The Joy of Christmas Cookies
When I was a little girl (all the best stories begin this way! Ha), there would be one Sunday afternoon during the holiday season, that the girls in my mom’s family would gather for some holiday baking. Typically we would gather at my Grandma Glenda’s house and I swear the oven never turned off. We’d make all the family favorites: chocolate drop cookies (my cousin Morgan’s favorite), party mix (my brother Garth’s favorite and now loved by my daughter), sometimes we made Christmas candies (my mom’s favorite), and we always made peanut butter star cookies (my brother Dan and my favorite).
In Iowa, or maybe the Midwest in general, they used to have these open candy bins in small town grocery stores (we wouldn’t dream of such a thing now in this crazy COVID world we’re living in). But anyhow, you could freely scoop the amount of candy you wanted into big plastic bags. You get the picture. Anyhow, at this particular grocery store called Mike’s Grocery (give ya one guess the name of the guy who owned it. Ha), there were milk chocolate candies in the shape of a star and we would put those in the middle of these peanut butter “star” cookies. We obviously have since had to pivot and use milk chocolate Hershey kisses in the middle now, but the name has stuck and these cookies will be peanut butter star cookies for forever and always.
Whenever I go to make these cookies each year, I often think of my grandma and the wonderful women on my mom’s side of the family. They are all very funny women, so these baking days were filled with lots of laughs, lots of sugar and happy hearts. We made wonderful memories, which I’m so incredibly grateful for now that I’m a middle aged adult. ;) And after I moved to Denver, and could not make the annual event with my family, this particular idea of a baking party gave me the inspiration to host a girlfriend cookie party each Holiday season. My girlfriends and I gather and exchange all our favorite Christmas cookies. It’s just a great way to gather and catch up during such a hurried season.
This will sadly be our first holiday season without my Grandma as she passed away last December 27th from COVID, but all these memories and moments live on each year. Life is full of so many silly ups and downs and twists and turns, so it’s important to make time for these moments that remind us how special life really is. If you need a little a little jump start in creating these moments with your own special people, consider purchasing my peanut star cookie dough!
I hope you and your loved ones have a happy and healthy holiday season.
xo.
AFK
