If you’ve ever watched Food Network for more than 2 minutes, you will soon hear that there are two kinds of chefs: savory (cook) and pastry (baker). I am solidly in the baker category.

Tom Douglas in his The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook, explains it this way in his introduction:

“Bakers are crazy, bakers are irrational; bakers are perfectionist; bakers need to know mathematics; bakers are chemists. Need I go on? They’re just smarter than the average bear and thus by nature are difficult to get on with.”

Yep…that’s me! (Except for that last part…)

In case you are curious, he describes cooks in this way:

“Cooks are a scrappy lot, often feeling the sting from the prior late night.” and “Cooks “throw” recipes and menus together and scramble for virtuosity…”

(And yes, this introduction is hilarious and you might need to have this cookbook in your stocking this Christmas.)

In any case, I love to bake, and Christmas is like the grand finale to the baking year. I never have time to bake during December, and yet I make the time, because all the different cookies sound so good and look so delicious in the pictures! I’m always on a quest for that new special cookie, the one that makes my loved ones close their eyes and groan in delight as they bite into it. That’s when I know it has earned a place on our traditional favorites list that I make every year.

Here are some old favorites and a couple of new ones I’m trying out this year. I think you’ll soon learn that chocolate and peppermint are alive and well in our house!

Martha Stewart’s Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

A combination of fresh and ground ginger and cocoa powder and chocolate chunks come together in the perfect cookie: so chocolatey, perfectly gingered, and the chewy texture is sublime.

Martha Stewart’s Chocolate-Peppermint Cookies

A simple chocolate cookie wafer covered top to bottom in white chocolate with a crushed candy cane topping? Divine.

Cinnamon-Chipper Snickerdoodles

The extra blast of cinnamon from the cinnamon chips and the addition of white chocolate chips and crushed graham crackers make these snickerdoodles something special. The original recipe is from the Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Cookies December 2011 issue, but it can be found online here.

If you have a nut allergy, and can’t use the convenient Hershey’s brand of cinnamon chips, try this substitute for homemade cinnamon chips. They aren’t chips, but the cinnamon is soooo good!

Chocolate Chip Peppermint Crunch Cookies

This is a new recipe I just tried today, and it is yummy! I love the simplicity of a chocolate chip cookie, and the Peppermint Crunch Junior Mints and crushed candy cane topping dress it up perfectly for the holiday season.

Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies

Another new one for this year from the RecipeGirl. If you haven’t checked out Lori Lange’s site, do: she’s got lots of great recipes on there! This recipe is easy, which I love, and tasty, which I love even more. Think of your classic peppermint bark with a cookie on the bottom.

Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses, chopped

Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies

For more Christmas Cookie ideas, check out my Pinterest board!

If you have a favorite holiday cookie, please share!