I’m not exactly sure when – or how – it started, but somehow through the years my mom has become the cookie and candy maker in the family. She loves cooking and baking, especially for others, so I know she doesn’t mind it. However, as the family has grown, so has the list of requested holiday treats.
Every year for the past decade, Mom says she’s going to downsize the amount of Christmas goodies she makes – but it hasn’t happened yet. I’m sure she heads into each holiday with the intention of making less than the year before, but we live in a small town, and as the holidays approach, she inevitably runs into a niece or nephew who asks if she’s making his or her favorite candy, and because Mom loves to feed people, she always says, “Of course I am. Don’t I always?”
So, she continues to make all the cookies and candies that have become family favorites through the years. In recent years, though, she has managed to cut some of the recipes in half, since only a handful of family members deem them “favorites.” Of course, there are also a few that she’s started doubling, because if she doesn’t, they’re gone before dinner.
Our immediate family gathers at my mom’s house for Christmas Eve, and it’s become tradition the last few years that we all help decorate the sugar cookies, but that’s all Mom lets us do, which tells me she thoroughly enjoys being the candy and cookie maker, knowing she’s going to please everyone with her sweet confections.
Though my mom doesn’t gift her goodies, cookies and candies make excellent gifts for friends, neighbors and co-workers – a one-size-fits-all gift. To give treats as a gift, just arrange an assortment of goodies in a basket, bag or box, add a ribbon, and attach a gift card. It’s a gift guaranteed to please.
Here are our family’s favorite cookies and candies. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
Christmas Cookies and Candy Recipes
Cookies
Candy
