Have you ever used the phrase “out the wazoo”?  I don’t use it often, but it is a very apt description of my cookie baking during December.  Out the wazoo is slang from the 1960’s and means “in great quantity or great abundance.”

Did I bake cookies out the wazoo during December?  Yes, I did.

Baking makes me happy.  Especially on cold days when I don’t really want to go out.  Baking makes the house warmer and makes it smell good.  I like to mix up a batch of cookies, stick them in the oven, and then put a puzzle together while they bake.  I have a double oven, but I only use one at a time.  It takes longer that way, but I’m not in a hurry.  In fact, most of the things I really like to do are slow things – weaving, knitting, reading – why should baking be any different?

So, what cookies did I make during December?  I started with flapjacks, which are English oatcakes.  We discovered them during our trip to Great Britain last year and they seemed like a (slightly) healthier version of cookies.  The trick to flapjacks is the golden syrup.  I tried this recipe, adding some chocolate chips, and they turned out very well, moist and chewy.

Then I made apple cider muffins.  The recipe calls them donuts, but said I could use a muffin tin as well.  The apple flavoring comes from apple cider and the muffins were delicious.  Crave-worthy.  I ate a couple and then froze the rest to enjoy one at a time.

After that success, I tried a healthy gluten-free, sugar-free blueberry muffin.  I ended up throwing them out.  They were okay for a few days but I quickly lost the recipe for them.

I made five batches of White Chocolate Chip Cookies for the church Cookie Walk.  Then I made five batches of Reese’s Chewy Chocolate Cookies, also for the church Cookie Walk.  These two cookies look exactly alike except one has white chocolate chips and one has peanut butter chips.

Grandma’s Ginger Cookies were next because it isn’t Christmas until I bake those.  The recipe link calls them something else, but they are just like my Grandma Clymer’s cookies.  I get my love of baking from working next to her in the kitchen.

We have some folks in the family that are gluten-free and others who are sugar-free.  I found one recipe that satisfied both requirements.  The Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies are made with oat flour and maple syrup.  Although they taste very peanut buttery, they were crumbly because of the lack of gluten.  I might skip any cookies next year with the word healthy in the title.

A gluten-free recipe that I tried that turned out very well was the Flourless Fudge Cookies.  I added extra cocoa and made sure the chocolate chips were gluten-free.  The cookies were soft and melt-in-your-mouth chocolatey.  Definitely not sugar-free but a good choice for the gluten-free.

My dad asked for Dad and Tom liked them a lot..  Mom is the Chocolate Chip cookie queen, but she doesn’t make cookies anymore.  So I used her recipe and hoped for the best.  Mom’s recipe, at one time, was the one on the back of the Nestle Chocolate Chip bag, but it uses shortening, and the bag recipe uses butter.  I used a mix and the cookies were very similar to what she made.  Dad and Tom liked them a lot.

I made Deluxe Chocolate Marshmallow Bars for a church potluck.  Then I finished up my Christmas baking with Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies.  I got a little carried away with the colored sugar, which made the cookies too crisp, but they turned out just right when I used a mix of regular sugar and colored sugar.

I take most of these cookies to the family Christmas gathering, usually the Saturday after Christmas.  In addition, I take along carry out containers so that people can select a mix of cookies and take them home.  I still brought home cookies out the wazoo.  That’s okay.  Tom and I are pulling them out of the freezer one container at a time.  I expect them to last into February!

What did you bake this year for Christmas?