More Cookies!

Real ones, this time. Every year I bake a whole lot of cookies, for family, friends, neighbors, teachers, etc.

Spritz Christmas Trees:
I love my cookie gun; such a fast and fun way to make a lot of cookies at once. In this case, my oven decided to act up a bit, so the edges of the cookies browned when they shouldn't have. They still taste good. Recipe from Page Dorsey, in Just Cross Stitch's 2004 Christmas Ornaments issue.

Toffee Crackle Cookies and Finnish Gingersnaps:
From Christmas Cookies 2007 and Lydia Baldauf in 2002 Christmas Ornaments.

Christmas Wreaths:
My mom made these every year when I was a girl. This is my first time making them since then, and it is quite easy if sticky -- basically the Rice Krispies Treats recipe, but with green food coloring and corn flakes instead of rice krispies. My mom decorated them with red hots, but I could not find any this year (odd), so I used red frosting. Recipe from Kellog's, I guess?

Chocolate Pretzels:
The "salt" is coarse sugar. Recipe from Christmas Cookies 2007.

Sugar Plums:
The real thing -- finely chopped dried fruit and nuts mixed with spices and honey and rolled in sugar. Recipe from Alton Brown. I think mine are a little coarse, but I was afraid of over-processing the fruit and nuts and turning it into mush. Also, unbeknownst to me, the prunes were not pitted. Which is ridiculous, and almost broke my food processor. These are pretty tasty, but I'm thinking next time I will use dates (which I love) instead of prunes, and maybe change the spices a bit to give it a middle-eastern flavor.