Double Gingersnaps

These are gingery and crunchy—just like good gingersnaps should be. They keep well, too, making them great for baking in advance and freezing or for mailing.

Posted in Christmas cookies, Cookie exchange recipes, Drop cookies, Molasses spice | Leave a comment

Apricot Bars

These apricot-filled bars are rich and sweet, so you can cut them smaller than many other bar cookies.

Posted in Bar cookies and squares, Cookie exchange recipes | Tagged | Leave a comment

Eggnog Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles, sugar cookies with a crackled top popular in the Midwest, are normally dusted with cinnamon sugar. Adding a bit of rum flavoring and replacing most of the cinnamon with nutmeg gives a flavor reminiscent of eggnog.

Posted in Cookie exchange recipes | Leave a comment

Our cookie exchange cookbook

Very Merry Cookie Party: How to Plan and Host a Christmas Cookie Exchange has just been published by Chronicle Books. Barbara Grunes and I worked very hard to make this a great book. As the title suggests, we offer suggestions on planning and hosting an exchange, but the book’s real treasure is the recipes. We [...]

Posted in Miscellaneous tidbits | Leave a comment

Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies

Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies

This is the traditional sandy-crunchy peanut butter cookie. You can use all butter instead of butter and shortening, but the shortening makes a crunchier cookie.

Posted in Drop cookies, Peanut butter cookies | Leave a comment

Linzer Bars

Both gooey and elegant, with their jewel-like filling, Linzer Bars make an ideal cookie for the holidays—or any time of year.

Posted in Bar cookies and squares, Christmas cookies, Filled cookies | Leave a comment

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie, Revised

This is my variation on the classic Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe. It makes a cookie that is a bit less sweet and a little thicker and softer than the original. I also like to make the cookies a bit larger.

Posted in Chocolate chip cookies | Tagged | Leave a comment

No Bake Butterscotch Pecan Cookies

The most popular version of this recipe calls for crushed cornflakes, but I’ve always liked the combination of oats and butterscotch, so I use toasted oats cereal (such as Cheerios).

Posted in Easy cookies, No bake cookies | Tagged | Leave a comment

Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie

There are tons of chocolate chip cookie recipes out there, but it’s hard to beat the original recipe, still found on packages of Nestle Toll House Morsels. This recipe yields the classic chocolate chip cookie, crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside. I often play with the recipe just a bit to make the cookies a bit less sweet and a little thicker and softer; check out my revised version of the classic chocolate chip cookie.

Posted in Chocolate chip cookies | Tagged | Leave a comment

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

Cream cheese gives sugar cookies a marvelous flavor. It also makes the dough softer and stickier. The dough needs to be cold when these are rolled out; if it begins to stick, return it to the refrigerator for a while.

This dough is used in Shining Star Cookies.

Posted in Christmas cookies, Sugar cookies | Leave a comment

  • NEW! Get a collection of our favorite chocolate cookie recipes for the Kindle


    Our collection of favorite Christmas cookie recipes (good anytime of year) for the Kindle or the NOOK.

    Now in print! Recipes and tips for cookie exchangers



Switch to our mobile site