When you’ve been making holiday cookies as long as some of us here at The Denver Post have, you’re bound to have your favorites, those that you make year after year and never get tired of. They aren’t especially fancy (no matcha dust, neopolitan checkerboard patterns or expert snowflake decora tions, here, folks) but are guaranteed delicious and would certainly be welcome on any cookie platter or in a gift basket. Happy baking! Chocolate-Dipped Shortbread Cookies. (Photo by Amy Brothers/The Denver Post) Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies These are my favorites, the ones I have to make each holiday. They’re also the ones I grab from the cookie tray and devour every time I walk by while ignoring all the rest. They’re another dry cookie, not too sweet, and the combination of chocolate, nuts and buttery cookie is irresistible. Roll into logs as pictured, or make into rounds and dip half in chocolate. — Barbara Ellis INGREDIENTS 2 cups flour 1 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 tablespoon vegetable shortening 3/4 cup finely chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts, optional) DIRECTIONS Combine flour, butter, sugar and vanilla; mix well. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets; shape into logs or press into circles using the bottom of a glass dipped in flour. Bake 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees (do NOT overbake). Cool on baking sheet 3 to 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack until completely cool. Melt chocolate chips and shortening. Dip one end of each cookie into melted chocolate, then roll in nuts. Chill until firm. Spritz Butter Cookies This recipe came from a relative in the 1960s, and my family has been making them for more than 50 years. They’re a dry butter cookie, not too sweet. And they look great on a holiday cookie tray. (Tips: For Colorado’s climate, I always use less flour or add more butter to get the dough at the right consistency for the cookie press. Also, try a few before baking the whole batch. If they are not sweet enough, add more confectioners’ sugar.) — Barbara Ellis INGREDIENTS 1 pound unsalted butter 1 1/3 cups confectioners’ sugar 5 cups flour (or less for our climate) food coloring, decorations as desired DIRECTIONS Cream butter, add sugar and mix well. Add flour slowly and mix. If the dough is too thick, add more butter (or plan ahead and use less flour to begin with). Split dough in half and add food coloring to achieve desired shade. Put into cookie press, using different discs for variety. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Do not let them brown. Gingerbread Cookies There's nothing fancy about these gingerbread cookies, but they are tender, gently spiced (feel free to add more to taste) and completely wonderful with a glass of cold milk. (Con Pouios, The New York Times) These traditional cookies came to The New York Times by way of Jennifer Steinhauer in an article about her grandmother’s beloved Christmas cookie recipes. Isabelle Steinhauer would bake between “15 and 20 varieties each season: cream cheese wreaths shot from a cookie press; papery wafers carefully dipped in colored sugar; elaborate cutout cookies of nursery rhyme characters, their eyes fashioned from metallic dragées that the FDA has written off as inedible; all manner of confections with nuts.” There’s nothing fancy about these gingerbread cookies, but they are tender, gently spiced (feel free to add more to taste) and completely wonderful with a glass of cold milk. — The New York Times INGREDIENTS 1 cup light brown sugar 1 cup light molasses 1 cup vegetable shortening 1 tablespoon baking soda 1 egg, lightly beaten ¼ teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 tablespoon ground ginger ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon ground cloves 4 to 4½ cups all-purpose flour, more for rolling dough Royal icing and cinnamon candies, for decorating, optional DIRECTIONS In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, molasses and shortening. Place over medium-low heat and stir just until mixture is melted and smooth. Remove from heat and mix in baking soda and ¼ cup cold water. Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature. Add egg, salt, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon and cloves; stir to mix well. Add 4 cups flour and mix well, adding up to ½ cup more if dough seems sticky. Shape into a ball, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 24 hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to ¼-inch thickness, and cut into gingerbread boy shapes with a 5-inch-long cookie cutter. Arrange on baking sheets 1½ inches apart, and bake until risen and no longer shiny, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow cookies to cool. If desired, decorate with royal icing and cinnamon candies. Store in an airtight container. Magic Cookie Bars These are shockingly simple but will quickly become a family favorite. Former Post staffer Suzanne Brown brings them to our Christmas cookie swap most every year; she says the magic begins when they all disappear. The original recipe, from Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk, was first printed on cans and in magazines in the 1960s. We made a slight adjustment here to make the graham cracker crumb base a bit thicker. — Barbara Ellis INGREDIENTS Non-stick cooking spray 2 cups graham cracker crumbs 3/4 cups butter, melted 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 1/3 cups flaked coconut 1 cup chopped nuts DIRECTIONS Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 13-by-9 baking pan with cooking spray. Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter in a small bowl. Press into bottom of prepared pan. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumb mixture. Layer chocolate chips, coconut and nuts on top. Press down firmly with fork. (Don’t miss that step; toppings can fall off otherwise.) Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Loosen bars from sides of pan while still warm; cool on wire rack. (I put mine in the fridge until they firmed up enough to cut.) Cut into bars or diamonds. Caramel Corn Caramel corn is simple to make. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post) OK, so these aren’t cookies, but this caramel corn is so fluffy and addictive we had to include it. Put it in smallish, pretty Christmas bags and it’s perfect as a stocking stuffer. Former Post staffer Alison Borden says her mom got the recipe from a Betty Crocker cookbook from the 1970s. In her own homemade cookbook that she shares with family, Alison wrote: “This is a dangerous recipe, namely because of how much one can shove in his or her mouth at once.” INGREDIENTS 15 cups popped corn (about 2/3 cup unpopped kernels or two microwave packages of Orville Redenbacher’s Natural Simply Salted) 1 cup brown sugar, packed 1/2 cup butter 1/4 cup light corn syrup 1/2 teaspoon salt (a bit less if using the microwave popcorn) 1/2 teaspoon baking soda DIRECTIONS Preheat oven to 200 degrees. In a saucepan, heat sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt over medium heat, stirring occasionally until bubbly around the edges. Continue for 5 minutes, being careful not to overcook. Remove pan from heat and stir in baking soda until mixture becomes foamy. Pour on popped corn and stir until corn is coated. (Says Alison: “The trick to evenly coat is to put the popcorn in a big bowl and stir like the dickens when you pour the caramel mixture in.”) Place entire batch on cookie sheets. (I used a turkey roaster, since it was overflowing.) Bake for 1 hour, stirring about every 15 minutes. Cool before bagging. Chocolate Covered Pretzel Rods Eric Lutzens, The Denver PostDipped chocolate pretzel sticks. (Amy Brothers/The Denver Post) Sweet and salty. What’s not to like? For years, I’ve put together baskets of Christmas treats for friends and neighbors. And every year without fail, the pretzels are plucked from the just-delivered baskets before they hit the table. If you’re a purist, just do a simple chocolate dip, but you can have fun with different toppings, too. — Lori Punko INGREDIENTS Pretzel rods Chocolate chips Vanilla candy melts Sprinkles, nuts, crushed candy canes (optional) DIRECTIONS Melt chocolate chips in microwave or double-boiler. Dip pretzels one at a time into the chocolate using a spatula to help cover about 3/4 of the pretzel. Roll in topping if desired. Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment to dry. For vanilla drizzles, melt candy melts in microwave. Spoon into small freezer bag. Cut off corner of bag and drizzle over tray. Let harden for up to 24 hours. Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars. (Mia Kruzel, Special to The Denver Post) My sister, Jay, has been making these for decades, and her friends and family have come to expect a tray (or more) of them at special occasions. They are the sweets she would bring to her kids’ sporting events, or when someone is ailing,  moving, celebrating, or just because. And they are always welcome. (Note: There are a lot of variations on this fudgy bar out there, but this one has been tested and verified. Repeatedly. We think the cracker crust adds the perfect base.) — Barbara Ellis INGREDIENTS 1 cup peanut butter (not reduced fat) 1 1/3 stick butter, softened 3 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers 1 cup confectioners’ sugar 1 can sweetened condensed milk 12-ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate morsels DIRECTIONS Mix ingredients through the confectioners’ sugar and press down firmly into 13×9 baking pan. In a separate bowl, mix sweetened condensed milk with chocolate bits. Microwave at 50 percent power until softened, then 1 minute at full power until melted, stirring occasionally. Pour over the peanut butter mixture in pan and refrigerate. Before serving, take out of the refrigerator for about 30 minutes and cut into squares. Will last for weeks refrigerated — unless your kids find ’em. Biscotti Because biscotti travel and keep well, a pile of them makes an excellent gift wrapped in a cellophane bag and tied with a ribbon. (Andrew Purcell, The New York Times) These classic Italian cookies get their signature crispness from being twice-baked: First, the dough is cooked in logs, cut into slices, then baked again. Because they travel and keep well, a pile of them makes an excellent gift wrapped in a cellophane bag and tied with a ribbon. Feel free to experiment with add-ins: Sub in hazelnuts or pistachios for the almonds. Add mini chocolate chips or dried cranberries, or a teaspoon of citrus zest. Or take the cookies over the top by drizzling with melted chocolate, glazing with icing or dusting with sprinkles. You do you. — Molly O’Neill, The New York Times Yield: About 24 cookies INGREDIENTS 1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise ¾ cup granulated sugar ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 2 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour 1½ teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon fine sea salt 1¼ cups slivered almonds, coarsely chopped DIRECTIONS Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Position rack in center of oven. With a small knife, scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and place in a small bowl. Add the sugar and use your fingers to mix the vanilla evenly into the sugar. Set aside. With an electric mixer, cream the butter until light. Add the vanilla sugar and mix until fluffy. Add the eggs and the vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and almonds and stir into the butter mixture. 2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide the dough into 3 pieces. On a lightly floured surface, shape each piece of dough into a log that is about 1¼ inches in diameter. Place the logs on the baking sheet, spacing them as far apart as possible. Bake in the center of the oven until lightly browned, about 30 minutes. 3. Place the logs on a cutting board and let them cool slightly. With a serrated knife, cut the logs on the diagonal into ½-inch-thick pieces. Place on the baking sheet, cut side down. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes, turning once. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool. Store in an airtight container. Best Linzer Cookies Get creative with shapes when making homemade Linzer Christmas cookies. (Getty Images) Finally, a recipe that’s not as easy as others, but oh-so-worth the effort. Betty Efird of Denver brought these over for Christmas a few years ago and I was hooked. These cookies are beautiful, so delicious and you really only need one to satisfy your sweet tooth (for awhile, anyway). — Barbara Ellis Yield: up to 8 dozen cookies, depending on size. (Can easily cut the recipe in half.) Source: Good Housekeeping magazine. Time: 2 hours plus 4-5 hours chilling. INGREDIENTS 16 ounces pecans 1 cup cornstarch 3 cups butter (6 sticks), softened 2 2/3 cups confectioners’ sugar, divided 4 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 2 large eggs 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups seedless raspberry jam DIRECTIONS 1. In a food processor with knife blade attached, pulse pecans and cornstarch until nuts are finely ground. 2. In a large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat butter and 2 cups confectioners’ sugar until blended. Increase speed to high and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. At medium speed, beat in vanilla, salt and eggs. On low speed, beat in flour and pecan mixture until just blended. 3. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces. Flatten each into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until dough is firm enough to roll, 4 to 5 hours. 4. Preheat oven to 325. Remove one disk of dough from refrigerator and let stand 5 minutes. On floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll dough 1/8-inch thick. With floured 2 1/4-inch fluted round or square cookie cutter, cut dough into cookies. With floured 1 3/4-inch star cookie cutter, cut out centers from half of cookies. With spatula, place cookies, 1 inch apart, on ungreased cookie sheets. Refrigerate trimmings. 5. Bake cookies until edges are golden but not browned, about 17 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough and trimmings. 6. Sprinkle remaining 2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar through sieve over cooled cookies with cut-out centers. 7. Spread each whole cookie with scant teaspoon jam; top with cut-out cookies. Store in tightly sealed container with waxed paper between layers at room temperature up to 1 week or in freezer up to 2 months. (If frozen, sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar just before serving.) ...read more read less