Tuesday, December 10, 2013

10 Favorite Cookie Recipes


Cookie Plate. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books
It's time to fill up the Christmas cookie plate and here are my choices for buttery, sugary baked goodness from the kitchen. Many are tried and true, like my Scottish Shortbread, a recipe given to my mom from a Scottish neighbor. And Mom's Fruitcake Cookies, sure to make anyone a fruitcake believer. A few new cookies have made their way into the repertoire ~ chocolate gingerbread, absolutely lovely to decorate with pristine white icing, and Nutella cookies with cinnamon for the flavors of a Mexican hot chocolate.

1. Mexican hot chocolate cookies made with Nutella and cinnamon.

Mexican hot chocolate cookies made with Nutella. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

2. My Mom's Fruitcake Cookies These are the best ~ chewy and buttery, with your favorite candied fruits.

Fruitcake cookies. Lucy Mercer/ A Cook and Her Books


 3. Shortbread cookies with candied cherries.

This is my favorite shortbread recipe topped with traffic light-colored candied cherries. Buttery and light.

Shortbread cookies with candied cherries. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books
 4. Glazed lemon thins Crisp and lemony. This dough can be refrigerated and brought out when you need just a dozen or so cookies.

Glazed lemon thins. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books
5. 100 Cookies. That's the name for this everything-but-the-kitchen-sink cookie. Oatmeal, coconut and toffee bits make these cookies a sweet, sandy-textured treat.


100 Cookies. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books
6. Crispy, sweet date candies. Not really a cookie, but I make them each year and hide them in the back of the fridge to bring out for special friends, or just myself.

Crispy date candies. Lucy Mercer/ A Cook and Her Books

7. Christmas Cut-Out Cookies . It's a fact that the best-tasting cookies are always the most homemade-looking. Forget trying for food magazine perfection, stir up some bowls of neon-colored icing, get out all the sprinkles and let the kids have fun decorating the cookies.

Christmas cut-out cookies. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books
8. Ginger cookies with raspberry jam. My all-time favorite cookie, even above oatmeal raisin and chocolate chip. A soft, spice cookie with a chewy circle of jam, homey and utterly addictive.

Ginger cookies with raspberry jam. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 9. Pecan tassies. These sweet, Southern treats are like mini pecan pies, plunked down in a tender cream cheese pastry. I used macadamias instead of pecans here, but just substitute an equal quantity of rich, Georgia pecans for the nuts for a delicious treat.

Macadamia-rum tassies. Lucy Mercer/ A Cook and Her Books.



10. Chocolate Gingerbread. A new favorite adapted from Food & Wine magazine ~ spicy gingerbread meets chocolate. They were meant to be together.

Chocolate gingerbread. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

I hope you enjoy your holiday baking and perhaps give one or two of these a try. Please let me know your holiday must-bake cookies in the comments below.


2 comments:

Terry said...

I pulled out my Fruitcake Cookie recipe and was shocked (didn't remember it called for 5 eggs)and totally vetoed it and used your recipe!
They are wonderful and only made 5 dz which was perfect!
Thanks for sharing all these great cookie recipes!

Lucy Mercer said...

Thanks, @ Terry! Another convert to this recipe!