So. Last evening I sat in line, in my car, at the Starbucks drive-thru for 25 minutes (because I’m a lazy stereotype) to get a peppermint mocha that I would eventually only drink half of because I hate coffee. And all I could think about? Cookies.

It’s totally time for cooooooookies!

I’m a firm believer that you should never show up anywhere empty handed, and during the holidays homemade tins or trays of cookies are the biggest hit. Mother Lovett used to do it and even when her chocolate walnut fudge would be covered in her own fingerprints, people would still get excited. Sometimes we pair a little cookie tray with a bottle of wine or something, but wine these days is almost expected and occasionally overdone. (Note: I don’t think wine can ever be overdone, so if you come visit me please bring boatloads.)

But really, is there any other time of the year when it’s appropriate to show up on someone’s doorstep with a huge snowman plate covered in like fourteen different kinds of cookies? I think not. I mean, if someone did that to me in say, August, I’d be elated, but it just isn’t happening.

So I bake. Lots. I also find baking cookies for the holidays totally therapeutic. It’s not *work* for me, since I don’t have to make sure I do it in natural light then spend 35 minutes trying to set three cookies on top of each other which inevitably keep tumbling down and then take pictures like a freak to share with my invisible internet friends. No. Baking for holidays can be done in the early morning, late at night, in the rain and with no cameras allowed. I live for it. I blast Christmas music. I baked with Mother Lovett for years and I guess in a way, this is my tribute to her.

Below is what I plan on baking, or shall I say, what I desperately want to bake if I have the time. I’ve shared this list every year and I must say, last year I only got through a little more than half. I’m slightly ambitious. Oh well.

What are you baking? Tell me! Leave links! Share! Better yet, overshare! Use sentences with lots of exclamation points! I love some new (additional?) ideas.

[Clearly. It’s like I have all the time in the world on my hands or something. Oye. ]

brown butter oatmeal chunk cookies: not only will I make these, but I will make some traditional chocolate chips as well… with brown butter. Do it.

giant m&m cookies: my ALL TIME FAVORITE cookie recipe that is the base for every cookie I make now. add some red + green candies and you’re golden.

cake batter chocolate bark: so fun.

peanut butter drizzled chewy milk chocolate cookies: for the pb-chocolate lover in you.

soft gingersnap cookies: not a huge fan of gingerbread, but a huge fan of these. the last three years I’ve QUADRUPLED the recipe. I don’t love gingerbread, gingersnap or anything gingery, but I love these and so does everyone else. They are always a hit.

baklava: last year was my first year trying my hand at this and it’s shockingly somewhat simple. makes a ton.

fluffy snickerdoodles: another fave. forever.

snickerchip doodles: like snickerdoodles… on drugs.

perfect peanut butter blossoms: classssssic. I devour these first.

mocha coconut fudge: a cool twist on something traditionally plain.

butterball cookies: a Mother Lovett staple.

mother lovett’s orange cookies: ditto to the above.

holiday thumbprints: ditto again. sort of like a nostalgia thing.

chewy chocolate chip oatmeal cookies: similar to the first cookie above, but chewy.

oreo balls! so simple, such a staple. people freak.

chocolate fudge s’mores thumbprints: um, omg. I love these.

red velvet marshmallow thumbprints: those red velvet lover’s lose their mind over these.

gooey chocolate coconut truffles: the easiest thing, like, ever.

coconut oil chocolate chip cookies: hello coconut obsession

crazy confetti compost cookies: red + green sprinkles? sign me up.

 

Finally, remember when my friend Maria made a cookie cookbook? Well. She has a brand new holiday cookie book with 10 new recipes, and if you didn’t know, she is THEE cookie queen. Best cookie recipes ever. I think this book would make the coolest gift for a daughter or niece or little chick that loves to bake. Let’s just say that if I received this as a tween… I would’ve went nuts.

Uh. Yeah. So have I completely lost my mind? Of course. But we already knew that. Oh well.