I thought I would take the next few posts and look back on Christmas cookies of years past. I love making 3-4 types every year and sharing them at multiple family gatherings. And most of them freeze well so I can them a few weekends ahead of time and freeze them to keep them fresh. And then freeze them again after the holidays to enjoy them on cold, dark January nights.

Now I’m sure this is not a Christmas that many of us look back on fondly, but it was definitely one of my most unique and memorable Christmases as it was only celebrated in person with my partner. During the two or three Christmas seasons before 2020, I would have my little sis over to my house to bake and decorate sugar cookies from the Flour Bakery Cookbook. It was one of my most favorite activities with her. We’d have the entire dining room table full of cookies, sprinkles and toppings, and bags of frosting. But for 2020, I had to bake and decorate the sugar cookies by myself, instead of with my little sis, due to COVID-19. A bummer that I couldn’t share that tradition with my little sis, but I wasn’t going to let COVID take away all of my joyful activities so I still made several dozen cookies that my partner and I ate for many weeks.

And given that you can’t make just one kind of cookie, I made 3 other types just because you need variety. So I also made pan-banging snickerdoodles from Bake from Scratch Magazine and 100 Cookies, cookies and cream icebox cookies from Christmas from the Heart, and white chocolate peppermint popcorn from the Pioneer Woman on Food Network.

The pan-banging snickerdoodles tasted like a bakery cookie, but were best on the day they were baked (like most cookies). They were soft, buttery, chewy on the inside with a little crunch from the outside ripples made from slamming the pan down in the ove. And slamming a pan around helped with some of the frustration of being stuck inside and unable to see my family for the holiday season!

Cookies and cream flavor has become one of my favorites in the past couple of years despite chocolate not being my favorite - I just like it in smaller amounts. So when I found the cookies and cream icebox cookies, they were perfect to make. It was basically crushed up Oreo cookies with a shortbread type of cookie base so it wasn’t overly sweet. And they were easy too!

And the white chocolate peppermint popcorn was great as I like something peppermint-y around Christmas and provided some crunch. It also used many sprinkle types which always made things more festive. Since it was a Pioneer Woman recipe (see all of the Pioneer Woman recipes I’ve tried over the years here), it was guaranteed to be easy and good.

What are some of your favorite cookies or desserts to make during the holidays?

Christmas Cookies of the Past - 2020