So many of my loveliest holiday memories center on family gatherings, and no gathering was complete without my mother’s Christmas cookies.

Nobody made Christmas cookies like my mother!

In the days leading up to Christmas she made oodles of them, some for our family and some to share with friends and neighbors. I can still see Mom rolling out the dough, can still remember the fun of cutting out the shapes, and smell the delicious, sugar and vanilla comfort that would fill the house as the cookies baked. And then there was the fun of creating all the different colors to decorate them with – splashes of food coloring added to white powdered sugar frosting that somehow turned the cookies into magic!

Mom’s Soft Christmas Cookie recipe is one of my most prized possessions. Imagine my joy a couple of years ago when I was given this hand towel with the recipe on it – in Mom’s own handwriting!

This little towel, along with my mother’s cookie cutters, are some of my favorite Christmas things!

Do you have a favorite holiday baking memory? I’d love to hear about it