Why You’ll Love This Christmas Pinwheel Cookies Recipe

This recipe is the same as my regular chocolate and vanilla pinwheels, but with a touch more flour to offset the lack of chocolate being added, and the added coloring. The process is the same and the flavor is very similar to the vanilla layer of my chocolate pinwheels, they’re just a bit more festive and colorful!

• Fun & festive. Gel icing color adds bright red and green colors to these Christmas pinwheel cookies, while sprinkles add an extra fun touch. The colorful pinwheel design will stand out on any cookie tray or in any gift box.
• Made with simple ingredients. Besides the gel icing color and the sprinkles, the ingredients in this recipe are all very basic. Ingredients that you very likely already have on hand!
• Perfect texture. One thing that was very important to me when developing these pinwheel Christmas cookies was the texture. Many pinwheel cookies are very dry or dense to avoid the dough spreading during baking, which I’m not a fan of. These cookies spread just a touch, but still maintain their shape, so they are soft and tender!

Cranberry Orange For The Win!

These two flavors aren’t always what first comes to mind for the holiday. Eggnog, gingerbread, peppermint – those are the more common ones. But every time I make something with orange flavor, I’m reminded of just how bright and tasty it is. And when you add cranberry, it’s instantly holiday ready. The flavor of these shortbread cookies is truly wonderful. And let’s be honest, there are so many of the same cookies at Christmas, why not add in the unexpected? These truly will be a HUGE hit!

Why You’ll Love This Cranberry Orange Shortbread Recipe

• Perfect flavor combination. These cookies are so yummy! The combination of the lightly tart and sweet cranberries with the pop of the bright, refreshing orange is hard to resist. I’m totally in love with it right now. It’s such an awesome flavor combination and so light.
• Topped with white chocolate. I like to drizzle melted white chocolate over the top of my cranberry orange shortbread, though this is an optional step. I think it really adds to the overall flavor and balances out the tart and citrusy flavors. Plus, it’s pretty!
• Great for the holidays. The combination of cranberry and orange makes this shortbread recipe great for the winter season and especially for the holidays. I think these are a nice change from many of the super sweet classic Christmas cookie recipes.

If you love this recipe, be sure to check out my classic shortbread and peppermint chocolate shortbread recipes too!

Why You’ll Love Frosted Peppermint Chocolate Cookies

Chocolate and peppermint — a flavor combination that just works and is perfect for Christmas! I’ve made several chocolate peppermint cookies over the years, like my Chocolate-Dipped Peppermint Chocolate Sugar Cookies and Peppermint Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies, but I couldn’t resist adding another to the collection. This time, I’ve added some frosting!

• Soft and chewy. Another thing I love about these cookies is their texture. They are super soft and chewy — I’m obsessed!
• Peppermint frosting. One thing that really sets these cookies apart from the rest is the peppermint frosting! It’s so flavorful and helps keep the chocolate cookies moist for days.
• Easy to make. The cookie dough comes together quickly and there’s no need to refrigerate it, so you’ll be on your way to tasty cookies in no time!
• Perfect for the holidays. One of the reasons we all love the holidays is the opportunity to enjoy lots of peppermint desserts! These cookies look and taste like the holidays and would be a welcome addition to any festive gathering.

Better Than Store-Bought

I am such a big caramel fan. It’s easily one of my favorite flavors. In a bag full of candy and chocolates, I will always eat anything with caramel first and may not even bother with the rest. It’s true love.

And these homemade caramels are even better than store-bought ones – and pretty much every other recipe I tried. When I make something homemade, I want even better flavor than what I can buy, otherwise what’s the point? Many recipes out there have caramel flavor that just isn’t enough for me. So I set out to make something better.

Rather than having just one caramelization process that’s cut short by the temperature needed to have softer caramels, this recipe has two rounds of caramelization. You basically start out by making my homemade salted caramel sauce, which already has amazing flavor, then add a few more ingredients and cook it again until it’s at the right temperature for chewy caramels. Purely addicting and amazing. The flavor is the best.

Why You’ll Love These Homemade Caramels

• Amazing flavor – As explained above, the flavor of these caramels is the best. Twice the caramel flavor of most other recipes! You won’t be able to resist them!
• Soft and chewy – They are soft, chewy and just the right texture. Plus, with slight adjustments to the temperature you cook them to, you can make them more or less soft to your preference. Easy!
• Perfect for gifting – Move over cookies! Homemade caramels are in town! Not only are homemade caramels special and impressive feeling, they also last longer than any cookie. Gift them all season long, ship them – they stay perfect.

Why You’ll Love This Whipped Shortbread Cookies Recipe

• Great flavor & texture. These are so tender and buttery and they stay that way for days! The powdered sugar and butter really give these a melt-in-your-mouth texture. They’re simple but so good!
• Quick & easy. One of the reasons I love these whipped shortbread cookies is how simple and easy they are to make. The dough takes just a few minutes to prepare and they bake in just 11 minutes or so. They need to chill but only for 30-60 minutes.
• Only 5 ingredients. You need just 5 very basic ingredients to make these cookies – think butter, powdered sugar, salt, flour, and vanilla. These are cookies you can make pretty much anytime because it’s all but guaranteed those ingredients are already in the cupboard.
• Great for making ahead. These thick little cookies stay soft for a while, which makes them great for making ahead during the busy holidays. They’re usually one of the first cookies I make because I don’t need to worry about them going stale in two days.

If you love these, be sure to check out my classic shortbread cookies and butter cookies recipe too.