Back in December I wrote about my Thanksgiving baking, but I never posted anything about my annual holiday care packages. For shame! I did things a little differently in 2012 – I only mailed out one box of goodies and it was to my co-workers on the East Coast. (Don’t worry, my family didn’t miss out. I brought them a box of cookies when I visited for Christmas, plus I made them a chocolate cake shortly after I arrived.) We had a big event at work in mid-December so I made four batches of cookies beforehand (only two of which I photographed, as you can see), sent half of them to the East Coast, and shared the other half with my local co-workers. It was fun to sit in our Telepresence conference room and see folks eating the same cookies on opposite sides of the country. So what did I make, you ask?

1) Chocolate gingersnaps – You’ll have to forgive me if I can’t recall exactly what these cookies tasted like. It’s been almost six months! I seem to remember that they were pretty good, but I wasn’t a big fan. I think gingersnaps just might not be my cup of tea. But the cookies still got eaten!
2) Lemon snickerdoodles – I do remember that these were extremely tasty. The lemon and spice combination was delicious and very unique. I never would have thought to combine those flavors, but I’m glad someone did! This recipe is a new spin on a classic holiday cookie and everyone loved them. I skipped the glaze from the original recipe because I made them as cookie bars (it’s just easier that way), but that’s all I changed. I’ll be making these again for the 2013 holidays.
3) Applesauce cookie bars – I’m having trouble remembering exactly what these cookies tasted like too. I do recall that they were moist and more cake-like than the other cookies, but I can’t remember the flavor. They must have been pretty good or I would remember not liking them! Like the lemon snickerdoodles, I skipped the frosting and made them as cookie bars.
4) Cornstarch chocolate chip cookies – Since this was a chocolate chip cookie variation you’ve already read about this recipe. As with quite a few of my chocolate chip cookie experiments, these cookies were good but nothing exceptional. They were still gobbled up by my co-workers, though. They don’t turn their nose up at free goodies!