've finished baking, you drizzle a little bit of melted chocolate on top

[Jayleen Del Rio]

My favorite Christmas cookies are my Mom’s sugar cookies, talk about frosting each cookie, it seemed to take along time but they tasted so good!

[Sandra Sprouse]

I love the peanut butter cookies with the Hershey kiss on top!

[Sue Kieft]

My daughter makes amazing gluten free sugar cookies, and frosts them with icing containing vanilla bean paste, so it tastes like ice cream. I leave all the other goodies alone so I can have my once a year splurge 😋😋😋

[Linda]

My absolute favorite is the Gooey Butter Cookie. Sooooo good! @lindaperrysmith

[Rebecca]

Mexican wedding cookies, pumpkin chocolate chip, and ginger oatmeal cookies ... yum...

[Crystal Parker]

Plain old chocolate chip cookies!! I make them for Christmas every year.

[Andrea Rademacher]

Maybe odd, but I love the little balls of shortbread, called Russian tea cakes, or Greek Easter cookies, or Mexican Wedding cakes. Same thing, but so multi cultural, they cover just about every occasion. But I always crave them at Christmas 🤶!! 💕

[Terri Filla]

My favorite holiday cookie is actually Keebler's Jingles, light gingerbread cookies with red and green sugar sprinkles that taste great dipped in milk.

[Shelley McClellan]

It's a tie between one called an Almond cookie because you are supposed to put an egg wash with slivered almonds on top. I never have and just want the plain cookie. It's 3 ingredients, butter, sugar and flour. The other cookie is a cookie to me, but in Germany I've been told it's a candy. It is Pfeffernusse (Pepper nuts).

[Susan Eberhardt]

Grandma taught me to make German Springerle when I was little. I’ve made them every year since. My brothers and sisters look forward to them. My father-in-law used to love them, as his mother had made them in the early 1900’s. Such good memories.

[Deborah G.]

I have always loved shortbread cookies, and those beautifully, pillowy, colorfully sprinkled sugar cookies. This time of year, when there is a chill in the air, and you curl up under a warm blanket with a lap full of knitting, having a cup of something nice and warm with a few of those to nibble as you craft away and watch a movie at the same time.

[Michelle Embry]

I'm a big fan of shortbread and sugar cookies. I don't do as much baking anymore since I live alone and don't want too much temtation, but I will occasionally order some Cheryl's Cookies - I especially like there frosted cutouts!

[Marilyn]

I love making Martha Stewart's cranberry shortbread at Christmas.

[MarthaO]

I love springerles (and have probably spelled it incorrectly). I never had them until I was an adult and just crave them now. I never tried to make them but do know which bakeries make great ones.

[Rosemary]

I always make Gingerbread Biscotti, and it's always a big hit: https://smittenkitchen.com/2014/12/gingerbread-biscotti/

[carolyn]

My favorite cookies were the sugar cookies that my grandmother used to make for me and my siblings and that I then made for my kids. Haven't made them in years, but just had my first granddaughter. So, if she doesn't have celiac disease like her mom, I see sugar cookies in my future!

[Stacey Wagers]

I love Spritz cookies. As a child I loved using the cookie gun to form them. It seemed magical that they came out in different shapes. I also liked that they were a bite sized morsel of sweetness you could pop in your mouth.

[Carol]

Shortbread. Ready to go in the oven.

[Elizabeth]

My all-time favorite has to be chocolate chip cookies, made from the recipe on the back of the bag. Sometimes with nuts, sometimes not, sometimes with M&Ms instead of the chips. They're all good!

[Kat Gatzke]

Plain and simple - chocolate chip and peanut butter. 😋

[Katrina]

We love to make several different kinds of cookies this time of year! We make macarons, sugar, peanut butter blossoms, and gingerbread cookies. We always like to try a new recipe every year, and I think this year we will make Spritz cookies for the first time.

[Shirley]

It’s so hard to pick just one, but I guess it would have to be spritz. In a word: BUTTER!

[Kelly Schmidt]

My favorite holiday cookie lately has been m&m cookies made with holiday mint m&ms.

[Amanda Swanson]

We make these ginger molasses cookies every Christmas. My kids love rolling them in colored sugar or Demerara sugar and they are popular everywhere I take them. You can't eat just one! https://www.cooks.com/recipe/ki1ok27e/soft-ginger-molasses-cookies.html.

I've looked for years for the Snickerdoodle recipe my mom used to use before she went gluten free. It was from a book called Country Cakes and I think it had cardamom in the cookies. They tasted like nothing else. I've never found it.

[Sheila]

Shortbread has to be my favorite. I love that they just melt in your mouth. I use a cookie press, to make them bite sized.

[pat]

Cream Cheese Drop cookies. Melt in your mouth delicious. Folks have threatened seasonal depression if I do not make them so of course I make them very year.

[Jennifer]

Gingerbread :)

[Marianna]

Almost all! mexican wedding cakes are a fave though

[Robin J]

Oh this time of year is all about cookies! I love cookie exchanges. I’m not sure I have an absolute favorite but if I had to pick it would be sugar cookies. They taste even better when decorated by your grandkids.

[Bonnie]

Both of my favorites are store bought! I love the Dark Chocolate Peppermint Joe-Joes and the Gingerbread Men from Trader Joe's.

[Donna Stupfel-Smith]

My favorite cookie was a simple brown sugar wafer. I do not have a recipe,but would love one. It was similar to the Toll House cookie base, but very thin and yummy. I haven't had one since I was a child, which was very long ago.

[Mary]

I like to make, and eat, potato chip cookies. They are like a butter cookie,but the potato chips add a nice crunch!

[CarolH]

As a child my mom and I used to make Butter Spritz cookies (the ones made with the cookie press). When I was really little I would decorate them when they came out of the oven, but as I got bigger my mom would let me use the press to create the cookies. I'm now 64 years old, still have my mom's spritz cookie recipe and press and still make the cookies every Christmas season. Thanks Mom!

[Megan]

My favorite family Christmas cookie is an almond shortbread cookie— the dough has toasted ground almonds and a bit of marzipan in it.

My mom used to snscribe to Gourmet magazine, and years ago they had an issue collecting their favorite cookie recipes from each year’s issue. We made most of them, and these Pistachio-Cranberry cookies (flavored with a little orange zest) are favorites as well:
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/pistachio-cranberry-icebox-cookies-236664

[Nicole S]

Shortbread, for sure.

[julie]

My favorite is a recipe my family just calls "Tarts", they are a recipe that has been in my family for decades - a yeasted dough rolled out in sugar with jam or jelly filling. So good!

[Donna]

I love the Ruch Roll butter cookies from the Antoinette Pope School cookbook I got for my wedding shower. They’re so rich (IIRC, they have 1/2 lb of butter in them); you have to be careful rolling them out because the butter makes them get sticky & hard to roll if it gets too warm. The sugar cookie recipe from the same book is almost as tasty & much easier to handle. I used the sugar cookie recipe to make cookies every year with my daughters when they were little. I’d buy red & green sugar, sprinkles, silver dragees, little tubes of different coloured icing, etc for decorating them. I’d make the cookie dough & roll it out. The girls would help cut the cookies out & decorate them. We’d spend all day making cookies (several batches) but end up with about a dozen or 2 cookies because we’d eat the less than perfect ones.