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Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (Bars & Brownies): Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies

Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies 1

Welcome to the 12th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies! This year, I am focusing on brownies, blondies, and other bar cookies.

A note about cooking bar cookies: If you have trouble with burned edges and raw centers, try using a metal pan instead of a glass or ceramic pan. This is especially true of  bigger pans, 9×13” or larger. You can also bake the batter in 2 smaller square pans instead of one larger one to get more evenly baked bars and brownies.

DAY 1: Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies

This is an easy to make dressed-up brownie dessert that starts with a boxed brownie mix. Raspberry jam is swirled into both the brownie layer and the cheesecake layer.

Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies 2Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies 3Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies 4

RECIPE:

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Eleventh Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Recap

A list of all 12 of this year’s Christmas Cookies:

Merry Christmas and Happy Baking!

Whipped Shortbread 2_thumb[3]

DAY 1: Whipped Shortbread Cookies

Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Cookies_thumb[3]

DAY 2: Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Cookies

Bear-Paw-Cookies-2_thumb1

DAY 3: Bear Paw Cookies

Oatmeal Coconut Cookies 1_thumb[3]

DAY 4: Oatmeal Coconut Cookies

Raspberry Almond Thumbprints 3_thumb[1]

DAY 5: Raspberry Almond Thumbprints

Coconut Cornflake Sandies 3_thumb[2]

DAY 6: Coconut Cornflake Sandies

Slow Roasted Spiced Almonds 1_thumb[3]

DAY 7: Slow Roasted Spiced Almonds

2018-05-18 17.21.37_thumb[4]

DAY 8: Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sprinkle Cookies 2_thumb[3]DAY 9: Christmas Sprinkle Cookies

Maple Oatmeal Toffee Cookies 3_thumb[4]

DAY 10: Maple Oatmeal Toffee Cookies

Mint-Chocolate-MMs-Cookies-2_thumb4

DAY 11: Mint Chocolate M&M’s Cookies

Loaded Chocolate Chip Sandies 3_thumb[2]

DAY 12: Loaded Chocolate Chip Sandies

For more ideas of how to Light the World with kindness and service the rest of this Christmas season, here is a link to a calendar of ideas:

Light The World Image 2

For more cookie recipes, check out the previous ten years of Christmas cookie ideas:

1st Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2009)

2nd Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2010)

3rd Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2011)

4th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2012)

5th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2013)

6th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2014)

7th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2015)

8th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2016)

9th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2017)

10th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2018)

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Eleventh Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Bear Paw Cookies

Bear Paw Cookies 4

DAY 3: Bear Paw Cookies

An easy and fun alternative to regular chocolate  chip cookies. Bake your favorite plain cookie dough (or use the dough below) and add two different sized chocolate chips after baking to make a paw print pattern.

Use a very small cookie scoop (or make 1” balls)  so that the paw print pattern covers most of the cooked cookie.

Bear Paw Cookies 2

Recipe adapted from Kitchen Fun

RECIPE:

Bear Paw Cookies

  • Servings: 4 dozen small cookies
  • Print

Bear Paw Cookies 4

¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1 Tbs vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 Tbs cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
About 1 cup of regular-sized chocolate chips plus about 1 cup of larger baking chips (like Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Beat in flour, cornstarch, and salt.

Using a small cookie scoop, place level scoops on baking sheets, about 2” apart (I can get 20 cookies on a baking sheet). Roll scoops of dough into balls (about 1” in diameter); return to baking sheet.

Bake for 8 minutes, or until baked through. Cookies will still look very pale. Don’t overbake. While cookies are still warm, press one large chocolate chip and three small chocolate chips into each cookie to make a paw pattern. Cool cookies completely on wire racks.

Makes about 4 dozen small cookies.

Recipe adapted from Kitchen Fun

NoEmptyChairs.me

Light-The-World-Image-26

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Eleventh Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Cookies

Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Cookies

DAY 2: Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Cookies

A chocolate cookie loaded full of sweet and salty goodness: chocolate chips, pretzels, and pecans. All wrapped around a gooey caramel center.

Recipe adapted from Two Peas & Their Pod

RECIPE:

Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Cookies

Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 ½ cups flour
¾ cup Dutch process cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 cup coarsely chopped pretzels
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans, optional
1 pkg (11 oz) caramel squares (about 24)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Gradually beat into butter/sugar mixture, until just mixed. Stir in pretzels, chocolate chips, and pecans.

Cut caramel squares in half and set aside.

Using a cookie scoop, place level scoops of dough on baking sheets, about 2” apart. Roll each scoop of dough around a caramel square half. Return to baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes; cookies will still look slightly underdone. Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets and then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Adapted from Two Peas & Their Pod

NoEmptyChairs.me

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Top Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (Honorable Mentions)

These cookies did not make the Top 12, but were close runners-up. If you are looking for more baking ideas, these are sure to please! Also included are some of our favorite Christmas candies.

Honorable Mentions:


Chocolate Walnut Puddle Cookies

Chocolate Walnut Puddle Cookies

Christmas Fortune Cookies

Christmas Fortune Cookies

Almond Toffee Triangles

Almond Toffee Triangles

Cranberry Orange Buttermilk Cookies

Cranberry Orange Buttermilk Cookies

Peanut Butter Snowflake Cookies

Peanut Butter Snowflake Cookies

Raspberry Crumb Bars

Raspberry Crumb Bars

Christmas M&M Cookies

Christmas M&M Cookies

Rocky Road Cookies

Rocky Road Cookies

Snickerdoodles

2017-12-05 14.58.11

Almond Toffee Sandies

Almond Toffee Sandies

Caramel Pecan Bars

Caramel Pecan Bars

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cookies

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cookies

Favorite Christmas Candies:

Homemade Caramels

Homemade Caramels

Chocolate Nutella Fudge

Chocolate Nutella Fudge

Turtle Pretzel Snaps

Turtle Pretzel Snaps

Peppermint Bark

Peppermint Bark Snowflakes

Oreo Truffles

Oreo Truffles

Christmas Caramel Chex Mix

Christmas Caramel Chex Mix

Lots More Christmas Cookies and Treats:

1st Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2009)

2nd Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2010)

3rd Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2011)

4th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2012)

5th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2013)

6th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2014)

7th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2015)

8th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2016)

9th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies (2017)

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Top Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies Recap

After an extensive process of nominations and voting, these are the cookies that our family voted as their favorites. It is not an exhaustive list, and the voting may have been skewed by the child who hates anything chocolate. Tomorrow I will share a few Honorable Mentions and some favorite Christmas candies.

Merry Christmas and Happy Baking!

DAY 1: Christmas Cherry Pecan Cookies

Christmas Cherry Pecan Cookies

DAY 2: Lofthouse Style Soft Sugar Cookies

Lofthouse Cookies 3

DAY 3: Swedish Peppar KaKar (soft, mild gingerbread)

ninjabread-men-3

DAY 4: Russian Teacakes

Russian Tea Cakes 2

DAY 5: Sugar Cookies

Snow Capped Christmas TreesStained Glass Sugar CookiesSugar Cookies 2Sharp Edges Sugar Cookies

DAY 6: Chewy Molasses Cookies

Chewy Molasses Crinkles

DAY 7: Andes & Rolo Cookies

Andes and Rolo Cookies

DAY 8: Scottish Shortbread

Scottish Shortbread (12)

DAY 9: Old-Fashioned Coconut Macaroons

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DAY 10: Chocolate Dipped Orange Shortbread Cookies

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DAY 11: Raspberry Almond Linzer Cookies

Raspberry Almond Linzer Cookies (7)

DAY 12: Chocolate Caramel Thumbprints

Chocolate Caramel Thumbprints 1

 

 

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