12 Days of Christmas Cookies – Peppermint Chocolate Cookies

In looking through all of my family’s Christmas cookie recipes, I realized that most of them aren’t, in fact, very “Christmas-y.” Truly, what makes them Christmas cookies is just that we make them at Christmas. While this is totally fine, sometimes, you just want something that screams CHRISTMAS. These cookies do exactly that!

12 Days of Christmas Cookies – Thumbprint Cookies with Bobbie Hampson

My mother in law, Bobbie, is an extraordinary cook. She is the first person I’ve ever known to make cauliflower taste good, and there are some things that I know she makes that I don’t even try to replicate. It would be a fool’s errand! Over Thanksgiving, I of course asked her to teach me to make one of her favorite Christmas cookies: thumbprints!

12 Days of Christmas Cookies – Snicker-doodles with Gina Morando

For today’s post, I reached out to my oldest friend, Gina. When I first met Gina she was a 14 year old that didn’t have the slightest clue how to cook (she used to joke that she didn’t know you had to take the soup out of the can to cook it!), but she has blossomed into one of the finest I know! She bakes literally a dozen pies each Thanksgiving, just for people she loves! This past year, she has begun her own small business. I am so proud of her for taking this leap of faith, and if taste has anything to do with it, she’ll be a huge success! If you get a chance, check out her Instagram account, @BakedbyG, but be prepared to start drooling at the sight of her delicacies!

12 Days of Christmas Cookies – Wreath Cookies with James Hampson

James Hampson is back to tell the tale of his favorite Christmas cookies – the wreath cookies!

From James:

Christmas is absolutely my favorite time of year. In fact, the only thing I am more excited about right now is the fact that my lovely wife thought I did well enough on my first post to ask me to write another one!

Like a lot of families, mine is full of traditions around the holidays. Once we’re done enjoying a Thanksgiving meal, we are all in on Christmas. First thing is first though, finding the perfect Christmas tree is a must. Then we begin playing Christmas songs on repeat. Of course, getting into the Christmas spirit also includes spending some quality time helping my mom (you know her as Emily’s mother-in-law, Bobbie) bake Christmas cookies.

12 Days of Christmas Cookies – M&M Cookies

Probably my favorite part of going to Target during the holiday season is seeing all of the holiday ingredients for baking lined up at the aisle. It is as if the aisle is screaming at us “it’s time to bake! Take me home so I can make culinary sugary dreams come true!” One of the items always available? M&Ms. While M&M cookies are technically something I could make year round, I don’t know if they would taste as good without the red and green M&Ms!

This recipe comes from our friend Ms. Mona. Ms. Mona and her husband, Mr. Paul were the first couple friends my parents made when they moved to San Antonio as newlyweds. Mona was from this adorable, small town an hour outside of San Antonio called Fredericksburg. The recipe came from the Fredericksburg Home Kitchen Cookbook. We often wondered what would happen if we didn’t put the 1/4 t. of water in, but were afraid to leave it out!

I love that we still make this recipe from a dear friend, especially as I have aged. Having moved to a new city twice as an adult, I now fully understand why my mother treasured her friendship with Mona so much! Making friends as a grown up is hard, and making a lifelong one with someone as special as Ms. Mona is a true gift!