Christmas Baking

I always do my Christmas baking the week before Thanksgiving. That way we can enjoy our tradition of eating Christmas cookies and reading the Christmas story from Luke in the candle/tree light the day after Thanksgiving. It also makes holiday parties and entertaining WAY less stressful and WAY more enjoyable! And they freeze up great and are always ready (even last minute)!

We have the ones we make every year and then we try to add a new one every year, too. Here’s the list along with the links to the recipes…

#1- Thumbprints: These cookies remind me of my grandma and is a great way to use that mint jelly I made.

#2- Orange Biscotti: Dipped or drizzled with dark chocolate, these are the best dunked in a cup of coffee or cocoa!

#3- Gingerbread: The boys always help decorate these and they turn out different every year.

#4- Mexican Wedding Cakes:  We called these Russian Teacakes growing up.

#5- Chocolate-dipped chocolate chip:  Chris’ favorite cookies are chocolate chip. So I make these just for him… Well, he does have to share. :o)

#6- Cookie stamp cookies:  I took a class and made these cookie stamps when I was pregnant with Andy and we’ve used them every year since.

#7- Cranberry orange nut bread: This was my great grandma’s recipe and it is delicious and a holiday must!

  #8- See’s Fudge:  This is foolproof recipe that is so good either plain or with mini marshmallows (nuts optional).

#9- Eggnog Cookie Logs:  This is the new one for this year. My friend Annalise posted it on her blog and we’re going to try it!