
Tis the season for baking and sharing! Hope you enjoy This Realtor Cooks’ first virtual cookie swap. Photo by Lina Kivaka on Pexels.com
First, I want to say thank you so much for everyone who participated in this virtual cookie swap! Second, I want to say, I am hungry just typing these recipes out. Third, (and this will change in edits) some of these recipes are lacking photos because I haven’t yet had the chance to make them and they came from good old fashioned hand written recipes. Forgive me for that and get to baking!
Oh, and just to make it a little more fun, I will be choosing my favorite recipe and baking it live on my IGTV on This Realtor Cooks’ Instagram (find me here) Tuesday December 22nd at 11am. Tune in to see who’s recipe won my heart! Also, if you make Christmas cookies (from this blog or from your recipe box), post them and tag me with #trccookieswap or comment below, so I can enjoy along with you.
Kate’s M&M Cookies
This first recipe was shared to me by a friend of mine from UF, Kate. She and I used to cook and eat together along with our other good friends, so I am confident that these cookies she shared will be delicious. Here is the link to the original recipe by I Heart Naptime.
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup M&M’s , plus more for tops if desired
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°F and line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
Using a mixer, cream together butter and sugars for 1 minute in a large bowl. Add in eggs and vanilla and mix.
Next add flour, baking soda and salt and mix until combined. Fold in both chocolate chips and M&M’s. Refrigerate dough for 15-30 minutes.
Scoop cookie dough with large cookie scoop onto baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Place extra M&M’s on top.
Bake M&M cookies for 8-10 minutes, until tops are barely golden. Let set on pan for 2 minutes, then move to cooling rack.
Michelle’s Polvorones
This next recipe was shared to me by my wonderful friend Michelle. She and I also did a lot of cooking (and eating) together, truly it seems I only befriend those who share in my love of food. Anyhow, my fondest memory in the kitchen with her is when she taught me how to make flour tortillas from scratch. They were sooooo good! She shared one of her fondest memories with me, and now us, creating these delicious Polvorones or “Mexican Cookies” with her grandmother.
Ingredients:
2/3 cup pecans or walnuts (ground is better)
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 & 1/4 cup powdered sugar (divided)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions:
In a mixer, beat butter and 1/4 cup powdered sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add the vanilla, flour, and salt. Beat until well combined. Stir in the nuts. Cover and refrigerate the dough for about an hour.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls, press the tops with hand or small cup. Bake at 350 degrees for about 12-15 minutes. Let cool and sift remaining 1 cup powdered sugar to coat cookies.
Michelle’s Apple Pie Cookies
I got a two for one from Michelle! Here’s another from her. She was telling me that when her (teenage) sons requested an apple pie she decided the effort for an entire pie was something she needn’t bother with, so she gave these cute babies a try. Now she’s hooked. Speaking of hooked, she is also amazing at knitting (see what I did there?) and has a business called Beautiful Yarn where she makes sweet little things, check it out here!
Here is the link to the original recipe for the apple pie cookies by Oh, Bite It!
Ingredients:
1 Box of frozen Pillsbury Pie Crust (2 sheets per box)
Approx. 1 Can of Apple Pie Filling (just enough for a thin layer)
Approx. 1 Cup of Caramel Sauce (just enough for a light coating)
1 Egg..for egg-wash
2 tbsp. Cinnamon/Sugar
1 tbsp. Nutmeg
Flour just for sprinkling
A round cookie cutter..any size you like
Directions:
Lay out a sheet of Pie Crust, sprinkle it with some flour and slightly roll it out, just to increase its surface area. Pour some of the Caramel Sauce (Just enough to coat the crust) onto the crust and evenly spread it around, creating a thin layer of caramel…Coarsely chop the Apple Pie Filling into small pieces…Top the caramel layer with a layer of the chopped up Apple Pie Filling, making sure not to add too much pie filling… Roll out the second sheet of Pie Crust the same size as the first sheet, and slice it into strips…
Create a lattice crust (just like on a pie) for the top of the pie filling… (**Note from author of Oh, Bite It!- DON’T do what I did and create the lattice on the counter, it’s not fun getting it on top of the bottom crust..ugh! 😉 Create your lattice on top of the actual filling, as if it were a pie!) Dip your cookie cutter into some egg wash and cut out your Pie Cookies…Brush the tops of them with some egg wash and sprinkle them with the Cinnamon Sugar and Nutmeg..Place them onto a baking sheet and bake them at 350 degrees for approx. 20-25 minutes, until they’re golden and firm. Let them cool just a little.
Hannah’s Monster Cookie (AKA The Dame Judy)
These cookies are from a friend of a friend. I had the absolute pleasure of working for a man named Rob Myers who is the king of student housing, and who also happens to be a marvelous writer (check him out here). He brought into my life work ethic, humor, a lifelong friendship, a love for housing, and wayyyy too high of a bar of what a “boss” should be. Hence me working for myself now. Anyhow, the love for Rob could go on for a while, so I will get back to his friend, Hannah. I don’t know you Hannah, but after reading this recipe, I know we are bound to be the best of friends.
A note from Hannah “Rob Myers asked if I could send you this recipe. It’s a version of the monster cookie that I call Dame Judys. One, because she’s fabulous and two, because I riffed it off a recipe called the Robert Redford by Sister Pie owner Lisa Ludwinski. I hope you enjoy!”
Ingredients:
1 & 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I use this fancy type called Red Fife flour but you can nix whole wheat all together and do all AP if needed!)
2 cups rolled oats, lightly chopped or pulsed a few times in a food processor
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp flaky sea salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup unsalted butter at room temp
3/4 packed light brown sugar
3/4 granulated sugar
2 large eggs at room temp
2 tsp pure vanilla
1 cup broken up pretzel rods
1 to 2 cups of chocolate of your choice- I almost always go with a mix of regular and peanut butter m&ms. You can add chopped up Reese’s or whatever you like, but I do think having milk chocolate as opposed to bittersweet is what makes this recipe work!
Whisk dry ingredients & set aside. Beat butter & sugars on medium in a stand mixer with paddle attachment until butter is lighter in color and aerated. Add eggs and vanilla and mix on med-low until just incorporated. Scrape down bowl. Add dry ingredients slowly while mixer is on low, stopping just before it’s all incorporated. Finishing mixing by adding in pretzels & candies and using a spatula or large wooden spoon so the pretzels don’t get too broken up. Ideally, chill dough over night but LOL, that rarely happens. Scoop about a 1/4 cup sized ball onto cookie sheets lined with silpat or parchment and slightly flatten with your palm or the bottom of a greased cup before sprinkling just a smidge of flaky sea salt on top. (These cookies come out big! But I think that’s for the best to make sure you get some of each ingredient in every cookie.) Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes depending on your oven and preferred cookie “done-ness”, rotating the tray once. Feast!
Morgan’s Christmas Toffee (Christmas Crack)
This one is from my lovely siter-in-law who (you guessed it) I have cooked with a lot! She always makes the yummiest dishes and makes it look effortless. You can also always count on a delicious cheese board to greet you when you come to her house for dinner, love it (and love you, Morgan!). This Christmas Toffee/Crack is a recipe I have tasted and seen before but not made myself. It looks so yummy and simple.
Ingredients:
24 saltine crackers
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
1 cup butter
11 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup jet-puffed mallow bits or mini marshmallows
1/2 cup red and green M&M baking chips or mini candies
Christmas sprinkles
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 15 x 10 jelly roll pan with aluminum foil. Fill the entire bottom of the pan with crackers, placing them side by side but not overlapping. Set aside. Add the brown sugar and butter to a medium sauce pan. Place on stovetop under medium heat, stirring occasionally, until a low boil begins. Remove from heat and allow to cool for one minute. Pour all over the top of the crackers. Place pan in oven and bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips on top of crackers. Return to oven and bake for an additional 4-5 minutes or until the chocolate chips have melted. Immediately sprinkle with the mini marshmallow bits, M&M candies and sprinkles. Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to allow the chocolate to harden. Before serving, cut into squares. ENJOY!!
Stephanie’s Chrissy-T Chocolate Chip Chex Cookies
This recipe was shared with me by my first friend in Atlanta! She is the sweetest and most genuine person, and I feel so honored to know her. She also can cookkkk! Our first girl’s night she made Margaritas from heaven with frothed egg whites. OMG! Stephanie is also a beautifully talented writer and you can check her out on her blog here or by reading her PUBLISHED (ahhh so exciting!) article here. She made these Chocolate Chex Mix Cookies when her niece was born last year and has been thinking about them since. I am about any Chrissy T recipes too, because that girl can cookkkk too! Find the original recipe here.
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1½ sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks
1 cup classic Chex Mix, plus more for topping
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two large, rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Combine the flour, salt, and baking soda in a bowl; set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter with the brown and white sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, stopping the mixer and scraping down the sides of the bowl if necessary, about 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Reduce the speed to low and beat in the eggs and vanilla until just combined, stopping the mixer and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Slowly add the flour mixture and beat until just incorporated. Reduce the speed to to low, then add the chocolate chips and ¾ cup of the Chex mix until just incorporated (if you mix too much you’ll break up the chex mix). 4
5. Using 3 tablespoons of dough at a time, roll the dough into balls. Place the balls of dough onto the reserved baking sheets about 2½ to 3 inches apart. Use the palm of your hand to gently press the cookies into 2-inch discs. Crush some more Chex mix on top of the cookies and gently press it in.
6. Bake until the edges are lightly browned but the center still remains soft, about 11 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

Quick little break from cookies to look at these adorable little hands playing with his Christmas slime. Can you spy the elf being buried inside?
These next three recipes are coming from the kitchens of my family. The first two we’ve been making since I can remember, and the third is a new recipe I’m trying for the first time this year. Sharing the recipes and memories from food that I make is such an honor and I truly hope you enjoy!
Spritz Cookies
I have the fondest memories with these cookies. Their cute little Christmas tree shapes with the ridges that hold the red and green sugar sprinkles just so. Dyed the perfect shade of mint green. The delightful crispness. Their amazing flavor from the almond extract. Not too sweet. Oh my, I could eat the whole jar! The creating of these cookies wasn’t always so perfect, however. They require a cookie gun, and if you know you know. Cookie guns can be finicky and there is inevitably an issue with the equipment each year. So worth it though! Can we also just laugh about the lack of instructions on the original recipe card pictured above?
Ingredients:
1 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
dash of salt
red and green sugar sprinkles (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit. Cream together shortening and sugar. Add in egg and almond extract and mix. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt then add to wet ingredients until combined. Add dough to cookie gun and work that trigger until the cookie lays on the cookie sheet. Sprinkle with red and green sprinkles. Bake about 7 minutes ( I think, as you can see there’s no cook time on the recipe and as I sit and type this, I haven’t yet baked them this year). You don’t want to brown them, so if you can see them turning a light brown get them outta the oven and decrease your bake time on the next batch. Enjoy!
Refrigerator Cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 cup milk
1 stick butter
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups instant oatmeal
1/2 cup peanut butter
6 oz chocolate chips or butterscotch chips (or a mix of both)
Directions:
Boil the milk, butter and sugar for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Turn off heat and add vanilla. Stir in remaining ingredients until combined. Place spoonfuls onto wax paper lined cookie sheets and refrigerate until hardened. Store in refrigerator. Enjoy!
Holiday Rum Balls
My tastes for food are strongly guided by texture, and that is no different for my holiday cookie plate. I was feeling that a soft ball of delight is what was missing, which is what led me to this recipe from the Food Network Kitchen. I’m excited to try and will leave notes about them in the comments once I have. I suppose this is the equivalent to bringing a new recipe to a party, but I am guilty of that as well. What are you gonna do?
Ingredients:
2 cups fine vanilla wafer cookie crumbs
1 & 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar, divided
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped fine
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon dark rum
1/4 cup dark corn syrup
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Directions:
In a large bowl combine wafer crumbs, 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, walnuts, rum, corn syrup, butter and knead together. Roll into 1 inch balls and then into remaining confectioners’ sugar. Arrange rum balls on a baking sheet, cover well with plastic wrap and let sit for 48 hours.
I hope you found one, or nine, recipes you want to add to your cookie plate this year, and don’t forget to tag me at #trccookieswap when you post your creations. Happy Holidays! See you in 2021!
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