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In Search of Christmas Spirit – Day 17

Day 17:  Baking, Again

This is going to be a super short post tonight because I’m headed out the door for my book club Christmas party.  My book club meets once a month and in December we have a party to celebrate the end of the year and to come up with a list of books for the next year.  We also have a Yankee Swap gift game and a cookie dough swap, or as some book club members call it, a “balls and logs” swap.  I’m just going to leave that one alone.

But the cookie dough swap meant more baking.  So I decided to try a new recipe for “Cherry Cheesecake Cookies” a slice and bake cookie from Better Homes and Gardens’ Christmas special issue 100 Best Cookies.  Click here if you’d like to see the recipe on-line.  The dough smelled so good that I decided to bake some of the cookies and they taste as good as they look.

And while I was in baking mode, I baked cookies for the kids to give to their teachers and for their school parties.

First I made chocolate dipped shortbread cookies:

And then I made “Jewel Cookies” using Martha Stewart’s recipe.  Also found that one on-line, click here.  My family calls these yummy cookies “Jelly Filled Dainties” — a name we inherited from my mother-in-law who has been making a similar cookie for years.  I think “Jelly Filled Dainties” is much more festive, but I’m not about to tell Martha.  Either way they are delicious:

By the time I was finished this evening, our kitchen island was covered with cookies and the house smelled amazing!

And now I’m off to my party, Christmas spirit on the rise!