Holiday Cookie Roundup 2020

There's no holiday gatherings happening in my part of the world thanks to a certain global pandemic, so instead I've been trying to spread some holiday cheer with a variety of cookie gifts. After all, how can you not smile at a gift bag or platter full of beautiful cookies! It also gives me an excuse to see the masked faces of some of my favorite people, even if the visit is socially distanced and brief.

My fictional holiday cookie party platter. Photo by Daniel Marks

I like to include a variety of flavors and textures in my cookie collections: think sweet & salty tahini shortbread, cool and crisp peppermint bark, melt in your mouth butter cookies, and raspberry jam and nut filled rugelach. Those are just a few of my favorites that I've been passing out over the last couple of weeks.

Here's the full list with links to all of the recipes:

1) Marbled Tahini Shortbread

A combination of black and white tahini gives these cookies their curb appeal, but the real delight is in the sweet, salty, butter crunch of these cookies. One of my favorite cookies. Period.

Recipe:
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020650-marbled-tahini-cookies

2) Vanilla Bean Spritz Cookies

I remember my mom making bright green Christmas tree spritz cookies at holiday time. This is a nostalgic time of year, so when I saw Melissa Clark’s vanilla bean paste and cultured butter spritz cookie recipe on NYT Cooking this year I knew I needed to try it. I dipped my trees in some white and dark chocolate (see first photo above). They’re light, crisp, and incredibly addictive.

Tip: I found it easiest to press out the cookies after chilling the dough for 10-15 minutes inside the cookie press.

Recipe:
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021661-vanilla-bean-spritz-cookies

I used this cookie press:

3) Homemade Peppermint Bark

Well this one is another tribute to mom. She used to send me and my sister-in-law giant boxes of William Sonoma’s famous Peppermint Bark every year. I just love it and she knew it. This year I decided to make my own, and King Arthur Baking’s recipe was super easy to follow. I made it my own by coating the top with dark chocolate leaving the white chocolate as a surprise in the middle. If you have a quarter sheet pan or jellyroll pan, I suggest using it to keep your melted chocolate nice contained.

Recipe:
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/peppermint-crunch-bark-recipe

I used this quarter sheet pan:

4) Raspberry Chocolate Rugelach

This is my second year in a row making this rugelach recipe. Crisp cream cheese pastry around a filling of dark chocolate, raspberry jam and toasted pecans. Absolutely delicious.

For a link to the recipe and a few tips for success, see my post here:
https://www.tblspoon.com/home/chocolate-raspberry-rugelach

5) Gingerbread Cookies

Believe it or not, I’d never made these guys before. I didn’t even think that I liked them for a long time. But a few years ago, I had some delicious homemade gingerbread cookies and I was a convert. I love King Arthur’s generously spiced recipe.

The link to the recipe plus a few tips for making them is in this post:
https://www.tblspoon.com/home/gingerbread-cookies

6) Chocolate Molasses Cookies

This is a recipe that I discovered this year and will definitely be making again. Fresh ginger, molasses, warm spices in a soft, chocolately cookie…I mean, does it get any better than that?

See my full post about them here:
https://www.tblspoon.com/home/chocolate-molasses-cookies

And if you’re still reading this post, thank you! I know that a lot of these recipes are from New York Times Cooking which requires a subscription, but if you send me a note, I’d be happy to share one or two.

Happy Holidays!