Bring on the baking!

Rita DeMontis shares recipes for cookies to bake, swap and hoover while they’re warm.

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Christmas is just around the corner. Trees are up, carols are playing and there is a sense of good cheer across the land.

And what’s a holiday without baking cookies? In a recent survey, Kraft Canada found that 77 per cent of Canadians claim baking is the most important part of the holiday season.

Baking brings families close together and helps to create lasting memories and traditions.

“Cookies return people to the moment faster than anything else,” said Michael Todd, who’s at the helm of a national custom cookie company.

Todd, whose company CookieLovers.com creates beautifully detailed, all-occasion cookies for private, corporate and entertainment companies, says cookies “feed your spirit and baking is one of those traditions that stands the test of time as memories are basically passed down from generation to generation.”

Todd says it was his “Danish grandmother Mitzie who first introduced me to baking cookies — she used a wooden spoon and one of those old-fashioned hand mixers and she taught me about the art of baking the perfect cookie ... those memories never leave you.”

Baking is one of those traditions that stands the test of time as memories are basically passed down from generation to generation.

WARD PERRIN A Christmas cookie exchange is a great way to sample new and delicious treats made by friends and family members.

GAY LEA Gingerbread butter cookies are filled with the flavours of the season and are fun to decorate.