What about some lemon shortbread - an English Christmas treat I make for my family

Ingredients
250g butter, room temperature
1/2 cup caster sugar
3 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon rind
2 cups plain flour, sifted

**** OK, they say plain flour BUT to get the lightest bickies use some fine corn flour as a substitute for a cup of the plain flour ie half and half

Method:
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add lemon juice and rind then beat well. Fold in the flour very lightly
Roll out the mixture on a floured board and cut into shapes. Don't pat the mixture too much because it needs to be cool.
Bake in a pre-heated 180 deg C oven for 12 to 15 mins or until the shortbread is a pale golden colour.
Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Keep the kitchen cool while you form the bickies otherwise they go a little buttery :)

Enjoy!

Candy cane cookies look very nice and decorative, and are delicious.

Ingredients

* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1 large egg
* 2 teaspoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice
* 3 drops red food coloring
* 3 drops green food coloring

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large bowl sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, add egg and lemon juice and continue to mix. Add dry mixture incrementally to wet mixture until fully incorporated.

Divide dough into 2 separate bowls; add 3 drops red food coloring to 1 bowl and 3 drops green food coloring to the other. Stir until colors are prevalent throughout.

Roll out both doughs on flour-dusted parchment paper to about 1/6-inch thick. Trim edges with a butter knife or pizza cutter to make a solid rectangle. Cut each color dough into 10 even strips, twist and wrap green dough with red dough and form candy cane shapes.

Place twisted dough on a parchment-lined cookie sheet 1/2 inch apart (they will spread) and bake for about 6 to 8 minutes or until the edges start to turn golden brown. Remove, cool and enjoy!

Oh, that has to be real Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Christmas Cookies. Only $24.00 a tin this year. Find the real recipe here for free: Neiman Marcus Real Christmas Cookie Recipe

Here is a recipe which is very simple and easy to make . And are a good Christmas treat.

Honey Cookies:
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Ingredients:
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1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup grated jaggery
1/3 cup honey
1 egg yolk
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp soda bicarbonate
a pinch of salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Food color (optional , as it is this cookies are of a nice yellow color)
chocolate chips for decoration(optional)

Method:
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Mix cream, butter, jaggery, and honey and beat in egg yolk. Add stifed flour in the creamed mixture.(and food color if adding) Make a soft dough. Wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate. On a well floured surface, roll to 1/2 inch thick. Prick with a fork. cut into desired shape and make a criss-cross design by pressing the tines of the fork.( Can sprinkle chocolate chips if chosen) . Bake at 180 degree C for 15-20 minutes till golden brown.

My all time favorite Christmas Cookies are the sugar cookie cut-outs that are frosted with the butter-cream frosting! MMMM MMM good (sorry that is Cambell's soups slogan)

http://www.veganfamilyfavorites.com/images/desserts/holiday-sugar-cookies-large.jpg

If you really want good, try freezing them for a couple hours and eating them straight from the freezer!

The cookies I made with my mom growing up when I still believed in Santa Claus.
We still make them but they do not taste the same without that holiday magic of St. Nick belief.

Russian Tea Cakes! Also known as "Snowballs"

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

* 1 cup butter
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 6 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 cup chopped walnuts
* 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for decoration

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, cream butter and vanilla until smooth. Combine the 6 tablespoons confectioners' sugar and flour; stir into the butter mixture until just blended. Mix in the chopped walnuts. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, and place them 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. When cool, roll in remaining confectioners' sugar. I also like to roll mine in the sugar a second time.

No, Christmas eve would be complete in my house without soft, warm Nestle tollhouse cookies. That's what we leave for Santa. ;)

I'm for the basics...

"Mama's litle baby loves sho'tnin, sho'tnin,
Mama's little baby loves sho'tin bread!"

With simple, straitforward old-fashion powdered-sugar icing topped with red and green sugar sprinkles, darn it!

They're classic, they're comfortable, and they sing to my heart, "Christmas".

During the Christmas season, I love the taste and smell of ginger snaps. As an added benefit, these cookies taste better in the days after they are baked, so they are wonderful for holiday company.
My favorite recipe:

GINGER SNAPS
1 stick soft butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup molasses
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. ginger

Cream together butter and sugar. Add beaten egg. Add molasses and mix well. Mix together flour and the rest of the dry ingredients. Add to wet ingredients and mix well. Cover and chill 1 hour. Roll into balls the size of walnuts and then dip in sugar (coarse sugar is also nice). Place, sugared side up, on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 350 degrees for 7-9 minutes. Cookies are done when you see little cracks in the middle of each cookie, and they are slightly browned.

Enjoy!

Cream Cheese Christmas Cookies

"These are so nice at Christmas time, they look as pretty as they taste."

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup green decorator sugar
48 pecan halves
1/2 cup red decorator sugar

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, cream butter and cream cheese. Add sugar and vanilla. With electric mixer at medium speed, beat until light and fluffy. In medium sized bowl, combine flour and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in chopped pecans. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
On four sheets of aluminun foil, shape dough into four 6 inch rolls, 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap each roll tightly in foil and refrigerate over night.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (170 degrees C).
Line cookie sheets with foil. Remove rolls of dough from refrigerator one at a time. Coat each roll with red or green sugar crystals; cut dough into 1/4 inch slices. Place on prepared cookie sheets; top each cookie with a pecan half. Bake for 15 - 18 minutes, or until bottom of cookie is lightly browned when lifted. These look so nice for Christmas.

My grandmother always made a lot of delicious cookies when it came to Christmas each year. Since our family is fairly big and so many people liked so many types of cookies grandmother started making assorted thumbprint cookies. One of my personal favorites that she made was Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies. Since she took her personal recipe with her when she died, I spent months and months searching for a recipe that was as close to hers as I could find. I hope you'll like them as much as my family does each year.

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg, separated
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup baking cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup finely chopped walnuts

* Filling
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon butter(softened)
2 teaspoons milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
24 milk chocolate kisses, unwrapped

Preparation:
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar, egg yolk, milk and vanilla until light and fluffy.

Combine flour, cocoa and salt in a separate bowl; gradually add to creamed mixture, stirring until well blended. Cover and chill cookie dough for one hour, or until firm enough to shape into balls.

In a small bowl, lightly beat egg white. Shape chilled dough into 1-inch balls, dip in egg white, then roll in chopped nuts. Make an indentation with thumb in center of of each cookie. Bake at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes, or until center is just set. Combine the first four filling ingredients in a bowl; mix until smooth. Spoon about 1/4 teaspoon of filling into each warm cookie indentation, and gently press a chocolate kiss in the center. Carefully remove chocolate thumbprint cookies from baking sheet to wire racks to cool. Makes 24 cookies