Cookies are Cozy

The recipes I make every Christmas

Peanut Butter Blossoms

I’m writing this with a cup of coffee in front of me, my dog curled up next to me, and the Christmas tree brightening a corner of the room. This is peak cozy season, and one of the best ways to evoke that feeling is with fresh baked cookies. The cookies and treats I make this time of year are December-only, which might be part of their allure and nostalgia. I look forward to making (and eating) these cookies because of the tradition, the taste memory and delayed satisfaction. They’re even better when you haven’t made them since 2023. Anticipation, my friends.

This is the lineup of cookies I make on repeat this time of year:

• Melting Moments. Not too sweet, slice-and-bake sablé-style cookies, perfect with morning coffee. They seriously melt in your mouth.

• Ridiculously Easy Rocky Road Fudge. Comes together in mere minutes with the help of a microwave—my son’s favorite.

• Peanut Butter Kisses. Soft peanut butter cookies rolled in sugar with melty Hershey’s Kisses on top—my girls love these.

• Grandma’s Date Squares. Crumble-top bar cookies with a date and orange zest center and an oat crust. My dad would be depressed if I didn’t make these for him.

• Peppermint Bark. This was always an easy activity with small kids. White chocolate, peppermint extract, and crushed candy canes: nothing that will stain or get too messy. A microwave and five minutes is all you need. Plus one batch makes a ton, so they’re a nice addition to a cookie box.

Peppermint Bark

There are other holiday cookies I make occasionally as well as a full menu we teach in my holiday cookie class. But the cookies above are the ones that scream Christmas to me.

Last night, I tweaked the recipe for my Cast Iron Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie, which I previously shared in a chocolate post. I replaced the chocolate with red and green M&Ms for an easy holiday crowd-pleaser. Tip: This has a warm batter because you melt the butter in the hot skillet before mixing it with sugar. Make sure the finished batter isn’t warm to the touch before adding the M&Ms or their colored exteriors will bleed into the batter. I’ll attach a PDF of the M&M version below.

Cast Iron Skillet M&M Cookie

Gluten-Free Swaps

Make any of these cookies gluten-free by using Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Baking Flour. If you don’t bake often, store extra flour in the freezer to keep it fresh.

You could remove 1/4 cup of the gluten-free flour and swap it with oat flour, quinoa flour or almond flour. I make my own oat flour by grinding gluten-free Bob’s Red Mill Old Fashioned Oats. You need a high-powered blender to get the oats into a flour consistency.

Melting Moments

Melting Moments

I’ll start with a Smart family favorite. My mother-in-law’s mom, whom we called Popo, would make these during the holidays. I crave them every Christmas and keep a batch on hand, shaped in a log and wrapped in plastic wrap, to slice and bake as needed. The consistency is similar to that of a sablé cookie; it seriously melts in your mouth.

Melting Moments

• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)

• ¹/₃ cup powdered sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla or vanilla paste

• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour, whisked or sifted

• ¼ cup cornstarch

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• Optional add-ins: zest of 1 lemon or 2 teaspoons finely minced thyme or rosemary leaves