You know from my many posts 

lately that I am all about cookies! 

(even though I haven't baked one yet)

The original post below if from December 6, 2016. There is no way I couldn't share these cookies again!

🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

 

Christmas is coming!

So many things come to mind when thinking of Christmas, and they all bring a smile to my face. 

One of the things that brings the biggest smile?

COOKIES!!!

Dessert, parties, cookie exchanges . . . 

Cookies play a big part in the holidays.

Luckily for cozy fans, there are tons of tasty cookie recipes in many of our favorite cozy mysteries! 

Every Tuesday, now until Christmas, I'll be sharing some amazing cookie recipes from some of your favorite authors and books! 

Today's cookies are

CHRISTMAS CANDY CANE COOKIES

Photo courtesy Daryl Wood Gerber

 a recipe from author

Daryl Wood Gerber / Avery Aames

You can't find these in Daryl's books, 

but she did feature them on the

Mystery Lover's Kitchen blog

and she assures me they are . . . "a recipe that Charlotte from the Cheese Shop Mysteries would like because it involves cheese." . . . and that . . . "Jenna in the Cookbook Nook mysteries would like them, too, because they don't require a lot of ingredients."

CHRISTMAS CANDY CANE COOKIES

Photo courtesy Google Images

Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 3-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened (or about 5 tablespoons)

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. peppermint extract

1 egg yolk

2 ¼ cups flour

1 egg white (for brushing on top of cookies)

½ cup crushed candy canes

red colored sugar (optional)

Photo courtesy Daryl Wood Gerber

Directions:

In large bowl, combine sugar, butter, cheese, salt, extracts and yolk. Beat until smooth. Stir in flour. [This dough can be prepared ahead and chilled. You can also use half a recipe and freeze the other half in "rolls."]

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Drop walnut-sized spoonfuls 1 inch apart on a cookie sheet. Press with spoon.

Bake for 7-10 minutes until golden brown.

Photo courtesy Google Images

More ways to enjoy:

Option #1:

If you want, before you bake, you can brush the cookie with slightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with crushed candy canes and red colored sugar. 

Option #2:

Bake, let cool. Frost with cream cheese frosting and then sprinkle with crushed candies. 

Photo courtesy Google Images

Option #3:

These can be made gluten-free by switching out the regular flour with gluten-free sweet rice flour and 1 tsp. Xanthan gum.

Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup confectioner's sugar

1 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature (soft)

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract.

Directions:

Put all ingredients in a bowl and blend with blender. Spread on cookies as you please. What you don't eat, you can store in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Let stand at room temperature to re-use.

Photo courtesy Google Images

I can taste the peppermint on my tongue, can't you?

Perfect for so many holiday events!

Check back next Tuesday for another yummy cookie recipe! 

🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

Don't those look wonderful?

Who's going to bake a batch?

As always, please leave a comment and 

let me know what you think!

Follow my blog by submitting your email in 

upper right hand corner of this page. (on the side bar).

Reading from your phone? Scroll to the bottom of your page and click "View web version". Then follow the above directions.