Christmas Cookie Madness!

Over a week ago the baking of the cookies began. This is an annual tradition for many households and ours is no exception. I told Shara & Alan we'd have a meeting after the holidays and see if they were ok with being a cookie widow and cookie orphan. I actually think this year I'm not being as obsessive as in the past.

Caramel filled chocolate cookies

So far, this is the list:
Chocolate

• Caramel Filled Chocolate Cookies
• Pecan Turtles
• Peanut Butter Shortbread Cookies, dipped in chocolate - from:
• Rosie's Bakery Chocolate-Packed Jam-Filled Butter-Rich No-Holds-Barred Cookie Book
• Chocolate Cherry Bomb Cookies - vegan and tasted rather healthy

fruit/nut flavored

Date pinwheels

• Date-Nut Pinwheels - from: Betty Crocker's Cooky Book - brought it back from my mothers a few months ago. Loved this book since I was a kid, mostly for the great pictures. Now I realized that the recipes are rather vague and don't go much into technique. I do know enough now to figure out how much to beat the butter, but for a beginner baker, this wouldn't be a good title, unless it's been updated.
  As for the cookies, these taste great but I need more practice on getting them round.

spicy / minty

• Minty Chocolate Slices - variation on "Red-Hot Chocolate Slices" - think I should have stuck with the original but wanted to keep it more natural.
• Big Soft Ginger Cookies - added in some drained, crushed pineapple and left out the cloves.

sugar / shortbread

• Lemony Slice-and-Bakes
• Jam filled sugar cookies - added some almond extract. - Shara did a wonderful job cutting out the llittle stars in the middle and sprinkling on the sanding sugars. I'm going to fill these tomorrow with a yummy sounding fruit spread I got last week - Crofter's Europe Superfruit. These cookies are really just an excuse to use the spread! 
• Snowflake cutouts w/ sugar cookie icing
• Coconut Dainties - from Rosie's Bakery cookbook (see above)

sweet

• Amaretti Cookies from: Great Italian Desserts, but I used the almond paste my sister gave me last year, which has been stored in the freezer.
• Sesame Honey Lace Cookies - not done yet, but made these before and they're addictive.

other

• Black pepper biscuits - be generous with the flour right at the beginning. Takes at least a cup more than called for.