Holiday Oatmeal Cookies

Our fourth installment of 12 Days of Christmas Cookies comes from Callie of Call Me Cal. I randomly stumbled upon Cal's blog while googling Warby Parker home try-ons (she did an adorable video try-on, by the way) and I've been following along ever since. Cal writes all about her adventures across the US and has a great series of Travelogues. She also has a fun What's Happening LA column and tons of great gift guides/wish lists.

Plus, Cal knows good food. She shares about all the restaurants she visits while traveling and I mentally make note to visit them myself. You know... if I ever find myself in someplace like Nova Scotia. So of course, I knew her cookie selection would not disappoint: warm, cinnamony, old fashion oatmeal cookies. The perfect thing to whip up on a cold December afternoon and dunk in your favorite mug of tea. Yes please!

I am so excited to be posting on Gathered Heart about a topic near and dear to my heart: Sweets! And not just any ole sweets, but my Mom's signature holiday oatmeal cookies. The second I finish Thanksgiving dinner, I instantly start looking forward to my Mom's annual cookie delivery. She has been sending me these cookies for years and I still get excited every time this scrumptious delivery arrives because it signals the start of my favorite time of year. My first instinct is always to squirrel these delicious deliverables away from my husband so I don't have to share, but in the end I always allow others to partake in the yuletide cookie joy.

So without further ado, here is the recipe for my Mom's scrumptious seasonal sweets (adapted from the Vanishing Oatmeal Cookie recipe.)

Holiday Oatmeal Cookies

• 1/2 cup softened butter 
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar 
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar 
• 1/4 cup walnuts (or pecans if you prefer) 
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
• 3/4 teaspoon Saigon cinnamon 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1 1/2 cups uncooked Old-Fashioned Quaker oats 
• 1/2 cup golden raisins 
• 1 tsp orange rind zest (make sure to use a fine grater as to not go too deep into the rind) 

Directions (yields around 24 cookies) Heat oven to 350°F. Beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until mixed in. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Stir in oats, raisins and orange zest; mix well.

Place rounded tablespoonfuls of oat mix onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy! Happy cooking!

Thanks for sharing this tasty treat, Callie. I bet they smell amazing while baking!
See more 12 Days of Christmas Cookies.

Thumbprint Cookies

Can you believe Christmas is only two weeks away?! I don't know about you, but I've been feeling extra festive lately. All the presents are wrapped and under the tree and A Very She & Him Christmas has been playing on repeat. Plus, I awoke this morning to find everything covered with a dusting of snow! I felt like a kid again. Sometimes I forget how beautiful the winter landscape is covered in blankets of white. We may just have a white Christmas after all!

So I find it very appropriate that today's cookie post is a charming batch of red and green Thumbprint Cookies from Jamie of A Pair of Pears. Jamie and her husband, Jake, run A Pair of Pears, a graphic design and paper goods company that specializes in branding and custom paper goods. Their blog is a constant source of inspiration -- DIY projects, cute puppy photos and a ton of great party printables! Be sure to check out their Etsy shop, too, which is full of letterpress goodness.

One of my favorite memories is baking Christmas Cookies with my mom. Every year we would pull out the old cook books and recipe cards and mix up the yummy treats that only came once a year. One of the recipes we would always make is Thumbprint Print Cookies. It's my favorite. To me it's the perfect Christmas cookie. If you've never had them, I hope you give them a try because they are delicious.

Thumbprint Cookies

• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 
• 1/4 cup shortening 
• 1/4 cup butter, softened 
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 
• 1 egg, separated 
• 1 cup all-purpose flour 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 3/4 cup finely chopped nuts (We usually use pecans) 
• jelly or jam (I always use Red Currant and Mint)
  

Heat oven to 350ºF. Mix brown sugar, shortening, butter, vanilla and egg yolk in medium bowl. Stir in flour and salt until dough holds together. Shape dough into 1-inch balls.

Beat egg white slightly. Dip each ball into egg white. Roll in nuts. (If you don't like nuts you can just just omit the egg white and nut steps. I make some with and some without since Jake is allergic to nuts.) Place about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Press thumb deeply in center of each.

Bake about 10 minutes or until light brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. Fill thumbprints with jelly.

The recipe is really easy to make and I always had fun as a kid being able to use my thumb to press down the center of each cookie. And if you have any reservations about the mint jelly my advice is be brave and give it a try. I love it! I wouldn't go spreading it on your morning toast though.

Tips: Use the end of a wooden spoon to re-press down the the center of each cookie after they come out of the oven. The recipe says to fill with jelly after the cookies have cooled, but I find it works nicely to fill them while they are still warm so the jelly has a chance to melt a little and fill the entire hole.

Aren't those cookies so cute? They would make a wonderful gift for coworkers or neighbors. Thanks so much for sharing with us Jamie!
See more 12 Days of Christmas Cookies.

Terrain Kitchenware

Hammered Copper Saucepan | Curious Bird Tea Towel | Maple Syrup | Buttercup Whisk

I have been loving everything Terrain has stocked their shelves with lately. If you're Christmas shopping for your mother or a dear foodie friend (and can afford to splurge) you might just find the perfect gift. I mean, have you ever seen such a beautiful whisk?!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Today I'm excited to share cookie no.2 in the series 12 Days of Christmas Cookies!

This recipe comes from Carrie, a dear blog friend and kindred spirit all the way from sunny Florida (jealous? Me too.) Carrie is a graphic designer, wife and mother of the most adorable little girl, Olive (with another baby on the way!!) I have really loved getting to know Carrie through her blog, which is full of inspiring bits, adorable Olive posts, updates on her new home and renovation process, and lots of little life reflections. It's one of my favorites -- you should definitely stop by and say hello!

One thing I love about Carrie's recipe, and this entire series, is the fact that Christmas traditions vary from family to family. Carrie typically leaves Santa a plate chocolate chip cookies, and in my family we always left him frosted sugar cookies. I actually haven't thought of Santa in so long, I forgot that Christmas cookies are traditionally treats for jolly old Saint Nick, not us! Haha. So thank you Carrie, for the reminder.

My family doesn't have many Christmas baking traditions except for leaving chocolate chip cookies and milk for Santa on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately I don't come from much of a cookie-baking family. Pies -- that's a different story, we can bake some pretty delicious pies, in my humble opinion. I can following a recipe so I wanted to give cookie baking another try. Only after my first attempt did I remember why I gave in to pre-made cookie dough. Flat cookies.

I always make flat cookies. I wish I could give you tips about how to keep your cookies thick and chewy but I still haven't figured it out. I initially thought I had mis-measured the baking soda but the second time turned out just as flat. My apologies.

I love chocolate chip cookies just as much as Santa and my intentions were to make some pretty delicious chocolate chip cookies to tempt my co-workers with in the break room. But cookies should be tempting, not embarrassing.

Since my attempts at making individual cookies was a complete flop I poured the rest of the batter into a cookie sheet and made one giant cookie that I cut into bars.

I've only learned two things about baking cookies and I'm not really sure if they are helpful, but one is to use real butter when baking and two, add extra vanilla.

The following is the recipe I used. I hope you have better luck if you decide to try it.

Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 c butter, softened (2 sticks)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 2/3 cups chocolate chips
• 1 cup nuts (optional)

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Mix butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large mixing bowl. Add eggs, one at a time and gradually mix in flour mixture. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto un-greased cookie sheets. Bake for 9-11 min. or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for two minutes then move to a wire rack to cool completely.

Thanks for sharing your cookie recipe, Carrie, even though it didn't turn out as expected. Way to keep it real... I know I've had my fair share of baking disasters! 
Anyone have any tips to prevent flat cookies?
See more 12 Days of Christmas Cookies. 

Christmas Snaps

I know not everyone feels the same, but I love Christmas. I really do... twinkle lights, family time, sweet baby Jesus. In my mind, it really is the most wonderful time of the year. To help spread my holiday cheer, I thought it would be fun to do a series on Gathered Heart called 12 Days of Christmas Cookies, where I've asked 12 of my favorite bloggers to share their favorite Christmas cookie recipe.

I thought I'd kick off this yummy series with a classic gingerbread cookie recipe from Emily, a dietitian and fellow Michigander. Both her tumblr and blog are full of healthy foodspiration and tons of simple recipes for tasty things like homemade Greek yogurt and ice cream sandwiches. Emily's posts always inspire me to be mindful about what I eat, and not in a "oh man I can never eat cookies again" way. I was actually thrilled that her cookie selection included lots of butter and sugar and not something like pureed beans. Emily's philosophy is balance and moderation, and I'm behind that 100%.

When Katherine asked me to do a post about my favorite Christmas cookies, she originally asked for a healthy cookie recipe. I think she was pleasantly surprised to learn that I don’t really believe in “healthy cookies.” I think all foods can be enjoyed in moderation, and to me, cookies just don’t taste the same unless full of delicious butter and sugar.

Ginger cookies definitely bring all the smells of the holidays together (cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, etc) in one delicious treat. They also mix up in a hurry for a last minute party or house full of hungry family members.

Some tips: stick the dough in the freezer for 10-15 min instead of 2 hrs in the refrigerator to cut down on chill time. Also, ice cream scoops are great for making uniform cookies.

Christmas Snaps (adapted from My Kitchen Addiction) 

• 1 1/2 sticks butter, softened 
• 1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed 
• 1 egg 
• 1/4 cup dark molasses 
• 2 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour 
• 2 teaspoons baking soda 
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom 
• 1/2 cup raw sugar 
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips 
• sprinkles 

Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add molasses. Add dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated (side note: the proper method would be mixing dry ingredients together first and then adding to wet ingredients, but I like shortcuts). Chill dough for 2 hrs. Roll dough into balls and through raw sugar before placing on baking sheet. Bake for 11-12 minutes at 375 F.

While cookies are cooling, melt chocolate chips in microwave for 30s-1 minute, stirring often. Dip cooled cookies into melted chocolate and add festive sprinkles if desired.

Try not to eat them all at once! They are wonderful dipped in milk. You could also try using white chocolate instead of dark chocolate for an interesting twist.

Happy Holidays, and enjoy!

Don't they look delicious? Special thanks to Emily for participating. 
Check back soon for more 12 Days of Christmas Cookies!