One thing I was determined to do this year was bake Christmas cookies, since the past few years I've been really lagging in that department. I think I maybe did one or two batches last year, and don't recall doing any the year before. This year I made up for it with five different kinds of cookies and bars, all of which turned out quite well!
I started with Alice Medrich's Ginger Cookies, from Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-In-Your-Mouth Cookies (one of my favourite cookbooks of 2010). These cookies are phenomenal, especially if you love ginger -- they contain the powdered variety as well as candied and fresh. It makes for a crisp-on-the-outside, chewy-on-the-inside spice cookie, with a nice sharp bite at the end (courtesy the fresh ginger). Alice includes a tamer version in the book but I really recommend trying the original recipe first.
