Today my delighful dalliance is devoted to Christmas Cookies! Pretty much all cookies are wonderful, but there is something extra special about Christmas cookies! In my family we have always had "the classics", the cookies we try to make every year. One of our top favorites are Pepperkakker cookies, a swedish cookie that is similar to gingerbread but sweeter with less of a kick. The number one favorite in our house are definitely swedish cremes, but they are so flaky and hard to make that we probably only end up making them every other year. When we lived in Iowa my mom came across a recipe at a cookie exchange for "Butterfinger cookies" which are made by creating peanut butter sandwiches out of ritz or wheat thins and dipping them in melted chocolate (almond bark.) Those became an instant classic. The best part about making cookies is doing it with someone you love, having fun decorating and tasting the "broken" ones.
Every family has different favorites and I think it's fun to see what other kinds of cookies people normally make for their holiday festivities. It's funny what a simple dessert can mean to people, but Christmas wouldn't be quite the same without the old classics. I'll always remember being the "chosen one" to go to the cold garage at Christmas time, open up all the tins and beautifully arrange a plate of all the varieties of Christmas cookies for dessert. Somehow the thrill of that small Christmas tradition still touches me today.
