BY MARISA BUCOLO
Christmas time is full of lights, laughter, giving, and of course, cookies. Christmas cookies are undoubtedly one of the most important parts of the holiday meal, rounding out the Christmas feast and used as a snack stash for days to follow. Baking them with friends and family is a great way to celebrate the holiday together while prepping for the big day (also making great gifts, especially if it’s a recipe that earns a standing ovation every holiday season). For adults and kids alike, Christmas cookies hold great holiday memories. Between building gingerbread houses and decorating sugar cookies, the oven is on constant cookie rotation, filling homes with scents of buttery, sweet, cozy goodness.
Every year at my Christmas dinner, the dining room table is filled end-to-end with cookies. It’s a hard-fought mission to try them all, especially after a delicious dinner, but the sampling must be done. I have a few family favorites, like freshly baked pizzelles dusted with powdered sugar, rich and creamy chocolate-peanut butter buckeyes, and chewy pistachio-chocolate pinwheel cookies. When it comes to LifeSpice recommendations, Connie, our Senior Regulatory Specialist, loves a shortbread cookie. Shortbread cookies are a perfect base for building other cookie recipes, made on their own for simple cookie satisfaction, or shaped and decorated like trees, angels, and snowmen. Our Marketing Manager, Jessica, looks forward to the raspberry thumbprint cookies her mom makes during the holidays. Jennifer, our West Coast Account Manager, thinks of her mom’s persimmon bars with lemon icing when it comes to favorite holiday sweets, incorporating some fruity, seasonal flavors into the dessert spread. The cookies I enjoy every year are chewy, gingerbread cookies with a light layer of icing and sprinkles, which seem to fit my favorite holiday flavors into one delicious bite. I think the only thing better than having Christmas cookies on Christmas is having leftovers for the lazy days to follow. So, whether it’s one batch or twenty, homemade Christmas cookies are the perfect way to spread holiday cheer to last all December long.
