It’s the most wonderful time of the year 
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Just made my lebkuchen (German gingerbread) dough for this year. It will sit in its bowl until December, when I bake off the cookies.
I’m not sure what else I’m planning for this year’s superbowl of cookies 
Last year’s big success story was Camilla Wynne’s fruitcake cookies so I’ll definitely be making those again.
What’re you planning?
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My SO is Irish, and his family loves these Cadbury brownies. I’m lucky to be able to get them at the Irish shop in our neighborhood at a good price. So in addition to some traditional treats and cookies, I will be making two boxes of these for the kiddos.
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Is this the Classic German Baking recipe?
yes indeed!
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Neat! I don’t know anything about these. Is the dough hard to work with after aging it that long? Like how sourdough starter can get liquidy. What recipe do you use?
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My cookies delivery list of local friends got shorter by 3 due to moves (not planning to long distance mail), still 2 local deliveries planned. I’ll mail packages out of state to 5 families (relatives). I got a request for lemony stripes, and enthusiastic reactions to the apricot foldovers, so those are on the baking plan. I’ll get started around Nov 30 for cookies, earlier for N/A fruitcake featuring Brazil nuts.
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I decided to send long distance cousins baked goods this Xmas, especially the 6 cousins who donated to a charity walk I took part in last month.
I have fruit soaking in rum, which is early for me.
I plan to send small fruitcakes, possibly kourabiedes (the Greek version of the snowball / wedding cookie / Russian tea cake), and cherry pistachio thins. maybe also Pink Sin/ Pink Ladies.
edit:
my cherry pistachio thins are actually these icebox cookies. I substitute dried cherries for dried cranberries.
oh Jeez, am I ever becoming repetitive in my old age lol.
Our cookie box assortment for holiday gifting when I was growing up was Diples, Kourabiedes, Karidopita and Baklava.
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fruitcake cookies were really popular at a cookie exchange I participated in 2 years ago.
I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally want to make Alton Brown’s Fruitcake this year.
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I’ve made that recipe several times - it’s solid.
already have the aged egg nog in the fridge. I’ve got to get to Trader Joe’s for the dried fruit.
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I take it the egg nog is to go along with? Twenty+ ingredients in the fruitcake, but egg nog isn’t one of them - lol! 
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That is something I’ve made for many years. I’m the only one in the family who likes it but my grandmother got me hooked on it. The fruitcake is something I haven’t made yet but I hope to this year.
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Broader holiday treats thread here:
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Spent this weekend researching springerle recipes (I have two new molds, my first)and failing to acquire specialty German baking leaveners (the little German deli where I get them had a stack of the little plastic packets they come in, but all were expired.)
I apparently have a growing interest in learning how to make
cookies I’ve never tasted before; this started with German lebkuchen, but is expanding for no good reason.
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I’m also starting to think about my centerpiece Christmas cake this year. This usually gets made at least twice, sometimes three times, for different audiences.
Last year’s will be very, very hard to beat - it’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever baked. Camilla Wynne’s stollen poundcake from “Nature’s Candy.”
In 2023, I made a Portuguese orange olive oil cake.
In 2022, I made a very, very good cranberry orange spice bundt from Dorie.
In 2021, I made a grapefruit bundt with grapefruit syrup, a cardamom glaze and pistachios.
In 2019, I made a pumpkin mascarpone bundt.
In 2018, I made a gingerbread layer cake with mascarpone cream and sugared cranberries.
Looking at that layer cake, it’s obvious why I tend to make bundts instead
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I’ve been making Alton Brown’s fruitcake for years - go for it! I use several small loaf pans rather than one large pan. I store them in a lidded plastic box for easy spritzing, take one out when ready to serve/share.
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I have a question for all you holiday cookie baking mavens: any idea whether the following Yossy Arefi recipe could be frozen in advance? I’m thinking of mixing it today, and making a half-batch for Halloween tomorrow, and freezing the other half for Christmas cookies in December. Any pitfalls? If not, should I freeze unrolled, and then shape the cookies later, or roll and stamp tomorrow and then freeze?
TIA!!
PS: I made these last year for Halloween - awesome cookies!
