I really only have to make 2 desserts for Christmas dinner & haven't decided yet but I'll probably make 2 or 3 cookie recipes & some spiced nuts. Christmas is really sneaking up on me. I keep thinking there's another week in there but there's not.

I used to be....but every one is low carbing to some extent and the grands won't eat stuff with nuts or fruit....
So I do biscotti to give and for the adults....and sugar cut outs for the kids ( and those adults who try to pretend they are kids!) and maybe ginger cookies for my son.....and the kids eat them too.
I may do rum balls too! LOL!
Linda C

I guess I'm the only cookie-baking nut case in the bunch, LOL. :-)

No you're not, Jen! I've made: the first batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies (second batch is the last to be made - we start and end with them), Mexican Wedding Cakes, Crispy Chocolate Truffles, your Walnut Acorn Cookies, Cranberry Orange Nut Bread and dough for Rasperry Almond Thumbprints and Sugar Cookie Cut outs to be made over the weekend. Next week I'll concentrate on getting ready for company - shopping and planning for 2 Christmas Dinners :)

Cindy

I'm definitely an over-doer.

So far, orange pound cake, fruit cake, peanut brittle, and buffalo almonds. And I haven't really gotten started yet! Still have to make lots of cookies (several kinds), chocolate truffles (several kinds), breads, pies, maybe some profiterols. At least a couple of items per day between now and Christmas. But I'm giving a lot of it away, I swear...

Time to revive this for 2005. I will make six or seven batches of cookies, then box half of them and send to my 82-year old mom. She can't see well enough to bake anymore,but she loves having cookies to offer when she gets holiday visitors. I know it will make her happy. Oh, and I will be using HER recipes. Now all I have to do is decide which kinds to make. I'll try to buy the ingredients now, them bske after Thanksgiving and deliver them to her early in December. I will certainly include chocolate rumballs, chocolate chip, and three-layer cookies.

I've just finished making some Peanut Butter cookies for when my son and daughter-in-law get home on Sat. Will get thru Thanksgiving and then do some Christmas cookie baking.
Eggnog Snickerdoodles, Raspberry Bars, Lebkuchen and some kind of chip cookies.

I always do cookie trays --anywhere between 12-17 different kinds of cookies & 4 candies --for 9 kids & their families--2 married Granddaughters-3 neighbors & 4 close friends. And each year also a gift basket/tray/container etc to the 3 DDs , a couple SILs & a couple of my closest girlfriends of "something" special---different years it was sundae dishes & 5 ice cream sauces ; Raspberry Fudge Yule logs; variety of homemade jams ; Christmas Potholder glove stuffed with bag of homemade cookie mix , a mixing spoon & a cookie cutter ;
4 Chistmas mugs and a variety of flavored hot chocolates & coffee ; 2 oversized soup "mugs" with bags of homemade soup starter mixes or a variety of homemade "cup of soups" . Still trying to make up my mind about this years--- will either be a pretty casserole dish with a variety of rices & dried fruits or a bottle of some Fingerlakes area wine, some variety cheeses & homemade truffles.

Over do? Nah--it's fun & so satisfing .

Diane

I think it's fun too! These are the cookies and candies I'm making this year for give away tins and platters when entertaining.

Chocolate mint cookies
Pecan butter balls (round mexican wedding cookies)
Sugar- cut out in christmas shapes
Tiny pecan tarts
Caramels
Chocolate fudge and peanut butter fudge
Brandy snaps
Coconut macaroons
Baklava
Coconut cherry cookies
Ginger thins
Shortbread
Pinwheels

I gave up on all jam related cookies like linzer and thumbprint because the jam didn't freeze well and or bled into the cookies. And nobody here eats anything with dates or candied fruit.

I love baking for the holidays!

I will bake at least 6 different varieties...I am on this site lookung for new ideas!

The old standbys are:
Choc. Chip
Oatmeal Raisin
Snickerdoodles
Fudge Puddles
Dutch Boter Koek
but am always on the lookout for a New favorite!

Mary aka Tuppermom

Fudge Puddles??? Care to share?

You will love them with whipped cream on top, Ginger! LOL
Mary, have you tried Eggnog Snickerdoodles?

Ginger: Fudge puddles are the best

make a basic peanut butter cookie dough. Refrigerate for about 1 hour. Roll into 1 inch balls and place in greased mini muffin tins. Bake at 325F for 12 minutes or until centers start to depress. As soon as you remove from oven use a melon baller to indent to form a cup. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes then remove to racks to cool completely.

For fudge filling melt 1 cup semi-sweet choc chips, 1 cup milk chocolate chips and 1 can eagle brand milk in top of double boiler. Stir until smooth and remove from heat. Stir in 1 tsp vanilla then fill cookie cups. It can be spooned in or piped in. Garnish with crushed salted peanuts if desired ( I never get that done because my family is lined up waiting for them!)

Roselin: No, I have never tried eggnog snickerdoodles but would love to have the recipe.

Happy baking,
Mary aka Tuppermom

Mary, here are the Eggnog Snickerdoodles-the are very nice and one my "kids" at the ISP love. I think they came from Land 'o Lakes:

Eggnog Snickerdoodles
2 3/4c flour
1 1/2c sugar
1 c butter
2 eggs
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg (optional-but I like nutmeg)
1/2 tsp brandy extract
1/2 tsp rum extract
Sugar mix:
1/4c sugar
1 tsp nutmeg
Mix cookie ingredients. Shape into walnut sized balls. Roll in combined sugar mixture.
Bake 8-10 minutes @ 375. Yields: 4 doz. (and I always double the recipe).

I think I'm just going to make candies this year. I make cookies all the time, so this is my one time of the year to do something different. Here's what's on my list:
buckeyes
peanut clusters
toffee
peanut brittle
peppermint bark (chase's recipe)
chocolate covered cherries (Marilyn's recipe)
tiger butter
coconut cranberry bars (ok-I guess these are in the cookie family)

Tracey, I might do the same, but on a much smaller scale. Maybe peppermint bark, peanut butter balls and I'd like to try a new truffle recipe. I saw one from Ghiradelli in Fine Cooking last month.

What's tiger butter?

Those truffles look wonderful! I did truffles two years ago, I think. They weren't hard, but I hated how messy they were to make. Tiger butter is one of those receipes that doesn't look like anything special on paper, but the flavors when they come together are wonderful. I'm a peanut butter freak, though and I think that's why I like it so much. Here's a page of variations on tiger butter.

I have a list of 18 different cookies and five different candies. We'll have to see how many I get through. So far I have Choc Chip cookies, gingerbread cookies (2 different recipes), peanut butter chip triangles, oatmeal raisin cookies, lemon white choc chip cookies and holiday snowballs done.

I am happy they opened up these forums to everyone. Althouh I do feel bad for those of you that paid. They should reimburse your money. I've been lurking here for about a year. Glad I can share now!

Welcome to the newbies!

Thank you, Jannie, for resurrecting this thread. I'm starting to think about the cookies I'll be making this year. Don't get my wrong (by my original post).... I love every minutue of it. It's just harder now because I don't have a lot of time and I've had back problems that are exacerbated by standing in the kitchen for long periods of time, and my shoulder can't mix the heavy cookie doughs like I used to. That's why we're going to buy an Electrolux mixer tomorrow to do the mixing for us.

Anyway, the ones we always make are:

Walnut Acorns
Cookie-press cookies (with both vanilla or almond extract)
Snickerdoodles
Mexican Wedding Cakes
Chocolate chunk
Cranberry Lemon
Peanut butter fudge (chocolate fudge w/peanut butter)
Gingerbread Men (decorated)

We add or subtract a few others each year..... this year we'll probably add:

Shortbread
Beetles
Oranged Walnuts (my grandmother's recipe)
Peanut Butter w/ Reese's Cup in the center
Graham Cracker Chewies (from Ann T on the Cooking forum.... huge hit with our neighbor last year!)
Chex Mix (love that stuff!)

And probably a few new ones we've never tried before......

am newbie but am doing original homemade pumpkin pie,
cherry-berry pie,,
applesauce cake and,,pb fudge
tk

Both my husband Wayne and I love baking during the holidays. Starts with Halloween and continues through the New Year. Here's our list:
Pies...peach raspberry, pumpkin, bumbleberry, apple caramel.
Mincemeat tarts.
Pumpkin cheesecake
Cherry and pumpkin bars.
cookies...chocolate chunk, peanut butter, spritzes(sp?), sugar cut outs, shortbread-plain and choc. dipped,.
sugared and spiced nuts.
peanut brittle.
truffles.
breads...olive, cinnamon orange, pumpernickel.
Chex Mix, Wouldn't be the holidays without it.
We get the kids envolved also. They like helping and its lots of fun for Wayne and I. Many a time the kitchen has looked like we set off a bomb after one of our marathon baking sessions but I never said I was a neat baker. Is there such a thing?! Enjoy your goodies everyone and have a great holiday, NancyLouise

NancyLouise, would you please share your Pumpkin cheesecake recipe? Our university here runs a restaurant and the PC I had there was just wonderful. It was so creamy it was just out of this world. Thank you.
RL`

Morning Roselin,
Sorry for the delay in posting. We left for my mom's house for Thanksgiving on Wednesday and got back home late last night.
The recipe we used for the PC is a new one which resulted in a less dense, creamier cake then we usually make but still a very flavorful one with no left overs to bring home. Some tips we always do...cook the cheesecake in a water bath. We haven't had a crack in the top since we started cooking them this way. Also my husband only uses "One Pie" brand canned pumpkin puree. He likes that the best. Remove excess water from the puree by placing paper towels on a cookie sheet, spread the puree on top of the pt then put another layer on top of the puree. Peel off the top layer. Got this tip along with the new recipe from Cook's Illustrated.

For the Crust use:
10 graham crackers
3 TBS sugar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3/4 stick butter, melted

For the filling:
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1 15oz can "one pie" brand pumpkin puree
3- 8 oz pks Philly cream cheese, room temp.
1 TBS vanilla extract
1 TBS lemon juice-from a real lemon not a plastic one
5 eggs, room temp.
1 cup heavy cream (next time we will cut back the cream
to 1/2 cup so CC will be more dense.)
9" springform pan
lrg roasting pan or lasagna pan
oven preheated to 325 degrees

Place crust ingrediants- except melted butter- into food processor and pulse until ground finely. Put crust mixture into a bowl and pour in melted butter and mix throughly. Next put crust mixture into the springform pan and press evenly on bottom and sides of pan. Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes. When done take out and cool crust completely on a wire rack.

While the filling is being made simmer water for the bain marie (sp?).
For the filling;
Mix first 7 ingrediants together in a sml bowl and set aside. Put cream cheese in bowl of heavy duty mixer and break it up a bit. Add sugar mixture slowly to cream chesse and scrape bowl and paddle well. Add pumpkin,vanilla extract and lemon juice beat till combined. Scrape bowl and paddle. Add 3 eggs beat on med. speed. When incorporated add the last 2 eggs and beat. When incorporated scape bowl. Pour in heavy cream, beat on low til combined. Scrape bowl. Set mixture aside.
Take the cooled springform pan and wrap bottom and sides in 2 sheets of aluminium foil. Put springform pan in a roasting pan with sides of 3" or higher. Get the filling mixture and pour into graham cracker crust. Smooth top of pumpkin mixture. Carefully pour simmering water into roasting pan until it comes up half way on SF pan. Place in oven and bake at 325. In our oven it took 1 hr and 45 minutes. (Center was still just a tad wigglely) Your oven may be different. When done baking put roasting pan on wire rack to cool. Remove SF pan from water and take off the foil, put on wire rack. Run a thin knife around the crust to loosen it and release the SF Pan. (We left our cheese cake in the SF pan for ease of transportation to my mom's house.)
Hope the directions are understandable. Give me a shout if they aren't. Enjoy, NancyLouise

Yep, I overdo on the baking. I love it. Here's the list I posted on Cooking forum.

I have been baking for the last few days, hope I can get it all done. Have to do the party for employees on the 16th and our Open House on the 18th. My cookbook group will be having our cookie exchange on the 15th and need 6 dozen for that. Have to send cookies to my bachelor brothers and the fancy ones to my mom as well. Then there's the grandchildren, my sister, BIL, and nieces here, and the in laws.
1. Cream Wafers, Pariserwaifer. Everyone one who knows me wants these. Got 12 dozen in the freezer this a.m. (Baked last night.) That's 288 wafers to make 144 cookies and I'm not sure it's enough! They are so boring and tedious to make. At least I don't fill them. Make Norm do that or sometimes give cookies and filling to the recipiant! But it isn't Xmas in my family without them and I'm the only one who still makes em.

2. Swedish Almond cookies. My favorite. They really are the most tedious even if they are slice and bake. Then they have to be filled with currant jam while hot and iced when cooled. And I confess to putting 2 holly leaves and a berry on each one to make them really cute! My mother always put a slice of candied cherry on which is quicker. Only have 5 dozen of them. They will be doled out carefully. Don't put them out at either party and would never make for an exchange! Didn't get any made last year and I missed them.

3. Grandma Catherine's Carrot-Orange Cookies She never made them at Xmas. They were one of her tea party specialties. I started making them at Xmas about 5 years ago. They use baby food carrots or sweet potatoes in the dough and have an orange frosting. 6 dozen in freezer.

4. Coconut Fig Cookies Moist and spicy, nothing like a fig newton! Mixed but not baked.

5. Chocolate Biscotti Trying a new recipe this year. In process.

6. Peanut Butter Rocky Roads A friend needs a non bake cookie recipe so made a pan to check if I still like this recipe. I do!

7. Stareos Chocolate shortbread filled with marscapone. Yum

8. Meringue Stars Meringues with ground baking chocolate. Cuts the sweetness of the meringues and is much more intense chocolate flavor than adding cocoa powder to the meringue.

9. Mexican Wedding Cakes. (Cookie of a 1000 names!)I use pecans and slice and bake.

10. Applesauce Cookies. Another one from Grandma but I may have to try a raw apple bar instead this year.

The easy ones! 11. Oatmeal Carmelitas. My employees want lots of these.

12. Peppermint Brownies A family favorite made with a recipe I stole from a woman I baby sat for! She wouldn't give the recipe even to her mother! Early on I didn't believe in NOT sharing recipes.

13. Nanimio Bars Got custard powder for this year!

14. Fudge, 15. Toffee and 16. Peanut Brittle.

Then there are the cookies that need to be cut out and or decorated! I'm not going to get out all the cutters and sugar until after the parties! I'll still have a week and that's enough time and I won't have get all that mess put away before the parties. We now do Xmas Eve at my sisters and I fly to MN on Xmas Day to be with the grandkids. So who cares if there are dirty cookie cutters and sugar all over the place?

17. Pepperkaker Swedish Gingerbread

18. Sugar cookies

19. Spritz

20. Stained Glass Cookies First made these 10 years ago for my grandson. They are his favorite. Does anyone have an easy way to break up the candies and keep them from sticking together?

And then there are the ones I just want to try or make occasionally. Doubt if there will be any of these this year.

Thanks a lot, NancyLouise, don't know if I can get that brand of pumpkin here but the recipe sounds great.
RL`