Chocolate Coconut Almond Dipped Shortbread #ChristmasCookies

Christmas Cookies Week continues!  I'm so excited to share today's cookie, and I'm definitely getting a little concerned about my freezer space when I see several more amazing cookies that I can't wait to try in today's roundup.  Thanks again to Ellen of Family Around the Table for hosting this event!

Almond is one of my favorite flavors year round, but there's something about the holidays that really makes me love it even more.  It has always been a staple in my Christmas baking, and it brings back so many nostalgic memories of trays heaped with goodies at holiday gatherings.

Sponsor Nielsen-Massey provided me with Pure Almond Extract

When sponsor Nielsen Massey sent me a complimentary bottle of their pure almond extract, I was thrilled!  I always use it in my holiday sugar cookies, and it's a necessary ingredient in countless bars.  I thought I'd try my hand at creating a new-to-me cookie using my new almond extract.

To make today even better, Nielsen-Massey Fine Vanillas & Flavors is giving one winner a set of their pure flavors: 2-oz each of Orange, Lemon, Peppermint, Almond, Chocolate, Coffee, Rose Water, and Orange Blossom Water.  This giveaway is open to residents of both the US and Canada.  Ensure to enter at the bottom of this post!

Cream Cheese Cookie Cups #ChristmasCookies

Welcome to my second contribution to #ChristmasCookies Week!  Today I'm sharing a basic sugar cookie, filled with a cream cheese icing, topped with a little Christmas gummy candy.  You can switch up the color of the filling or candy topping to suit your tastes, or to match a holiday color scheme.   I think some sort of holiday chocolate would be fantastic on these as well.  Thanks again to Ellen of Family Around the Table for organizing this event.  Throughout the week there will be countless delicious cookies to check out, and I encourage you to take a look each day.

Raspberry Filled Coconut Snowflakes #ChristmasCookies

Welcome to Christmas Cookies Week!  Ellen from Family Around the Table has organized a fantastic group of bloggers to share some of their favorite holiday cookie recipes.  I participated in a similar group last year and got so many delicious ideas!  One of the most popular cookies that I gifted came from this type of event, so I always love seeing what everyone has to offer.    I encourage you to check out all of the links at the bottom of my posts each day.  I guarantee there will be something that catches your eye!

The first cookie that I'm featuring is one that I have to give credit to my husband for.  Although it ended up a little "too shortbread like" for him, we considered it delicious.  His brainstorming gave me 3 of my 6 cookie ideas this year.  When my imagination was really struggling, and I asked him for cookie ideas, he rattled off three ideas within a couple minutes.   This was one of them.  He originally said "a sandwich cookie with red in the middle with some sort of snowy substance sprinkled on top".  I attempted a sandwich cookie, and it failed miserably, but I took his general idea and put it into a classic thumbprint/thimble cookie instead.  I added coconut (because adding coconut is what I generally do to make the world happier), and this cookie was born! 

Brownie Mix #FoodGifts

There's nothing more personal than a homemade gift.  I think they're especially good for those hard-to-buy-for people on your lists.  Some people seem to have everything, so it can be overwhelming searching through the copious amounts of nick-nacks and gadgets that flood the store shelves during the holidays.  The best homemade gift (in my opinion), is that of the food variety.  It's a consumable, so it's not going to sit on a shelf and collect dust until it eventually gets donated or tossed in the garbage.  Ugh...there's just so much unnecessary waste because we all have this need to buy that perfect something for people when it's actually really hard to find a gift that people actually want!

I am definitely guilty of what I describe above, so I'm trying to get better at really trying to think and find out exactly what a person wants or needs.   For those people who seem to have everything, today's post contains links to some super fun and creative homemade food gifts ideas, as gathered by Ellen at Family Around the Table.  We all have to eat, right?!   Check them all out, and maybe a few of the ideas will jump out at you as being a perfect treat for someone special to you.

I've been working on a few homemade projects this year, including this homemade brownie mix.  I tweaked a few ingredients in my usual favorite brownie recipe to make it shelf stable, and then put it in a festive jar, with a little note describing how to prepare.  With this mix, you only add eggs, vanilla, and a little bit of milk, and after baking you've got perfectly soft, fudgy brownies.  I've even included a little package of ingredients to mix up with milk and a bit of vanilla to glaze the top with.  This will be the perfect homemade gift for any chocolate lover in your life!