What would Christmas be without cookies? If you’re looking for some inspiration for your holiday baking, look no further: our cookbook columnist Sybil Pratt has rounded up the three best new cookie recipe compendiums—and we’re giving one lucky Book Case reader all three books.
To enter, just leave a comment telling us what your favorite cookie is by Friday, December 17.
In the meantime, we have a delicious and festive recipe from Very Merry Cookie Party (Chronicle) to tide you over. Watch for more cookie recipes this week!
Christmas Mice Cookies
makes 15 cookies
“’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house / Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse . . .” Children enjoy helping to make these no-bake cookies, which are similar to a macaroon—somewhere between a cookie and a candy. Green (sour apple) candy whips, also called laces, make nice mouse tails. You can also use red or black licorice whips, or any color or flavor you like.
Cookie Exchange Tip
When arranging the platter, include a small wedge of cheese and position the mice so they are facing the cheese. You might even place on mouse on top of the cheese. These are very child-friendly cookies.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
- Green food coloring
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 3 cups sweetened shredded coconut
- 30 almond slices
- 15 currants or small red candies
- Green or blue decorating pen
- Green (sour apple) whips (laces) or other candy whips of your choice, cut into 6-inch pieces (15 pieces total)
Instructions
1. In a small cup, stir together the condensed milk and 2 or 3 drops food coloring, or enough to create a very pale green. Make sure the food coloring is completely mixed through the milk.
2. In a food processor, combine the confectioners’ sugar, coconut, and condensed milk mixture and process until all the ingredients are well combined and the coconut is finely minced, about 1 minute. Remove the blade from the food processor.
3. Scoop up a tablespoon of the coconut mixture, then gently push it out of the spoon with another spoon onto a work surface. Shape the mixture into a mouse, pinching a narrow nose on one end and a plump rear on the other. Using a spatula, transfer the mouse on a plate. Repeat until all the mice have been formed.
4. Place 2 almond slices on each mouse “head” to create ears, and put a currant at the tip of the nose. Using the decorating pen, draw an eye on each mouse. Position a piece of candy whip for the tail on the plump rear, opposite the head. Cover the mice lightly with aluminum foil. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
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Recipe reprinted from Very Merry Cookie Party (Chronicle), copyright 2010, with permission from the publisher. All rights reserved. Read our review of the book.
My favorite Christmas cookie is the classic chocolate crinkle!
Amanda
A Patchwork of Books
snickerdoodles!
Just made a batch this afternoon and sent some home with my grandson.
The Christmas Mice Cookies are adorable! Will have to try those…YUM! lol!
My favorite cookie is: The Peanut Blossom. Peanut butter cookie with Hershey kiss on top.
Those spicy cheese cookies that my grandmother used to make. I haven’t had one in twenty years.
My favorite cookie is an old family recipe for sugar cookies. LOVE them this time of year!
My favorite cookies are Russian Tea Cakes.
silversolara AT gmail DOT com
I love those peanut butter cookies with a Hershey’s Kiss or peanut butter cups in the middle. Mmmm.
Rum Balls!!!! I’m not sure if they are considered cookies, but rum balls!! Did I say, rum balls???
Orange ball cookies. They have been a family holiday tradition since I was in grade school…many, many years ago!
Black and white cookies are easily my all-time favorite.
Those mice are adorable!!
My favorite cookies were served at the dining hall in college–”chocolate chip, oatmeal, coconut”. I make a similar recipe now and think of my roomie, Diana every time I eat one!
My mom used to make deliciously chewy molasses raisin cookies when I was a girl. Sadly, the recipe went missing many years ago. I’ve never found one that replicates it in quite the same way.
Macadamia nut cookies – they are the best!
No bake oatmeal chocolate cookies, or double stuff Oreos that have been left in the freezer overnight. Both with a large glass of milk.
My favorite are what my siblings & I always called Grandma Cookies. Never knew the real name and we never cared. Just a few years ago I found out they’re actually called peanut blossoms but we still call them Grandma Cookies.
Rum balls
My favorite cookie is the sugar cookies that I made with my mom growing up. The kind that have to be refrigerated before rolling and cutting. So soft and fluffy and delicious!
My favorite cookie is Chocolate Chip. I know boring….
It’s so hard not to eat them cooked. MMMM…. chocolate chip cookie dough!
I love sugar cookies cut out into different shapes–with icing and sprinkles! Takes me back to my childhood when my mom would make dozens and dozens of these cookies.
My favorite are peanut butter temptations!
Our family recipe was Mexican wedding cookies, then a Russian family told me they were Russian Tea Cakes – wonder what other names are the same recipe My dad loved them, and they bring back wonderful memories.
Kay — you’ve won! Look for an email from me, and congrats.
Mint sugar cookies. Or pecan/nut cups. Mmmmm.
Can’t wait to make the mice with grandsons..my favorite cookies are raisin oatmeal , but never met a cookie I didn’t like.we’ll make their favorites,chocolate chips and sugar cookies.
The Rumnog cookies from Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.
Favorite cookie?? oh so many. But I would have to choose the traditional decorated sugar cookie!
My favorite cookies are my molasses cookies. All of my friends LOVE them and literally fight over them. They’ve been known to hoard them…somebody will ask where all the cookies have gone, and with enough poking around you’ll find stacks hidden.
My favorite Christmas cookies are cutout sugar cookies I make with my grandchildren every year using their great-grandmother’s cookie cutters. Nothing tastes better or brings more satisfaction that those made with shared love.
Mincemeat Cookies, recipe off the mince meat box.
The new favorite cookie in our house is “bacon and eggs”. Take 3 pretzel sticks, put a tsp of melted white chocolate in a circle on top, then a yellow M&M in the middle of the chocolate. Looks just like a mini breakfast!
My favorite cookies are fresh out of the oven peanut butter cookies!!
Buckeyes. (Peanut butter blls dipped in chocolate) I could pop those things all day.
My favorite is the tea cakes(fat sugar cookie)that my Mama made,she put the old timey cooked chocolate icing between them and a dab on top,we 7 kids could go through that dish pan,full and wrapped up in a towel,she always let us eat some when we got home from school. How did she have the time????I was honored to care for her in her last years.
Scotch shortbread…no wait…chocolate crinkles… or peanut butter crisscross cookies that my Mom used to make from the Metropolitan Life Cookbook. I’m pretty sure that’s my favorite. So many cookies, too many calories. Yes, my favorite has to be peanut butter cookies. I think.
Potato chip cookies are the best!
My favorite is Angel Wings. It’s a family recipe that’s a must have every Christmas.
The cream cheese shortbread cookies I made with my grandmother, oh, so many years ago, and make now with my daughter.
So MANY favorites, but I will never turn down a snickerdoodle!
I love the little nut cups that are made in the small mini-muffin cups.
My favorite is the Mexican teacake, wedding cookie, it goes by a variety of names. But what it is, is a sweet melt-in-your mouth cookie that’s easy to make.
For almost 40 years I have made our favorite little cut out Gingerbread Boys with a cinnamon red heart as a simple decoration of love.
Peanut Butter blossoms. One must eat the cookie part first and then devour the chocolate kiss or star last!
This year it is the traditional sugar cookie with glaze and sprinkles. Yesterday my 3yr old grandson decorated them for the first time. He said “Grandma, this is hard work”. What a sweetheart!
My favorite cookie is Mom’s Moist Raisin Cookies. I have made these for 50 years and they are still my favorite.
I make some yummy inside out Almond Joy cookies! They have a Hershey kiss with almonds inside and are wrapped in coconut!
I adore gooey butter cookies prepared with a yellow butter-flavored cake mix.
Chocolate ice-box wafers!
Definitely shortbread. Rich, yummy and delectable.
Those mice cookies are adorable!
I’ll confess that my favorite holiday cookie remains the same since childhood – those ‘peanut blossoms’ with the Hershey’s kiss in the center.
Thanks for the giveaway chance.
dawn [dot] rennert [at] verizon [dot] net
Hi! My favorite Xmas cookie is a Spritz cookie. They are so good and they smell wonderful! Thank you for a excellent giveaway!
Don’t see my comment…sorry if it is a repeat.
My favorite cookie is The Russian Tea Cake.
silversolara AT gmail DOT com
My favorite cookie is the Russian Tea Cake.
I love snickerdoodles!
Terri- I made snickerdoodles this afternoon. Love them and they are so easy to make!
Spritz cookies…I’m going to try a spumoni spritz this year, hope they’re as good as the originals
My new favorite cookies are eggnog cookies! They are so soft and chewy with a hint of eggnog! YUM!
Frosted sugar cookies are our only truly necessary cookie at Christmas. All the rest are extra.
Iced, almond flavored, sour cream sugar cut-out cookies. They are the best!!!
Oreo bon bons are my favorite.
Just made a lemon riccota cookie–YUM
Martha Stewart’s recipe for coconut macaroons – easily adapted to sugar free for my diabetic hubby
Nestle’s Toll House Chocolate Chip cookies are my favorite any time of year!
Chocolate Chip Walnut.
My mouth is watering,the sugar cookie is my fave,or as we called it tea cakes.yummy,I can taste and smell the memories
My younger sister makes the BEST decorated sugar cut out cookies in Texas. Four generations of people in our family have enjoyed them for years. They are the hit of the “gift exchange” in the family.
Snickerdoodles are my longtime favorite.
Snickerdoodles for homemade cookies. For purchased cookies, Vienna Fingers have my heart (or stomach)!
It’s a toss-up between lacy oatmeal & ginger pennies, a tiny ginger cookie that melts in your mouth!
My favorites are shortbread cookies.
Buttery cutouts–oh yum
My favorite cookie is soft ginger with a raspberry jam center.
Pumpkin cookies baked by Paul at the ladies retirement home were I wolunteer
“Sand Tarts” are my favorites. The recipe is in The Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer.
My favorite are peanut butter cookies with sugar and a chocolate star in the middle, yumm.
It’s a tie between shortbread and Mexican wedding cake cookies.
Danish Wedding Cookies!
Peanut butter cookies are my favorite!
I like Nutter Butters
Pumpkin cookies with maple frosting. I love anything with pumpkin and/or maple in it.
I just made “Thumbprints” with blackberry jam in the middle, going to make more, so good.
I like “Refrigerated Cookies”. My late Mother would have them baking and ready when I came home from school in the primary grades.The dough was in the frige for awhile then baked.
My favorite is the traditional sugar cookie, but at Christmas time it must be in a traditional Christmas shape (stars, bells, etc.) with pretty colored frosting and decorated with sprinkles. I love making them with my kids, even though they’re teens now.
My mom used to make these raspberry jam marzipan bars that were heavenly!!!! My entire extended family used to get together and bake hundreds of cookies every year….oh I miss those days!!!!! Such sweet smells and great memories.
Nanaimo Bars are something special and a rare treat which I find delectable and inviting.
This time of year it’s pfeffernusse–a cookie my father’s sister introduced me to and which I have been making for over 40 years now–its spicy flavor says holiday to me
Oh and I bake two different cookies for my doggies. One with bacon fat and one with beef baby food…I use whole wheat flour and wheat germ. I have cute tiny seasonal cookie cutters and tiny dog bones cookie cutters. My chihuahuas sit by the stove as they bake with anticipation!
I actually have 2 favorites. Of course both are my mother’s recipes:
Swedish ginger cookies and Oatmeal Icebox Cookies!
My favorite cookie is my grandmother’s recipe for kolachky.
I love lemon crisps and double chocolate chip cookies.
Chocolate chip cookies with red and green M & Ms are my favorite!
Growing up, my best friend’s mother made chocolate chip cookies with M & Ms every year. They were my favorites….. sure brings back memories!
My favorite cookie is a Snickerdoodle but running a close second are thumbprint cookies. Good anytime of the year but especially at Christmas time.
My favorite cookie is a lemon cream cheese spritz
cookie that my Mom and I made every Christmas.
My favorite cookie is the chocolate chip made with Bisquick! Yum!
Grandmom’s Candy Cane cookies!
Chocolate crackle cookies
My favorite cookie are nuthorns, I love them!
Sugar cookies with frosting and sprinkles.
My favorite for Christmas is Gumdrop cookies. I have made the mice cookies. They are yummy but look a little icky when they are baking
My favorite is the delicate Florentine or lace cookie. To make them extra special I dip them in melted chocolate.
I love cranberry almond biscotti. I got the recipe from a tear-off pad at the market and every year this is my most requested recipe from the vast array of baking I do every year.
I love gingerbread cookies and look forward to
them every year.
Chocolate chip cookies are my favorite.
Fave cookie of all time is an old-fashion Gingersnap!!
My favorite cookie is southern tea cake cookies.
I have always loved Russian teacakes. My mother told me that they were Santa’s favorite too. Wonderful memories.
My favorite cookie is the traditional Christmas cutouts and the more frosting, the better. I have a fond memory of a recipe for frosting that we used when I was a kid. You added food coloring and used paintbrushes to decorate with the colored frosting. Wish I still had that recipe.
My favorite cookie is Oatmeal Raisin.
I love, love cutout shortbread cookies!
My favorite cookie is a big, round sugar cookie that is soft inside but not “doughy”. My grandmother was the only one I knew who could make a sugar cookie that was so thick, soft, and yet not “doughy”. They were delicious.
I love to bake, so this would make a supper gift for me……….
Hope Warren-Pogany
my favorite cookie is “ANY KIND WITH SUGAR ON TOP”.home made of course.
I LOVE BAKING. MY FAVORITE COOKIES ARE RUSSIAN TEA COOKIES. MY NEXT FAVORITE IS FLORENTINE LACE COOKIES. I’D LOVE TO WIN THESE BOOKS.
I love, love chocolate chip cookies with lots of chocolate added in to make ultimate choc. chip cookies. Mmmmmmm good!
My favorite cookies are the ones with peanut butter and chocolate mixed together, like Tagalongs or the peanut butter cookie with Hersey’s Kisses.
Oooops I just noticed my entry wasn’t sent — too late, but what do I have to lose (I know, any chance of winning the cookbooks).
The classic Nestle Chocolate Chip with Macademia nuts, walnuts and pecans…..
‘Chocolate No Bake Cookies’ I will be making a batch in a few days for when my youngest son comes home for the holidays. My hobby is trying new recipes so I’m a cookbook addict.
My favorites are Dark Mysteries, a candied cherry wrapped in a short oatmeal dough and finished witha dip into melted chocolate and nuts! Yum!
Haystack cookies are my favorite!! Easy to make too!
I have always loved Snickerdoodles! As a kid, I just plain loved the name, but I’m a cinnamon lover and they fill the bill for any occasion!