2nd Annual 12 Weeks of Christmas Bloghop

Last year's 12 weeks of Christmas Blog Hop was a great success.  So here's the 2nd Annual Hop.  I'm a week late, so I'll be posting 11 weeks of Christmas cookies.  But hey, better late than never, right?

This is my all-time favorite oatmeal cookie and it's not fancy, but it needs to be in on the Christmas cookie list.  It can hold it's own on any cookie try.  To the basic batter, you can add dried sour cherries (like my daughter Abby did), cranberries, dried fruit, raisins, candied fruit, nuts (my favorite is macadamia), or white or dark chocolate chips.  You can add any combination or as many different things as you want.  You might even want to drizzle some icing across them.  I like them just as they are.


This cookie is buttery, soft, and chock full of ingredients.  It's soft but travels well.  It makes a really big batch so there are always plenty to share with the neighbors or to take to your Christmas pot-lucks.


I'll be posting more of our favorite Christmas cookies in the weeks to come and while you're here, click on some of the other members offerings for more great cookies.

Best-Ever Cookies

Makes 4 to 5 dozen

1 C. shortening

1 C. butter

2 C. brown sugar

2 C. granulated sugar

4 large eggs, beaten

3 tsp. of real vanilla extract

4 C. all-purpose flour

5 C. quick oats

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

3 C. any combination of your favorite add-ins (cherries, raisins, chocolate chips, nuts, etc.)

Preheat the oven to 375˚ F.

Cream the fats and sugars. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until mixture is fluffy.

Add the vanilla and mix. Combine the rest of the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Add dry ingredients to bowl of wet ingredients. Add your selected mix-ins to the top of the dry ingredients. Mix all together, just until blended. Do not over mix.

Bake at 375˚ for 7 – 10 minutes.  Don’t over- cook the cookies as they will be hard later. They should just be brown around the edges and set in the center.

Cool the cookies on the pan for 2 minutes before removing them to a rack to cool.

Week 2 Twelve Weeks of Christmas: