JOY OF COOKIES: READERS’ RECIPES
In what has become our annual tradition, we share recipes from readers for great holiday cookies
In December, we bake.
The holiday season that invites joyous, familial emotions into our homes also brings cookies to our kitchen. The tradition of holiday cookie baking — whether it’s for the neighborhood cookie swap, after-church gatherings, office party, decorating with the kiddos or sending sweet bites to loved ones far away — is strong.
Our subscribers think so, too.
We asked Houston Chronicle readers to share their favorite cookie recipes, and we were graced with delicious abundance. We tested many and narrowed our favorites to 13. Flavorwise, they spoke to the season in which baking spices, chocolate, citrus and nuts sing in culinary harmony. Some came with notes about how the particular cookie figured in their family’s holiday celebrations — underscoring the power of a single, sweet mouthful.
We thank all our generous bakers for sharing their recipes (some of you we’re happy to see submit great ideas each year). We got three recipes that used chopped orange slices — yes, those nostalgic orange jelly candies — which we’ve never seen baked into a cookie. We settled on Carol Rhodes’ Forever Amber cookies and were delighted with the results.
You might find yourself adding several of these recipes to your cookie-recipe file. Like a gift from the heart, they might figure into your own seasonal traditions.
Greg Morago, Marcia Ogasawara, Elizabeth Pudwill, Bridget Schmal and Jody Schmal tested recipes.