From the time I can remember, on Christmas Day morning, my family went visiting friends and family with gifts. Great Aunt Mabel always welcomed us to her home with all kinds of cookies. They were interesting cake-like, plain vanilla cookies that my father loved. When other relatives called at our house on Christmas afternoon, my mother welcomed them with her favorite cookies and cake.

Thus, in keeping with my family’s Christmas tradition, for years I have been baking cookies each December and giving them to my friends. For many years on Christmas Eve my husband and I drove or walked from house to house. When we lived on our boat, Aura, I remember circling the Puerto la Cruz harbor in Venezuela in our dinghy to deliver cookies to boating friends. Since living in Panama, the tradition has expanded and for about two weeks before Christmas we are out delivering cookies.

From year to year, I add a different kind of cookie to vary the selection and some friends anxiously await seeing what new treat will be added. Other friends, call me to hint a preference for one cookie or another. One friend asks for “just the fudge.” Another friend is partial to chocolate chip cookies.

But, I don’t just bake cookies at Christmas. They are too good to only have once a year– except for those Spice Cookies which family tradition dictates will only be made in October.

The secret to success with these cookies is following the receipt exactly. I have experimented to get the best results so I am specific about ingredients. You will not get the same cookie if you substitute margarine for butter, use dark brown sugar rather than light brown sugar or one brand of molasses versus another. However, you are free to experiment and may find you prefer the results with a different ingredient– let me know if you have some wonderful results.