Five favorite festive cookies!

vintage illustration from my collection

I pondered over what to share today, but decided to link to some of our very favorite cookie recipes.  By now, many people are starting their Christmas baking, and I don't know about you, but I am always looking for a new Christmas cookie recipe to try.  I love to hear about other people's favorites!  So I will share a few of ours with you.

I had shared the link to Chocolate Mint Crisps a few days ago, so we'll call that a bonus recipe.

Photo from Taste of Home

My granddaughter made a batch of these on Saturday.  Instead of Andes mints on top, we sprinkled about 6 of the Toll House Chocolate Mint morsels.  I had gotten bags of these for under 30¢ apiece after Christmas last year, so I had plenty to spare and could skip the expense of the mints.  It worked out great.

Chocolate Spritz cookies, which, surprisingly enough, are not pressed cookies, are another favorite in our family.  I don't have a photo of them, but they are small round chocolate cookies dipped in multicolored sprinkles.  They were a big favorite from my childhood, but my husband adores them.  They're one of his specialties now.  You can read about them here:Chocolate Spritz and the story behind them.  If you do, be sure and look at the comments.  There you will find that another blogger, Terri from Christmas Tree Lane, left a comment saying that her mother had been telling her about these very cookies.  Terri was delighted to find the recipe!

Now, in one of those serendipitous happenings that are such fun, I just was looking through my Gooseberry Patch Cozy Country Christmas book.

I've acquired a number of Gooseberry cookbooks for free by having recipes published in them, but sometimes I forget which recipes are in a particular book.  Well, my Chocolate Spritz recipe in in this one.  And, get this -- Terri, the very same Terri who left a comment on the blog recipe -- also has a recipe published in the same book!  Neat, I thought.

Another of our favorites is Raspberry Almond Shortbread Thumbprints.
 These are so pretty, a shortbread with raspberry filling and an almond drizzle.  They look so nice with other cookies on a cookie tray.

And then there are Eggnog Logs.

Photo from Taste of Home

These are a huge favorite with so many people that I wouldn't dare not make them.  I do change it up a bit from the recipe.  I leave out the rum extract in both cookie and frosting because I don't like boozy flavors.  I shape the logs by hand rather than rolling into a long rope and cutting.  It just works better for me.  The frosting calls for 2 tblsp. of cream, but I usually substitute eggnog if I have some on hand.  And I usually grate some nutmeg on top.

And I can't forget Whipped Shortbread Cookies.  These are a long-time favorite in our family.  I usually dip them in red or green sugar, but they are also very pretty with a candied cherry half on top.  Christmas sprinkles are nice, too.

Photo from Taste of Home

Just one more for now: Double Drizzle Pecan Cookies.

Photo from Taste of Home

I had made these for years as Praline Cookies, nice brown-sugary cookies with chopped pecans and a praline frosting on top.  Then they showed up as a prize-winning cookie in Country Woman, with the added refinement of a chocolate drizzle on top.  I made a batch of these on Saturday as well.  They taste as good as they look!

Hope you will try one or more of these recipes!  Enjoy!

I am linking up today with Sandi's No Place Like Home at Rose Chintz Cottage.  Be sure you go on over and take a look at the delightful links others have posted!  Also linking with the Gooseberry Patch Christmas Cookies and Candy Recipe Roundup!