Ok. I confess. I am a cookie aficionado. So, I’m baking for Christmas and thought I would share the front runners this year. Don’t you love the smells permeating your home around Christmas? The tree, of course, mulling spices, a vast array of candles and freshly baked cookies are all the aromas swirling in the air at our home this time of year. Those smells evoke memories of Christmases past and ones to come!  Ah, I could go on and on but the recipes await.  The first one is a ginger cookie.  This is a great recipe that was shared at my knitting class. Paul says I need to package them. That’s his way of saying these are damn good!

Ginger Cookies

3/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups sifted flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp salt

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare baking sheets. Use mixer at low speed and cream the shortening and sugar until combined. Add the eggs and molasses and beat until completely incorporated.  Sift together flour,baking soda,cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt. Add to the above mixture. Mix until combined. Roll dough into 1 inch balls.  roll the balls in sugar and place approximately 1/2 inch apart on a cookie sheet. Bake 12 minutes.

The following recipe I found on Food 52. I use potato chips or whatever I have in the pantry.  That’s what makes these so lovely. You use what you have on hand. The name says it all. Oh yeah, Paul says to package these also!

“If cookies be the food of love, bake on!”

 Magical Marvelous Memorable Cookies

Makes 24-30 cookies

1 1/2cups unbleached all purpose flour
1teaspoon baking powder
1/2teaspoon baking soda
1teaspoon kosher salt
1 3/4sticks (7 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
1cup granulated sugar
1/2cup light brown sugar
1egg
1teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup granola (or other cereal)
1/2 cup crushed salted pretzel pieces (or other salty snack food)
1cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, chopped chocolate candies, or a small bar of good dark chocolate, chopped into chunks
1/2cup chopped pecans or other nuts, optional
(If you don’t use nuts, you may want to add more cereal, snacks or chocolate to compensate.)
You may want to add a little cinnamon, allspice, cardamom, or whatever you fancy. We didn’t because we wanted the taste of the granola to come through.

Preparation
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. In another bowl, beat butter and sugars at medium-low speed until just combined, about 20 seconds. Increase speed to medium and continue to beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute longer. Scrape down bowl with rubber spatula. Add egg and vanilla and beat on medium-low until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl again. (For this step you can use a wooden spoon or your mixer on slow speed.) Add flour mixture and mix until just incorporated and smooth. Gradually add granola, pretzels, chocolate and nuts, and mix until well incorporated, ensuring that no flour pockets remain and ingredients are evenly distributed. Restrain yourself from eating the raw cookie dough. Scoop dough into balls, each about 1 1/2 tablespoons, then roll between palms into balls. Place cookies on prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 1/2 inches apart, 8-12 per sheet. Freeze at least 20 minutes, or refrigerate at least one hour before baking. (They will still spread a lot.) Bake one sheet at a time until cookies are deep golden brown, 13 to 16 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through. Let cool completely before gently moving cookies to wire rack. They will be fragile, especially on the edges.