Best-loved holiday cookies

McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) - Kick up the holiday cheer this year with a cookie swap.

Here are some favorite holiday recipes to start your own swap _ or delectable treats for Santa!

Just set up a few rules: Cookies are brought to the party in separate decorative bags for each person attending, plus a bag that will be put on the refreshment table for tasting; the bag needs to be accompanied by the name of the cookie, the name of the cook and a copy of the recipe; and cookies should be freshly baked. Provide refreshments and dig in.

___

PERSIMMON OATMEAL COOKIES WITH COCONUT

This recipe is from Karen Poppen of Keyes, Calif. She writes, "Every Christmas, my mom made persimmon cookies that I didn't like. One day, I was visiting a friend and she offered me some persimmon cookies. I politely declined, explaining that I didn't like them. She told me that her cookies _ persimmon oatmeal with coconut _ were different, and she encouraged me to try them. They were wonderful!

"She gave me the recipe and I have made them ever since. However, persimmons aren't available year-round, so I often substitute canned pumpkin for the persimmon. They taste a bit different, but they're also delicious!"

Ingredients:

1 cup persimmon pulp (or canned pumpkin)

1 teaspoon soda

ľ cup butter or margarine

1˝ cups sugar

2 eggs

1˝ cups quick-cook oatmeal

˝ cup coconut

1˝ cups flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

˝ teaspoon each of salt, ground nutmeg, and ground cloves 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon ˝ cup chopped nuts (optional)

Instructions:

Combine persimmon pulp and soda. Set aside.

Cream butter or margarine and sugar. Add eggs and then pulp mixture, combining thoroughly after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon, and add to wet mixture. Fold in nuts.

Grease cookie sheets. Use two spoons to drop walnut-size mounds on the cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove immediately from cookie sheets to cooling rack. When cool, place in covered container, using waxed paper to separate layers. Recipe will make 100 cookies, if they are small.

___

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

This recipe is from Glenda L. Hyde of Modesto, Calif. She writes, "It's actually a basic Betty Crocker recipe that I started making about 20 years ago. Over the years, I have added the peanut butter chips and the semisweet chips. Also, I underbake cookies a bit, because when I was little, my grandma made peanut butter cookies that were so hard I could throw them against something and break it. (Sorry, Grandma.) The original recipe also calls for shortening, but years ago, I traded butter for shortening in everything I bake.

"I always tell people I'm not sure I took my kids to the park enough when they were little, but I KNOW I baked them enough cookies. I still love to bake for them when they come home."

Ingredients:

˝ cup butter (1 stick), soft

˝ cup granulated sugar

˝ cup packed brown sugar

˝ cup peanut butter

1 egg

1Ľ cups all-purpose flour

ľ teaspoon baking soda

˝ teaspoon baking powder

Ľ teaspoon salt

Peanut butter chips

Instructions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream butter, sugars, peanut butter and egg. Add in remaining ingredients and mix well. If desired, add a half bag of peanut butter chips or semisweet chocolate chips. Form into ľ-inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake about eight minutes, until just a bit brown on top.

Note: For a fluffier cookie, substitute a little cake flour for all-purpose flour.

___

CHOCO-MARSHMALLOW COOKIES

This recipe is from Annamaria Wikoff of Oakdale, Calif. She writes, "My mother-in-law, Barbara Wikoff, was invited to a cookie exchange on a midweek evening. Because she taught piano every afternoon, she had to bake and package the cookies in the morning. Her teenage son, now my husband, arrived home from school and sampled the extra cookies as his snack. It was a new recipe. He proceeded to interrupt his mom by announcing, 'These cookies are terrible. Where are you taking them?' Barbara explained and continued with her teaching, wondering why he didn't like them. She decided not to expose her friends to the terrible cookies, so after her last student left, she hurriedly made some brownies from a mix and rushed out the door. Steve stayed home, enjoyed not only the cookies that he managed to keep for himself but reveled in the fact that he had outsmarted his mother. She didn't catch on until she returned home and he laughingly confessed."

Ingredients:

3˝ cups sifted flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2/3 cup cocoa

1 cup shortening

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

˝ cup milk

36 large marshmallows, halved

1 can chocolate frosting.

Instructions:

Sift dry ingredients together and set aside. Cream shortening and sugar until fluffy. Blend in eggs, milk and vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Mix well. Drop by teaspoonful onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for eight minutes. Remove cookie sheet from oven and press half of a marshmallow (cut side down) on each cookie. Return sheet to oven and bake two to three minutes until puffy. Cool. Frost the marshmallow with chocolate frosting.

___

WORLD'S BEST COOKIES

This recipe is from "Grannie" Joann Ewert, who writes, "A church recipe book came out almost 10 years ago. After reading the recipe book, I just had to try these 'best cookies.' And they are good! They turn out best if you keep them small. It is a large recipe, making five (dozen) to six dozen. The cookies are not fancy, but the kind you can add to a tray of pretty ones."

Ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

ľ cup butter or margarine

ľ cup oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup oatmeal

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup corn flakes, crushed

3˝ cups flour

˝ cup coconut

˝ cup walnuts

Instructions:

Mix sugars, margarine, salt, oil, egg and vanilla. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of milk if the batter doesn't come together. Place walnut-size dough on baking sheet. Press down with fork dipped in water. Bake for eight to 10 minutes at 350 degrees or until lightly browned.

___

ALMOND COOKIES

Bake time: 8 minutes

This recipe is from Jim Smallwood of Modesto, Calif. He writes, "Back in 1991, I was trying to think of a recipe for cookies to enter in the Santa Cruz County Fair. I was tired of entering the same old chocolate chip cookies, so I took an old shortbread cookie recipe of my mother's and changed it a little, made up a batch and found that my children loved it. The almond cookie has now become a family favorite and I make it every year around the holidays. Oh, yes, it took a third-place ribbon at the fair in 1994 and 1995."

Ingredients:

1 cup melted butter

2/3 cup sugar

˝ teaspoon almond extract

˝ cup coarse ground almonds

2 cups flour

Instructions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix butter, sugar, almonds and almond extract thoroughly. Add almonds and flour and mix in with your hands. Place dough on a flat surface, pat dough with your hands until it is about a ˝-inch thick. Use a biscuit cutter to cut out cookies (about 2˝ inches in diameter). Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for eight minutes. Cookies do not brown or change their shape. Remove from oven and let cookies cool before removing from baking sheet.

___

WALNUT BUTTERSCOTCH COOKIES

Serves: About 16

This recipe is from Sue Lorenz of Modesto, Calif. She writes, "This is my favorite cookie recipe. I just pour the oil and vanilla on the brown sugar and blend. I think I got this recipes from my mother, Isabel Peckham of Woodland," Calif.

Ingredients:

1 egg

1 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup salad oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

ľ cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

˝ teaspoon salt

ľ cup chopped walnuts

Instructions:

Beat eggs. Add sugar, oil and vanilla and mix well. Add sifted dry ingredients and nuts and mix. Spread in an 8-inch greased pan and bake in oven preheated at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Don't overbake. Let cool and cut into squares.

___

PECAN BARS

Makes: About 3 dozen

This recipe is from Juanita Kaufman of Modesto, Calif. She writes, "Many years ago, I was taking night classes at Modesto Junior College and became acquainted with a lady who was in charge of the cafeteria at Downey High School. Aside from accounting, we both shared a love of cooking. She gave me several recipes and this is one of my very favorites."

Ingredients:

Crust:

˝ cup butter

˝ cup dark-brown sugar

˝ teaspoon salt

1 cup flour

2 tablespoons milk

Filling:

2 eggs

1 cup dark-brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons flour

˝ teaspoon baking powder

1Ľ cups chopped pecans

ľ cup shredded coconut (4 ounces)

Instructions:

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9-by-9-by-2-inch square pan with aluminum foil.

Crust: Cream butter, sugar and salt until fluffy. Blend in flour and milk. Pat into pan and up sides a bit. Bake 20 minutes. Cool slightly.

Filling: Beat eggs well, then beat in sugar and vanilla. Blend in

2 tablespoons flour and baking powder. Fold in coconut and pecans. Pour over baked crust and bake for 35 minutes more. Cool and cut into squares.

___

OLD-FASHIONED SOUR CREAM SUGAR COOKIES

This recipe is from Denice L. Ditzler of Modesto, Calif. She writes about everyone getting together: "It was an assembly line, someone measured flour someone cracked the eggs, my job was to roll perfectly sized balls of dough."

Ingredients:

˝ cup shortening (part butter or margarine)

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

˝ teaspoon soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

˝ teaspoon salt

Ľ teaspoon nutmeg

˝ cup sour cream

Instructions:

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Mix shortening, sugar, egg and vanilla thoroughly. Measure flour by dipping method. Blend dry ingredients; add to sugar mixture alternately with sour cream. Divide dough; roll out to Ľ-inch thick on well-floured surface. Cut out shapes, place on greased baking sheet. Bake eight to 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Frost and decorate when completely cooled.

Note: I use a touch of almond in my frosting instead of vanilla and the cookies are excellent. Just a simple buttercream frosting with almond extract.

___

ROSENMUNNER (RED MIDDLES)

This recipe is from Ann Wesley of Groveland, Calif. She writes: "My father being born in Sweden, I have been keeper of the family recipes and a collector of same since I married 55 years ago.

"This is so easy and the young children love to make the hole in the center for the jam."

Ingredients:

˝ pound butter

˝ cup sugar

2 cups sifted flour

Red jelly

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients, except the jelly. Form dough into large olive-size balls, press center down with thumb and fill the indent with red currant jelly or any red jelly. Bake about 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Makes about three dozen.

___

© 2008, The Modesto Bee (Modesto, Calif.).