‘Tis the season to be merry … and bake … and give out homemade goodies to the neighbors.  I wasn’t going to do this, but one of the guys at work told me his wife was spending the day today baking cookies and was expecting me to do a similar thing.  And then I thought, why not?  So I pulled out all the stops and probably went a little bit overboard …  Check out how I did and feel free to try them for yourselves – most of the recipes are on this website!  If you do try any, please leave a comment and let me know how you did!

Chocolate crackle cookies	Mini pecan pies	White chocolate almond butter cookies	Oatiest oatmeal cookies
Sugar cookies	Peanut butter coconut balls	Gingerbread muffins

Chocolate crackle cookies – crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside.  It’s been a while since I have made these cookies (they’re loaded with powdered sugar), but they were definitely worth the wait.  Get the recipe here.

Mini pecan pies – this is the one that I don’t have on this website as yet, for the simple fact that I haven’t really succeeded in making a dazzling pecan pie yet.  These were close, but still weren’t great.  And they overflowed the mini crusts, so I had to carve them out of the trays …

White chocolate almond butter cookies – an experiment that I made up all by myself.  These have an awesome texture and the white chocolate chips really set off a taste explosion in your mouth!  Get the recipe here.

Oatiest oatmeal cookies – I realised the recipe for these originally came from my current cooking hero – Alton Brown.  And as for most of what he makes, they turned out fabulously!  I did make a substitution with half cranberries and half raisins, just to give it a bit more of a Christmas feel and it was worth the switch.  Get the recipe here.

Sugar cookies – I really wanted to try this recipe and use my new cookie press to make Christmas-shaped cookies.  I managed to get some working, but then had lots of problems with the press failing miserably.  So I just rolled out the dough and cut it out with a Christmas tree cookie cutter.  And then I realised I wasn’t that good at decorating cookies … but they tasted good!  Get the recipe here.

Peanut butter coconut balls – Just to balance all the high sugar stuff … I made these bite-sized balls with just raisins and peanut butter, coated in coconut.  I love this recipe .. and had a few while I was making it for the neighbors as well.  But they’re healthy, right?  Get the recipe here.

Gingerbread muffins – what would Christmas be without gingerbread of some variety?  Again, something I haven’t made for ages but used the opportunity to do so … they were great!  Get the recipe here.

So, if you live near us, or you work with me, please feel free to indulge to your hearts content!

Again, please feel free to contact, share this with others and enter your e-mail address to keep updated with all my cooking adventures.

And until next time, enjoy cooking at home!

Sarah