The next time you realize you totally forgot about the cookie swap you need to go to tonight, make these and everyone will be asking you for the recipe. So easy, so good and they come together in minutes - these cookies are awesome! All you have to do is roll out some pie dough, sprinkle some really good filling, roll it back up and bake. That’s it! It's all the good toppings of a quality ice cream sundae rolled up in a pie crust.
Read MoreMost of my most cherished Christmas cookie recipes come from my mom. She always made a number of cookies for Christmas so we could give them to our teachers and friends. This cookie was always in high demand so she made them every year. It’s very delicate looking because of the fringed edges, it’s dusted with powdered sugar and filled with a delicious blend of coconut, jam, dates and chocolate chips.
Read MoreWhen I’m assembling my cookie tins for Christmas, I like to make a number of different cookies. So, when you open up the tin, there is a little something for everyone. I always include mini chocolate chip cookies, biscotti and tricolors. For a peanut butter lover, I make these peanut butter sandwich cookies from Tom Colicchio’s sandwich chain ‘wichcraft. These taste like the cookies peddled by your local Girl Scout troop but so much better.
Read MoreIf there is one recipe I know my children will remember me by it’s my Italian Tricolor Cookies - my husband Phil's favorite Italian dessert!
This cookie is really a mini cake. Its three layers of thin cake (tinted red, white and green) made with almond paste and slathered with apricot jam. The outside is enrobed in chocolate. You can find them in the case of any classic Italian pastry shop. For years, he would always buy a box from the bakery near our dorm and talk about how it’s the best cookie you could ever have. Even though he loved them, I never thought about attempting to make them at home. It seemed complicated.
Then, about 15 years ago, my mom was sitting in a hair salon thumbing through a Good Housekeeping and came across a recipe for tricolors. She ripped it out and gave it to me. The recipe is perfect. It makes the most delicious tricolor cookies you will ever have. They are even better than the pastry shop’s version. I have been making these cookies, every year since, for Christmas. I hope is that even when I’m old and grey, my children and grandchildren will ask me to whip up a batch of these cookies for the holidays.
Read MoreThis recipe comes to me from my lovely friend Claudia. She is a true Italian girl with both of her parent’s families hailing from the old country, northern Italy and Sicily. Even though Claudia always jokes she isn’t much of a cook, I tend to doubt it because she definitely has some incredible cooking genes. Her father was generous to share a few of his specialties and Claudia has saved many of the wonderful recipes her mother used to make.
Most of Claudia’s mom’s recipes come from her mother, Claudia’s grandmother Mary Zeppieri. Mary came to the US at the age of 25 from Veroli, Italy and raised five children in upstate New York. She was a dedicated wife and mother and always cooked homemade Italian food. Claudia has dear memories of walking to her Nonna’s house every Sunday after church for these wonderful cookies.
Read MoreBy the time mid December rolls around, I’m already knee deep in Christmas cookie making. My kids love making cookies for their teachers, bus driver, friends and family. We package them up in pretty tins and everyone is always appreciative to get a huge variety of all the holiday classics.
My cookie tins are really varied - sugar cookies, chocolate chips, gingersnaps, rainbow cookies, biscotti and struffoli. Every year my children love to make some candy for the tin and for sure, the chocolates are the first ones to go.
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