I can’t believe it’s already day 12 of the 12 Days of Christmas Treats! I spend so much time baking cookies and taking pictures ahead of time and then it seems like the actual 12 days of posts goes so quickly! But at the very least, I saved one of the best cookies for last.

These gingerbread cookies are thick and chewy, almost like a cookie form of gingerbread cake. The white chocolate center just makes them even more delicious. White chocolate and gingerbread go together perfectly and these cookies are no exception.

These gingerbread cookies are a great treat for Christmas and out of all the treats I made this year, these cookies were some of our favorites!

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.

White Chocolate Topped Gingerbread Cookies

Yield: about 5 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour
• 2 tsp. Ginger, Ground
• 1 tsp. Cinnamon, Ground
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. Nutmeg, Ground
• 1/4 tap salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
• ~8 oz white chocolate, cut into small chunks

Directions:

1. Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, beat butter and brown sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add molasses, egg and vanilla and beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed.
3. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and roll in granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies just begin to brown. Immediately press a chunk of white chocolate into the center of each cookie. Leave on the cookie sheet until the chocolate begins to melt. Use the back of a spoon to swirl it into a little chocolate puddle. Remove cookies to wire racks; cool completely. Store cookies in airtight container up to 5 days.

adapted from McCormick, via Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

Are you guys tired of seeing recipe for truffles yet? Trust me when I tell you that these are too easy and too good not to include in the 12 Days of Christmas Treats! I’m serious when I say they’re easy – there are only 3 ingredients (not including the sprinkles, etc for coating the outside)!

The end result is creamy, fudgy, minty and all around delicious. As you can see I was having a hard time being consistent and I used all kinds of things to coat the truffles. The adult taste testers seemed to favor the powdered sugar coated ones, and the kids liked the ones with sprinkles (of course). I liked them all!

If you need an easy Christmas treat as the days get busier, give these a try – I’m sure they’ll be a hit!

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.

Mint Truffles

Yield: 24 truffles

Ingredients:

• 1 package (10 oz) mint chocolate chips (I used the andes mint chips)
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• Chocolate Sprinkles for coating*

Directions:

1. Line baking sheet with waxed paper and set aside.
2. Melt chips with whipping cream and butter in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally. Pour into a bowl and refrigerate until mixture is fudgy, but soft - about 2 hours.
3. Shape about 1 Tbsp of mixture into a 1 1/4 inch ball. Roll in chocolate sprinkles to coat and set on waxed paper.
4. Repeat with remaining mixture. Store in the refrigerator or freeze for longer storage.

*Note: As you see in my pictures, the truffles could also be coated with powdered sugar, cocoa powder, chopped nuts, sprinkles, or cookie crumbs.

These cookies are exactly what they sound like – flaky cookies with peppermint creme filling. Yum! The outside cookie part is buttery and light and tastes just like puff pastry.  The inside is creamy, minty and fluffy. The two parts pair together perfectly to create a melt in your mouth cookie experience. 🙂

These cookies were actually easier to make than I expected. I used mini Christmas cookie cutters to make them a little extra festive. I think I’d skip the candy cane cookie cutter next time though – I don’t know if you can tell from the pictures, but those ones were pretty messy. These were a lot of fun to make and entirely too easy to eat.

I used a sandwich bag to pipe the filling onto the cookie to speed up the process a little bit and it worked great. Mike wasn’t a huge fan of these but I absolutely loved them. The only problem I had was that I kept eating the ones I deemed too messy to give away.  I have no willpower when it comes to cookies!

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.

Flaky Peppermint Creme Filled Cookies

Yield: 5-6 dozen

Ingredients:

Cookies:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup cold butter, cubed
• 1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, cubed

Creme Filling:

• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 2/3 cup marshmallow creme
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
• 1 drop red food coloring (optional)

Directions:

For the cookies:

1. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in cold butter and cream cheese until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Shape into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or until easy to handle.
2. One a floured surface, roll dough to 1/2-in thickness. Cut with a floured 1 1/2-in cookie cutter. Place 2 in. apart on parchment lined baking sheets.
3. Bake at 350 for 9-10 minutes, or until light golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

For the creme filling:

1. In a large bowl beat softened butter and marshmallow creme until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar. Beat in peppermint extract and drop of red food coloring, if using.
2. Spread creme mixture on the bottoms of half of the cookies. Top with matching cookies. If desired, roll edges of cookies in crushed candy canes.

from Taste of Home, November 2011

By now I’m guessing most people have tried the ever popular oreo truffles that appear around this time of year. (If not, you need to make some!). Well these nutter butter truffles are the same general idea, just made with nutter butters instead of oreos!

I saw this idea awhile ago on a random website (sorry, I can’t remember where!) and bought a package of nutter butters when they were on sale a few weeks later.

The little peanut butter cookies proceeded to sit, unopened, in my cabinet until I started planning the 12 Days of Christmas Treats. All of a sudden I remembered them and just knew that nutter butter truffles would show up as one of the treats.

I happily surprised when I finally got around to making these cute little truffles. They are smooth and creamy on the inside, and the white chocolate coating is a great accompaniment to the peanut butter filling. The cream cheese keeps these from being too sweet, and they are not quite as peanut buttery as traditional peanut butter balls.

Mike actually prefers these over peanut butter balls, but if I had to choose I still think I’d choose the traditional peanut butter balls over these new truffles. It would be a tough choice though! If you’re looking for something new and different (and cute), give these a try. They’re easy and delicious!

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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These chocolate drizzled shortbread bites are so simple to make but they taste so good! The shortbread has the perfect melt-in-your-mouth texture and the chocolate on top adds a great festive touch.

I was so happy when these turned out just as I was hoping. I love the idea of chocolate and shortbread together, and making the combination into little bite sized cookies is a great idea for cookie trays and parties.

I took these into work with a few other cookies for a Christmas party we were having, and was so surprised when these were the first to go! They don’t seem as fancy or as rich as other cookies I made so it was surprising to me that these were the ones my coworkers were raving about.

Even though these cookies look simple, they would make a great addition to your cookie trays!

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 Drizzled Shortbread Bites

Yield: 60 cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour, plus more for dusting
• 1/2 pound unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, firm but not cold
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• chocolate for drizzling (I used candy melts, but you could use chocolate chips or baking chocolate - just be
• careful not to overheat it in the microwave)

Directions:

1. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment and dust 1 with flour. Using an electric mixer on low speed, beat together 2 cups flour, the butter, sugar, cornstarch and salt until the dough just comes together, about 2 minutes. Do not overbeat.
2. Transfer the dough to the floured baking sheet and press into an 8 1/2-inch square about 1/3 inch thick. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Prick the dough all over with a fork. Cut into 1-by-1-inch squares and refrigerate until cold, about 15 minutes.
3. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 275°. Divide the cookies among the remaining 2 prepared pans and bake 1 pan at a time, keeping the other refrigerated, until the bottoms of the cookies are golden, 30 to 35 minutes; let cool completely.
4. Melt chocolate carefully in the microwave, being careful not to burn it. Drizzle the chocolate over the cooled shortbread.

shortbread recipe from Rachael Ray

I dare you to look at that beautiful rich chocolate in the picture above and not want to make these cookies. If you succeed, you have more willpower than me!

From the moment I saw these cookies on Pinterest (I have an addiction!), I just couldn’t resist. And once I made them, I couldn’t resist eating them. You don’t want to know how many of these I ate. Well, maybe you do want to know, but I don’t want to tell you. 🙂

I love these cookies.  Are you tired of me saying that yet? Because really, I love everything I share on here. But these chocolate truffle cookies are really really good. Intense. Rich. Chocolatey. They really do taste like a truffle in cookie form. And, if you’re anything like me, a truffle in cookie form is almost too good to be true.

Try these and let me know what you think! 🙂

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 Truffle Cookies

Yield: about 4 1/2 dozen.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups butter, room temperature
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups chocolate chips
• approx. 1/3 cup cocoa powder (for rolling)
• approx. 2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar (for rolling)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Sift in cocoa powder and salt, and mix well. Beat in sour cream and vanilla extract. With the mixer on low, blend in flour. Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and roll in the cocoa powder and place on baking sheet. (If the dough is hard to handle, refrigerate the dough for 30-60 minutes before shaping the cookies.) Bake for 10 minutes or until cookies are just barely set. Let cool on baking sheet for 3-5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. When cookies have reached room temperature, after about 30-45 minutes, roll in powdered sugar until completely coated. Store in an airtight container.

from Baking Bites

Growing up, biscotti were an integral part of our Christmas cookie collection. I’ve written about them before (a more traditional version – wonderful!), but this one is different enough to warrant it’s own recipe post as part of the 12 Days of Christmas Treats.

These peppermint flavored cookies, (complete with crushed candy canes inside them) are perfect for Christmas morning. I love waking up on Christmas morning and having biscotti and tea for breakfast, and this year, these are on the menu.  I shared some with my mom over Thanksgiving and she went so far as to say they were the best biscotti she’s ever had!

Sweet and crunchy, these biscotti have a great peppermint flavor, and would be perfect dipped into a steaming cup of hot chocolate. And best of all, they make your whole house smell like Christmas as they’re baking. 🙂

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.

Candy Cane Biscotti

Yield: 4 dozen small cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup finely crushed peppermint candy canes (about 8 candy canes)
• White Chocolate for drizzling
• Extra crushed candy canes, for garnish

Directions:

1. Pre-Heat oven to 350°F. In a medium sized bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.Combine butter and sugar in large bowl and beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs. With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture, beating until just combined. Stir in crushed candy.
2. Divide dough into fourths on lightly floured surface with lightly floured hands. Shape each into 9x1 1/2-inch logs. Place logs 3 inches apart onto lightly greased large cookie sheet. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until tops are cracked and ends just start to turn light brown. *Note: For larger cookies, as you see pictured here, divide the dough in half and shape into two logs. You will have to bake them slightly longer than instructed above.
3. Remove from oven; reduce oven temperature to 325°F. Cool logs 10 minutes on cookie sheet.
4. Carefully remove logs to cutting surface. Cut into 1/2-inch slices with sharp serrated knife. Arrange pieces on same cookie sheet, cut-side down. Continue baking for 12 to 14 minutes, turning once, or until cookies are lightly browned and crisp on both sides. Remove to wire cooling rack; cool completely.
5. Melt the chocolate in the microwave in short intervals, then drizzle over the biscotti. Sprinkle extra crushed candy canes on top if desired. *Note: I used a little bit of white chocolate and a little bit of peppermint crunch chips to drizzle.

adapted from Land O Lakes

These Chocolate Covered Cookie Dough Pops just might be my favorite Christmas treats I’ve ever made. They’re just so cute! And Christmas-y! Oh, and the fact that they are little balls of cookie dough, dipped in chocolate, and covered in sprinkles doesn’t hurt either. 🙂

Even better, these are so easy to make.  I got the idea from Kevin and Amanda and the cookie dough center is actual cookie dough, but with 2 Tbsp of milk substituted for each egg so they’re safe to eat. They taste exactly like the cookie dough you swipe from the bowl as you’re baking cookies.

I used a plethora of Christmas sprinkles to decorate, but these are easily customizable and feel free to decorate however you want. I think that drizzled chocolate on top would be cute, or you could dip them in white chocolate, then draw snowman faces with icing. So many ideas!

Clearly I was a little sprinkle obsessed and had a great time decorating these treats. What I won’t show you is a picture of my counter absolutely covered in sprinkles. As I mentioned  last week, I also won’t be talking about how much money I spent on Christmas sprinkles at the grocery store, or how many little sugary bits Scamp ate off the floor as I decorated these. 🙂

These were a blast to make, very simple to decorate, ridiculously cute, and of course, delicious. Give these a try this year for Christmas and I guarantee they’ll be a hit. 🙂

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 Covered Cookie Dough Pops

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 Tbsp milk
• 2 cups mini chocolate chips
• chocolate, for dipping. (I used vanilla candy melts)

Directions:

1. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl and set aside. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in milk. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.
2. Roll into small balls and refrigerate until firm. If using lollipop sticks to dip, add the sticks before refrigerating.
3. Carefully melt the chocolate in the microwave, stirring until smooth. Using a lollipop stick or a toothpick, dip the cookie dough balls in the chocolate then cover with sprinkles.
4. Stand upright until chocolate is dry or place on waxed paper.

idea from Kevin and Amanda, recipe from the Toll House Chocolate Chip Bag

These peanut butter pretzel bites are like a cross between a peanut butter ball and a chocolate covered pretzel. Doesn’t that sound amazing? With a combination of peanut butter, chocolate, and pretzels, how can you go wrong?

I enjoyed making these treats not only because they tasted great, but also because they were incredibly simple and very cute. You can use any type of pretzels you want – traditional pretzel shapes would work great, as would the little square ones. I happened to find Christmas shaped pretzels at Meijer, which made these little treats extra cute!

These peanut butter pretzel bites are quick to prepare and addicting once you start eating them! Mike’s actually not a big fan of peanut butter desserts (crazy, right??) so I was unsure of how these would rank in his book. I’m pretty sure they were his least favorite of the treats I made this year, but that just meant more for me and all the other normal people who like peanut butter treats. 😉

I took most of these to a church get together and the overwhelmingly positive reaction convinced me that these treats needed to be shared on the blog as soon as possible. 🙂 Everyone (other than my crazy husband) LOVED these! So enjoy! I’m positive these peanut butter pretzel bites would make a fun and tasty treat this Christmas. 🙂

**Since I originally posted this recipe, this has consistently been one of my highest traffic posts for the holidays. Everyone loves these, year after year. Now that’s the mark of a good recipe!**

*Note: you can find the holiday shaped pretzels on Amazon!

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 Pretzel Bites

Ingredients:

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons softened butter
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• Pretzels (You can find the holiday shaped pretzels on Amazon)
• 1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with wax paper and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat peanut butter and butter until combined. Scrape down bowl, add sugars and beat until combined. You should be able to roll the mixture into balls without sticking to your hands. If needed, add more powdered sugar until you reach a consistency that is easy to roll.
2. Roll the mixture into small balls, about 1 teaspoon of mixture for each ball, and place on prepared baking sheet. Sandwich the balls between two pretzels and place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
3. Melt the chocolate in a metal bowl over a pan of lightly simmering water. Stir occasionally until smooth, and remove from heat.
4. Dip each pretzel bite halfway into the melted chocolate and place on the prepared baking sheet.
5. Chill in refrigerator until chocolate is set.

http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/2011/03/25/peanut-butter-buckeye-pretzel-bites/

For all 12 Days of Christmas Treats click here!

I found these molasses ginger cookies on Pinterest sometime during the Fall and just knew they would make it into my Christmas line-up.  If you look back through the years you’ll notice that I tend to post a new molasses ginger cookie every year (spoiler alert – this year I have two!), but I can honestly tell you that this is my favorite of the ones I’ve posted so far. It’s just so classic. The flavor is perfect and the cookie itself is soft and chewy. It’s a great cookie to transition from Fall to Winter.

I got the recipe from A Sweet Spoonful, and if you check out her site you’ll notice that her cookies are much thicker than mine. I don’t know if I did something wrong, but I made these 2-3 times and every time they turned out like you see in the pictures here. I’m not complaining however, because Mike and I both absolutely loved these cookies.

Whether they turn out fat and puffy or thin and chewy, it doesn’t matter. I recommend these spicy cookies either way. 🙂

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.

Molasses Ginger Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup molasses
• 3 1/4 cups bread flour
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven at 350 F.
2. In the bowl of a stand-mixer or in a separate bowl using electric beaters, cream the butter and sugar until well combined, about one minutes. Then add the egg and molasses and mix until just combined, 20-30 seconds. Add all of the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated (don’t overmix here).
3. Using a large tablespoon or ice cream scoop* portion out roughly 2 ounce balls and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the tops and edges are golden brown and slightly crackled. The very center can remain slightly soft and even just a tad jiggly. When the cookies cool, they will firm up, leaving the inside and center wonderfully soft.

from A Sweet Spoonful