Today I wanted to share with  you two of the yummy Christmas cookie recipes that we made on Friday. One is naughty and one is nice. One is basically sugar and margarine (naughty) and the other has almonds, oats, whole wheat flour and maple syrup (nice). Both are awesome and since it’s Christmas time, I figured why not have both? 🙂

Candy Cane Sugar Cookies

Makes 18-20 cookies

• 1 cup Earth Balance margarine
• 1 cup organic icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon red food coloring

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and the icing sugar. Add the vanilla.
3. Add the flour 1/2 cup at a time and mix until combined.
4. Separate the dough into two equal parts and add the red food coloring to half of the dough.
5. Take about a tablespoon-sized ball of the red dough and roll it between your hands into a long rope.
6. Repeat this method with a tablespoon-sized ball of the white dough.
7. Twist each rope around each other, flatten slightly and form into the shape of a candy cane.
8. Repeat until all the dough is used up.
9. Place the candy cane cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 5-7 minutes. You want to watch that you don’t over bake these.

Can you guess which cookies the girls preferred?

Look at that look she was giving me! You’d think that she was a completely cookie-deprived child. Of course you know that she’s not.

Now on to the nice cookies…

Wholesome Holiday Thumbprint Cookies

makes 24 cookies

• 1 1/4 cup whole roasted almonds
• 1 cup quick oats
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sunflower oil
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup all-fruit jam of your choice (I used raspberry)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Place the almonds and oats together in a food processor and process until fine.
3. Transfer the almond/oat mixture in a large mixing bowl along with the flour and the sea salt.
4. In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the sunflower oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until everything is well combined.
6. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
7. Roll the dough into teaspoon-sized balls and then roll in the unsweetened shredded coconut.
8. Place the coconut coated balls onto the baking sheet about 1-inch apart.
9. Press your thumb into the center of each ball and spoon a bit of jam into each thumbprint.
10. Bake for 5-7 minutes, until golden brown.

I absolutely love these thumbprint cookies! Healthy, wholesome baking always wins my vote. The girls loved the thumbprint too, but the look of the candy cane cookies completely enticed them. The thumbprints didn’t have much of a chance. These will not last until Christmas in my freezer.

Kesa was going crazy watching me take pics of the cookies! Many of my photos had little reaching hands in them.

And yes, this is my photography station! My girls little white table. My secret has been revealed.

I wonder which cookie Santa will like best?

What type of Holiday cookies do you prefer? Naughty or Nice? What is your favorite holiday treat?