Day 12: For the last day of the 12 days of Christmas (cookies), I saved one of my new favorites – homemade oatmeal creme pies. These are good. Really good. And they were an accident! (sort of).

I had this great recipe planned for a completely different type of cookie that I was all excited about, and it turned out to be terrible. I knew I couldn’t use it as part of my cookie series, so I was searching the internet for a replacement.

When I stumbled on the idea of oatmeal creme pies, I was hooked. I combined a few different recipes to get what I wanted, and these wonderful, chewy cookies with the smooth and creamy filling are the result. They’re delicious!

Mike was very pleasantly surprised when he tasted them, and they are one of his new favorites as well.

P.S. You can see all of my Christmas treat recipes from over the years at this Christmas Cookies tag. Enjoy! And, as always, let me know if you try any and how you liked them.

Oatmeal Creme Pies

Ingredients:

Cookie:

• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 cups regular uncooked oats

Filling:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 2-4 tablespoons whipping cream
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. For the cookie:
   Preheat oven to 375. Beat butter, shortening, corn syrup and sugar on medium speed until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla extract and beat until blended. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and cloves and gradually add to butter mixture. Stir in oats. Shape dough into tablespoon size balls and place 2 inches apart on parchment lined baking sheets. Press down on each ball to flatten slightly. Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden. Cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes, then remove to wire rack and cool completely.
2. For the filling:
   Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until combined, scraping bowl. Beat on high until light and fluffy.
3. Spread filling on one cookie and sandwich another cookie on top. Eat and enjoy 🙂

adapted from Marzipan Mom and Framed

Day 11: Originally today’s cookie was supposed to be gingerbread men. Cute and classic. But as it turns out, those are a lot of work. And I’m really not artistic (or patient) enough to decorate them so that they look nice. So I went with the next best thing – a new recipe I found online for chewy chocolate gingerbread cookies. Combining chocolate and gingerbread flavors sounded wonderful to me.

The verdict? They’re great. They’re unique and fun, and Mike really likes them. He rated them a 3.75, but then came into the kitchen specifically to tell me “you know, I really like those cookies.” He’s not a big gingerbread fan, so I think that makes these a big success.

If you’re looking for something a little different than traditional gingerbread men, try these, and let me know what you think.

The only thing I’m not sure about is why mine turned out kind of thin and flat. The other pictures I’ve seen are puffy and thick. Has anybody made these before, and can you offer me any advice?

P.S. You can see all of my Christmas treat recipes from over the years at this Christmas Cookies tag. Enjoy! And, as always, let me know if you try any and how you liked them.

Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:

• 7 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate
• 1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• 1/2 cup dark-brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

Directions:

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Chop chocolate into 1/4-inch chunks; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and grated ginger until whitened, about 4 minutes. Add brown sugar; beat until combined. Add molasses; beat until combined.
3. In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 1 1/2 teaspoons boiling water. Beat half of flour mixture into butter mixture. Beat in baking-soda mixture, then remaining half of flour mixture. Mix in chocolate; turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Pat dough out to about 1 inch thick; seal with wrap; refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or more.
4. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Roll dough into 1 1/2- inch balls; place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Refrigerate 20 minutes. Roll in granulated sugar. Bake until the surfaces crack slightly, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

from Martha Stewart

P.S. You can see all of my Christmas treat recipes from over the years at this Christmas Cookies tag. Enjoy! And, as always, let me know if you try any and how you liked them.

Easiest Ever Fudge

Ingredients:

• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Pinch of salt (will add shine to the chocolate)
• 1 cup coarsely chopped nuts (your favorite kind- optional)

Directions:

1. Combine the sweetened condensed milk and chips in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Heat until chips are melted, stirring until smooth.
2. Remove from heat. Add the vanilla, salt and nuts.
3. Pour into a buttered 8x8 inch pan and refrigerate until cool.
4. Cut into squares.

from Group Recipes

Day 9: Despite how I’ve raved about all of the previous cookies in the 12 days of Christmas (cookies), in my mind, these are still the best. They’re a classic, and I’m guessing everyone has had them at one time or another.

A creamy, sweet peanut butter center, surrounded by a smooth layer of chocolate – it just doesn’t get any better than that. They’re a little time consuming, due to the rolling and dipping in chocolate, but you get a lot of cookies out of one batch, and they’re so good that it’s definitely worth it.

If you haven’t made them before, you’ll be surprised at how simple they really are. Mike used to like these, but then he tried his first oreo ball, and hasn’t looked back since. That’s okay – more for me. 🙂

P.S. You can see all of my Christmas treat recipes from over the years at this Christmas Cookies tag. Enjoy! And, as always, let me know if you try any and how you liked them.

Peanut Butter Balls

Ingredients:

• 1 lb + 1 cup confectioner's sugar
• 2 sticks of butter (softened)
• 1 1/2 cups peanut butter
• 1 lb melting chocolate, melted

Directions:

1. Mix first three ingredients together well and form into 1" balls.
2. Dip balls into melted chocolate and place on waxed paper to set.
3. Makes 70 - 80 balls

Day 8: Another Christmas classic – Snowballs, or Russian Teacakes. Surprisingly, this is the first time I’ve ever made these cookies.

I used my faithful Betty Crocker cookbook for the recipe, and they turned out perfectly. Just slightly crisp on the outside, with the characteristic melt in your mouth texture on the inside. And they’re so cute rolled in powdered sugar – they really do look just like snowballs.

These aren’t Mike’s favorites – he claims they’re “dry”, but I like them. There’s something slightly addicting about their shortbread-like texture. They really do melt in your mouth, and that’s something I appreciate in a cookie.

P.S. You can see all of my Christmas treat recipes from over the years at this Christmas Cookies tag. Enjoy! And, as always, let me know if you try any and how you liked them.

Snowballs (Russian Teacakes)

Yield: Makes 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup finely chopped almonds or pecans

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350. Mix thoroughly butter, sugar and vanilla. Work in flour, salt and nuts until dough holds together.
2. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place on ungreased or parchment lined baking sheet.
3. Bake 10-12 minutes or until set, but not brown.
4. While warm, roll in confectioners' sugar. Cool on wire rack. Roll in sugar again.

adapted from Betty Crocker

Day 7: My mom and I have a tradition. Each year on Christmas morning, as we wait for everyone else to wake up to open presents, we sit at the kitchen table, boil a pot of water, and have tea and biscotti for breakfast. Every time I make biscotti, it makes me think of Christmas morning and the indulgent feeling of having cookies for breakfast.

This is my current favorite biscotti recipe. They have a wonderful orange and almond flavor, perfect for Christmas. And just the right texture – the satisfying crunch that you expect, perfect for dipping in tea or coffee, yet not so crunchy that you feel like you could break a tooth.

Drizzle them with chocolate and you have the perfect snack (or breakfast) to go with a hot beverage on a cold winter day. Mike does not like biscotti at all, unfortunately. He refused to try these, and therefore does not have a rating. But trust me – they’re good.

P.S. You can see all of my Christmas treat recipes from over the years at this Christmas Cookies tag. Enjoy! And, as always, let me know if you try any and how you liked them.

Almond Biscotti

Ingredients:

• 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/3 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 large egg white

Directions:

1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into medium bowl. Mix sugar, melted butter, 3 eggs, vanilla extract, orange juice concentrate and zest in large bowl. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and stir with wooden spoon until well blended. Mix in almonds.
3. Divide dough in half. Using floured hands, shape each dough half into 13 1/2-inch-long, 2 1/2-inch-wide log. Transfer both logs to prepared baking sheet, spacing apart. Whisk egg white in small bowl until foamy; brush over top and sides of each log.
4. Bake logs until golden brown (logs will spread), about 30 minutes. Cool logs completely on sheet on rack, about 25 minutes. Maintain oven temperature.
5. Transfer logs to cutting board; discard parchment paper. Using a serrated knife, cut logs on diagonal into 1/2-inch-wide slices. Arrange slices, cut side down, on same baking sheet.
6. Bake 12 minutes. Turn biscotti over; bake until just beginning to color, about 8 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool. Drizzle with semi-sweet or white chocolate for a special touch.

adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Day 6: You are going to love these fudge kiss cookies! These cookies are some of Mike’s favorite cookies ever! He says they are his second favorite (oreo balls are his favorite, in case you were wondering!)

I’ve actually posted about these once before, but the post got lots when I moved my blog over to wordpress. If any cookie deserves re-posting, however, these ones do. That’s how good they are!

They look similar to hershey kiss cookies (also called peanut butter blossoms), but they taste totally different. The mint chocolate combination is ridiculously good, and perfect for Christmas.

The cookie part is a fudgy, dense chocolate cookie with just a hint of cinnamon. They are actually really good all on their own! The candy cane kiss, however, just takes them over the top. It gets soft and melty and the minty white chocolate pairs perfectly with the fudgy chocolate cookie.

The result is a peppermint and chocolate cookie that just melts in your mouth. And, as an added bonus, they’re really simple to make. Believe it or not, they start with a cookie mix! It doesn’t get simpler than that. 🙂

So try these. Believe it or not they actually won a cookie bake-off contest at my company picnic, and Mike also rated them a 4.5. That’s a pretty high recommendation! You are going to love these – they are absolutely perfect for Christmas!

P.S. You can see all of my Christmas treat recipes from over the years at this Christmas Cookies tag. Enjoy! And, as always, let me know if you try any and how you liked them.

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Day 5: What would Christmas be without the traditional molasses/ginger cookie? I’ve actually made these once before for the blog, but it was so long ago, I didn’t think anyone would remember. Plus, I’ve tried a few similar recipes in the meantime, and really, none of them compare to this one. So this one you get.

As long as you don’t overbake them, these turn out to be delightfully soft and chewy, with a great spicy gingerbread/molasses flavor. I, however, did overbake mine. Terribly. The ones you see in the picture are the only ones that turned out well (I finally learned my lesson by the time the last cookie sheet went in the oven). All the cookies stacked up in the back that are out of focus? Those are dry and hard and crispy.

So don’t do what I did. Take these out as soon as they start to look done. Don’t wait for all the customary cracks to appear, they’ll come as the cookie cools.

If you do it right, you’ll be left with a perfectly textured cookie with a gingerbread flavor that makes you think of Christmas. 🙂

P.S. You can see all of my Christmas treat recipes from over the years at this Christmas Cookies tag. Enjoy! And, as always, let me know if you try any and how you liked them.

Ginger Chewies

Ingredients:

• 2 ¼ cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp cloves
• ¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter at room temp
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• ¼ cup molasses
• about ¼ cup granulated sugar

Directions:

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves into a medium bowl and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and brown sugar until smoothly blended, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Add the egg and molasses and mix until blended and an even light brown color, about 1 minute. On low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing just to incorporate.
4. Spread the granulated sugar on a large piece of wax or parchment paper. Roll 1-2 Tbsp of dough between the palms of your hands into a ball, roll the ball in the sugar and place on one of the prepared baking sheets. Continue making cookies, spacing them 2 inches apart.
5. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the tops feel firm, but they are still soft in the center and there are a few small cracks on top, about 12 minutes. Don't overbake.
6. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 2-3 minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Day 4: How can you not like a cookie with a name like “chocolate globs”? These really live up to their name, too.

This is a new recipe I got from the King Arthur Flour baking sheet. As soon as I saw the pictures and read the description, I knew I wanted to make these. And I was right.

They are so soft and rich and full of creamy chocolate chips – it’s like eating a fudgy brownie, but in cookie form. And it doesn’t get much better than that. They are over the top in terms of rich chocolate taste, and I mean that in the best possible way.

Mike seemed to be questioning my choice of recipes, but after tasting them and rating them a 4, I’m pretty sure I won him over. 🙂 Make these. You won’t be disappointed.

P.S. You can see all of my Christmas treat recipes from over the years at this Christmas Cookies tag. Enjoy! And, as always, let me know if you try any and how you liked them.

Chocolate Globs

Yield: 24 cookies

Ingredients:

• 5 oz semisweet chocolate
• 3 oz unsweetened chocolate
• 6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp - 1 Tbsp instant espresso powder, depending on taste
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (*I left these out)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (*I left these out)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Melt the chocolates and butter together in top of a double boiler placed over simmering water. Cool slightly.
3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
4. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs, vanilla, and espresso powder in a medium bowl until mixed together, about 10 seconds. Add the sugar and blend unil thick, about 1 minute. Scrape the bowl. Add the melted chocolates and blend 1 minute more. Scrape the bowl again.
5. Add the flour mixture on low speed and mix until blended, 10 seconds. Fold in the chocolate chips and nuts by hand.
6. Drop the dough by generously rounded tablespoons about 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets.
7. Bake until the cookies rise slightly, form a thin crust, and look shiny, about 13 minutes. Don't overbake, or they will lose their gooey texture in the center. Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for no more than 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool.

Adapted from King Arthur Flour

These oreo balls (sometimes called oreo truffles) are amazing. There’s really no other way to describe them. A soft, rich, fudgy center surrounded by a thin chocolate coating – this is one Christmas cookie tradition we can’t do without.

They’re so simple to make, which is an added bonus. Believe it or not, they only take 3 ingredients! And there is absolutely no baking. You can not get an easier Christmas cookie. 🙂

To make them you crush a package of oreos in a food processor, mix with a softened block of cream cheese, roll into balls, and dip into melted chocolate. And that’s it! You have then produced the most wonderfully rich, chocolatey cookie you’ll ever taste.

We prefer them dipped in white chocolate, but other people prefer milk chocolate. I tend to just make half and half so everyone is happy! 🙂 (You can also make them with mint oreos and dip them in green candy melts – so good!!)

If you haven’t tried these oreo truffles yet, you are missing out. They are a family favorite and one that we make every year for Christmas. Enjoy!!