Holiday Traditions

I love holiday traditions. I love the things that we do each year that are connected to a particular time or celebration and hold a special significance to us. Take Christmas cookies for example. We all have our special Christmas cookie recipes that are made only at Christmas time. Most of my favorite recipes came from a family member or friend and each time I bake them I think of that person and the time or the place when I first tasted their yummy creation! My Grandma’s Tollhouse Chocolate Chip cookies, my parent’s Cherry Bit cookies, my sister-in-law’s Chocolate Nut Fudge, and my friend’s Marzipan Squares all hold special memories for me and Christmas would not be complete without them.

When we were planning our Two Scrapbook Friends Christmas party we decided to include a cookie exchange as part of the fun. Carolyn, Janet, Karan and I all made cookies for each other and it was fun deciding which cookies to make and how to package them. I decided to bake my new favorite cookies – Cadbury Cookies. This recipe came from my scrapbook friend, Keri. She shared these delicious cookies with us at a couple of scrapbooking events and they have become not only one of my favorites but my family’s as well.

These wonderful cookies are a chocolate lovers dream! They are a bit crispy on the outside and like a chewy brownie on the inside.

Not only does cocoa go into the dough…

but, they have a special caramel surprise baked inside each one!

The cookies gets rolled in sugar before baking and when they bake they crack slightly making a beautiful pattern on each one!

I found these sweet reindeer plates at the store and decided they would be perfect to hold the cookies for each person.

I added a couple of peppermint candies and voila! my gift to my friends was complete.

As each person brought their cookies, you could see the love and effort that went into each package.

Janet made delicious Hershey Kiss cookies!

Karan made melt-in-your-mouth shortbread!


And Carolyn surprised us all with not only delicious cookies, but beautiful hand-made gift tags that we can use at Christmas!

Baking for others is such a wonderful gift from the heart. Why not surprise someone with a plate of home-baked Christmas cookies this year. You could even try making Cadbury Cookies! (Thanks Keri!)

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 cup + 1 Tbsp. white sugar, divided
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup baking cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
6 - 7 regular size Caramilk bars

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and 1 cup sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. In separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa and baking soda. Add to creamed mixture and beat together until just combined.

Shape dough around each Caramilk square. Roll each cookie in sugar and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. (They will be slightly cracked on top.) Enjoy!