8 batches of cookies

From easy to complicated

With everyone concentrating on the gifts they plan to give others at this time of the year, we often overlook the smallest of gifts that are always received warmly. I’m talking about cookies. The holiday season is nothing if not a time for the baking, giving, receiving and especially consuming of cookies. They are a vital part of the season.

And they are so easy to make, or at least some of them are. With a good cookie — and

is there really such a thing as a bad cookie? — the ratio of joy they bring to the recipient to the labor of baking them is off the chart.

For the holiday season, I made eight batches of cookies. They range from very easy (sugar

cookies) to decidedly complicated (hazelnut crunch bars), but they all fill you with that sparkling holiday spirit, and calories.

The procedure for making them all is basically the same: You cream butter and sugar, add vanilla and maybe an egg or two, and gently mix in flour, possibly baking powder or baking soda and perhaps a flavor such as cinnamon. Then, bake as directed.

It’s hard to believe that so many different types of cookies can be made from this one fundamental outline.

Here are the eight I made:

Sugar cookies

Yield: About 24 servings

• 2 cups granulated sugar, divided

• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

• ½ teaspoon baking powder

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 14 tablespoons (1 ¾ sticks)

unsalted butter, softened

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 2 large eggs

• Royal icing, (store-bought) optional

Directions:

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread ½ cup of the sugar in a shallow dish for coating and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together, and set aside.

2. Beat the butter and remaining 1½ cups of the sugar together in a large bowl using an electric

mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 6 minutes. Beat in the vanilla, then the eggs, one at a time, until combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl and beaters as needed.

3. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly mix in the flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Give the dough a final stir with a rubber spatula to make sure it is combined.

4. Wet your hands with water, and roll 2 tablespoons of dough at a time into balls, then roll in

the sugar to coat. Lay the balls on two parchment-lined baking sheets, spaced about 2 inches apart. Flatten the cookies with the buttered bottom of a drinking glass, then sprinkle any of the remaining sugar over the flattened tops.

5. Alternatively, roll out the dough ¼-inch thick, sprinkle with some of the sugar and cut into festive shapes with cookie cutters. Place on baking sheets spaced 2 inches apart.

6. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, until the edges are set and just beginning to brown but the

centers are still soft and puffy, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking.

7. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. If desired, top with royal icing.

Per serving: 309 calories; 14 g fat; 9 g saturated fat; 67 mg cholesterol; 3 g protein; 44 g carbohydrate; 44 g sugar; no fiber; 111 mg sodium; 20 mg calcium