Ever since I was a little girl, the image of my grandmothers in their kitchens has always been vivid in my mind. Hair neatly curled, slippers on their feet, and aprons tied lightly around their hips. Their love of baking, for the holidays in particular, is something I have always appreciated.
And maybe it’s a rite of passage as a grandmother, because now my mom is doing all the baking and she enjoys her granddaughters helping her. As an adult, I find some Christmas magic in watching my mother move about the kitchen, sifting ingredients and stacking baked goods on every open counter space. Even my mother in-law and I share with each other the latest tasty recipes we have tried and chat about the current baking show episodes we are streaming.
Quite frankly, the kitchen has always been a sacred area of our home, especially during the holiday season. The smell of fresh cinnamon lingers through the air as the butter sizzles in the pan. The caramel bubbles to the perfect temperature as the melted chocolate smoothly spreads across the parchment paper. Flour dusts the countertops and the refrigerator consistently houses eggs and milk.
Every holiday cookie tray deserves a variety of cookies for the center of the dessert table. Whether it’s gingerbread cookies for the grandkids to construct their yearly masterpiece, sugar cookies for Santa, or a mix of the latest creation for the neighbors next door, holiday baking spreads endless love and magic, regardless of the recipe.
Here are 10 simple Christmas cookie favorites, from classic to fun, to try this season.
Whether you are baking while wearing your grandmother’s favorite apron, making memories with your grandchildren, or destroying your kitchen with your children, may each holiday cookie you bake this season bring a little extra love to your heart and a sprinkle of sweetness to the world.
Peanut Butter Kisses
1 Bag Hershey’s Kisses (foil removed)
½ C shortening
¾ C peanut butter
1/3 C granulated sugar
1/3 C packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1½ C flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1/3 C additional granulated sugar for rolling
Cream the shortening and peanut butter until well blended. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk, and vanilla; beat well. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually add the dry ingredients into the peanut butter mixture. Roll 1” peanut butter balls in granulated sugar. Place the cookie dough balls on an un-greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375°F for 8-10 minutes. Immediately press an unwrapped Hershey’s chocolate Kiss into center of each cookie. Move from cookie sheet and cool.
Sugar Cookies
1 C butter, softened
½ tsp almond extract (optional)
2½ C flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add in the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract; beat until combined. Add in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until just combined. Roll dough into 1″ balls and roll in sugar. Place on baking sheet about 2″ apart. Bake at 350°F for 10-11 minutes.
S’mores cups
1 C graham cracker crumbs
1¼ C flour
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt (use ½ teaspoon if using unsalted butter)
½ C butter, softened
½ C brown sugar
1/3 C sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
12 large marshmallows, cut in half
2 Hershey’s chocolate bars
Combine graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir and set aside. In larger bowl, blend the butter, brown sugar, and sugar until creamy and combined. Add in egg and vanilla extract. Mix well. Dump in the bowl of dry ingredients, mix just until combined. The dough will be crumbly. Scoop dough into the mini muffin tins. Fill them full and press down slightly so the dough is even on top. Bake at 350°F for 8 minutes. Immediately after baking, place your chocolate and a half of marshmallow into muffin cups. Turn the oven broiler to high. Place muffin tin pan under the broiler for 1-2 minutes. Watch carefully. This toasts the marshmallows fast!
Sprinkle Cookie Cups
1¼ C unsalted butter, softened
1½ C powdered sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2½ C flour
¼ C red sprinkles
¼ C green sprinkles
1 jar of frosting (or make your own)
Beat butter for 1 minute. Add the powdered sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat until creamy (2-3 minutes). Beat in the egg and vanilla. Then beat in the flour until just combined. Divide the dough into two portions. Stir in the sprinkles. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls. Then, press the balls into the prepared mini muffin pan. Press each dough ball with your thumb. Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and press the centers with the rounded side of a measuring teaspoon. Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Then remove to finish cooling on a wire rack. Use a piping bag to frost the cooled cookies. Top with additional sprinkles.
Spread a teaspoon of peanut butter onto one cracker. Place another cracker on top. Melt the chocolate and coat the peanut butter cracker. Place on parchment paper to set. Optional: after coating with chocolate, sprinkle with various toppings.
Holiday Bark
1/3 C peanut butter
1 C brown sugar
1½ C semi-sweet chocolate chips
¼ lb Saltine crackers (salted)
1 C butter
Desired candies for topping
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and cover with a single layer of Saltine crackers. Melt butter in a pan, then mix in peanut butter and brown sugar. Bring to boil for three minutes. Carefully pour on crackers. Place in a hot oven for 5 minutes. Carefully remove and cover with chocolate chips. Place back in the oven for 1 minute. Spread mixture evenly with a spatula. Sprinkle with toppings and allow to cool.
Shortcut Gingerbread Cookies
1 large egg
½ C unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 package spiced cake mix box
Mix the butter and egg. Sift the cake mix. Add to wet mixture until combined. Don’t over mix! Chill dough (approx. 1-2 hours). Roll out the dough. Use cutters for desired shape. Bake at 350°F for 6-8 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool then decorate.
Italian Christmas Cookies
2 eggs
2¾ C flour
2 tsp anise extract
2½ tsp baking powder
¾ C granulated sugar
¼ tsp salt
½ C butter
nonpareils
1/3 C milk
1 C powdered sugar
Add all ingredients except the powdered sugar and milk to your mixer and slowly blend until the dough forms. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place 1tbsp of the dough onto the paper about 2” apart. Bake at 350°F for about 10 minutes. After cooled, transfer to wire rack. Whisk powdered sugar and milk until smooth and drizzle on top. Sprinkle nonpareils.
Classic Iced Oatmeal Cookies
2½ sticks butter, softened
¾ C firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 C granulated sugar
1 egg
1tsp vanilla
1 ½ C all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt (optional)
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
1 C Quaker oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
For the icing:
2 C powdered sugar
1½ Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp water
Beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; mix well. Add oats; mix well. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto non-greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Drizzle with icing mixture
Chocolate Snow Cookies
2 sticks of butter
1 C sugar
3/4 C light brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 C flour
½ tsp salt
½ C cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
Beat butter, sugars, and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs and mix well. Add dry ingredients. Bake at 375°F for 8-10 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar for the snow!
Jen Feener is a wife, mother, public school teacher, travel concierge, and children’s author. Born and raised in Massachusetts, she spends her time playing with her daughters, exploring nature, crafting and making messes in the kitchen. Seeking the adventure in each day, she strives to capture that adventure in her writing.
When my dad turned 80, he—and we, by default—celebrated all year. My sister made a fantastic, larger-than-life sign of him posing in front of his friend’s antique car, with beautiful calligraphy that trumpeted, “Cheers to you, celebrating 80 years of life!” The sign welcomed his closest friends and family into a private room at a steakhouse, where we toasted his 80 years—and the grandkids toasted his steady presence in their lives. The sign moved from the swanky steakhouse to the second-floor banister in my parents’ house. When you walked in, it greeted you—a feel-good conversation starter and a reminder to...
I knew people died. I just didn’t think it applied to us. Mortality met me in grade two with a punch to the gut when my teacher confirmed casually that, yes, everybody dies. What do you mean, everybody dies? I frantically thought, but kept my question to myself. Up until that moment, I had quietly believed my family was exempt from that fate. I thought death was a monster that only took other people and left my family alone. They say all panic has an origin story, and mine began shortly after that realization, fueled by a disconnected phone cord...
“You have to accept that you will likely never get the apology you deserve.” When my therapist said those words, I felt everything at once-anger, resentment, heartbreak. It was as if the air had been pulled straight from my lungs. Because accepting that truth meant letting go of something I had been holding onto for a long time: the hope that one day, it would all be acknowledged. My family was deeply wronged. Not in a way that can be brushed off or easily forgotten, but in a way that cut to the core. There were lies wrapped in deception,...
To the little girl with pink flowers on her white shoes and lacy fold-down socks, down and ready, tee ball glove in hand, teeth marks worn into the top. The Pittsburgh Pirates hat from Uncle Dave, a sign of camaraderie. A part of something bigger than herself. A too-long, locally sponsored t-shirt, tied up with a ponytail. Jean shorts and a belt. The type of ordinary only childhood can be. When ordinary is more than enough. No one can tell in this picture that you were scared. That you didn’t feel ready. That behind that tiny-toothed grin you were holding...
I don’t know about you, but finding a good pair of jeans has always felt like a process to me. These are too tight. Those are too loose. They fit my thighs but bunch at my hips. The dreaded waist gap. Too short—high waters. Too long, and suddenly you can’t find your legs. Before you know it, you’re ordering your fourth pair and eyeing a fifth. A woman on a mission. And still, as I stand there looking in the mirror at everything that doesn’t quite work, I just know there is a perfect pair out there for me. Somewhere....
My journey with monitoring benign breast lumps began in July of 2020 when my OB-GYN found a lump. I was sent home with an ultrasound referral. I called immediately after I got home and asked for the soonest appointment at any location. I had a young son, and was absolutely terrified. They got me in at the end of the week. My husband was on vacation that week, and what should have been an enjoyable family time was plagued with worry. At the ultrasound appointment, they saw two small lumps. I was told these were “likely benign” and was given...
I was never meant to be a plant person. I’m the woman who can kill a succulent on the way home from the store. Once, a fern sighed in my direction and gave up. That is my spiritual gift. My grandpa Dominic would have laughed—hard. He loved to laugh. And sing hymns passionately in Italian. He was an Italian immigrant who lost his arm working in a mill, and still, he woke up every morning and dressed like dignity itself. He shopped for my grandma. He fixed what was broken. And he tended the biggest, happiest garden you’ve ever seen....
It seems like just yesterday I was writing a piece about my last baby going off to kindergarten. I poured my heart out into words about how she was going to find her place in the world, and how I was going to find a new sense of belonging. I wrote, “I was able to find a bit of ‘me’ again. She has barely left my side in almost six years, so her absence is still fresh and foreign. But I know her jubilant little self will be just fine. And just like that, she’s on her way. And so...
I’ve given birth to four beautiful boys and lived through four postpartum experiences. Each one has been different, yet there are familiar threads that run through them all. In the first couple of weeks after my first baby was born, I felt carefree…until that bubble was popped. My newborn got sick and was admitted to the PICU at a children’s hospital 30 minutes from our home. At one point, doctors mentioned the possibility of meningitis, but after many tests and a several-day admission, we were sent home. When we were discharged, a doctor left me with these words, “It’s your...
No one can really prepare you for how much friendships change in your 40s. We expect life shifts—kids grow, schedules fill, jobs demand more, and aging parents need us in new ways. Time becomes tighter, priorities change, and naturally, friendships have to adjust. That part makes sense, right? But what doesn’t get talked about enough is the quiet, hard shift, the one where it’s not just time or distance creating friendship gaps, but something deeper. What happens when you look around your “table” and realize it no longer feels like a safe place to land? What happens when you start...
By Jen Feener 
by Lindsay Davies 
by Brittany Moore 
by Anna Grace Marsala 
by Kimberly Keys 
by Valerie Goldstein 
by Tara Hanratty 
by Jessica Carik 
