It’s the holiday season, which means I now have an excuse to do two of my favorite things: shop and bake.

I love making and sharing holiday recipes; the only difficulty I had was deciding which recipe to share with you. I wasn’t able to choose just one, so I’m going to give you a bunch to choose from.

I tried a new recipe for sugar cookies this week because I was ready for a change. They turned out well (see the photo above) and the recipe (Chewy Sugar Cookies) is posted for you below. The cookies I usually make aren’t quite as sweet as the ones I made this week.

Don’t get me wrong, I love sweet desserts, but the recipe I usually make has a fresher taste in my opinion, and it includes a light icing that I absolutely love.

I found my old recipe, called Cut-Out Cookies, years ago … on The Food Network, of course. It’s great if you feel like taking out your holiday cookie cutters to make these cookies not only delicious but festive. Just remember to give yourself enough time because they need to refrigerate before you cut them. If you end up trying both recipes, let me know which you prefer.

A third recipe I want to share with you is my great grandmother’s recipe called Peanut Butter Middies. You’ve probably seen something like them before; they’re usually a peanut butter cookie with a HERSHEY’S KISS  in the middle.

My grandmother’s recipe is slightly different, consisting of a chocolate cookie with a peanut butter filling. Don’t worry! The HERSHEY’S KISS is still there. There are many variations of this recipe because you really can’t go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate, but if you’ve never made them, or if you want to try out a new recipe for them, please try this one.

All of these recipes are great to bring to holiday parties or to share with friends and family; just remember to save a few for yourself. Enjoy!

Chewy Sugar Cookies

Cut-Out Cookies

Peanut Butter Middies

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Ingredients:
1 ½ cup flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup (1 stick) room temperature butter
1 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
¾ cup confectioner’s sugar
1 bag unwrapped HERSHEY’S KISSES chocolates

Recipe:
Combine flour, cocoa and baking soda in small bowl.

In a large bowl, cream together granulated sugar, brown sugar, butter and ¼ cup peanut butter. Beat the egg in a separate bowl and add along with vanilla. Gradually add the dry ingredients until combined. Set aside.

In small bowl combine remaining ¾ cup peanut butter and confectioner’s sugar. Shape into 30 1-inch balls. Cover each ball with one tablespoon of the chocolate dough and place on ungreased cookie sheet roughly 2 inches apart. Slightly flatten cookies using the bottom of a glass and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Bake 7-9 minutes. Place one Hershey kiss on each cookie directly after they come out of the oven.

Let cookies cool and enjoy!