20 Christmas Treat Recipes for Your Cookie Tray

If you weren't already jonesin' for some holiday treats, this post will do the job! Tracey from The Kitchen is My Playground has 20 Christmas Treats for your Cookie Tray to show off today. This post is part of my Season of Serenity series, going on throughout the month of December! The photos alone make me want to ransack my pantry and bake up something delicious to devour...now. Keep reading for Tracey's fab recipes!

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Hello, everyone!  I'm Tracey from The Kitchen is My Playground, and I'm honored to be sharing here at Serenity Now today.  Thank you so much to Amanda for having me over!

The Christmas season is upon us. And one of my favorite parts of the Christmas season is holiday baking.  With a blog name of The Kitchen is My Playground, there's probably no shocker there. Well, I've decided to focus today on Christmas cookie tray sweet treats! Oh, and I use the term 'cookie tray' very loosely, 'cause the Christmas day sweets certainly don't have to be limited to just cookies! Right?? Right.

We always have a cookie tray on Christmas day at my mother-in-law's house, and it's my job to keep it fully stocked. What about your family? Are you working on planning your family's cookie tray? If you are, then I've got 20 ideas for you right here!

Click on the item name link to see the recipe.  Enjoy the virtual 'cookie' tray!

1. Rum Balls {with Spiced Rum}

First up ...my absolute favorite Christmas sweet treat! My Mom has made these tasty little rum balls forEVER for Christmas. I honestly and truly can't remember a Christmas when we didn't have these.  

Naturally, I have continued the tradition on...so we now end up with multiple batches throughout the holidays at both houses. But that's no problem for us! I've kicked 'em up a notch by using spiced rum and by ... well ... adding some extra splashes. Mmmmmm, they're good like that. But you may not want to light a match around 'em. I'm just sayin'.

2.  Turtle Cookies
Or, insanely delicious Turtle Cookies, as they're titled in their blog post. This is by far the top readers' choice over at The Kitchen is My Playground - and might I just say ... the readers have fabulous taste.

3.  Christmas White Chocolate-Dipped Pretzel Rods
Chocolate-dipped pretzels are always a hit. And with no baking involved, you can whip these beauties up pretty quickly. Use any type of Christmas-colored sprinkles you have on hand for embellishment. Dip ... sprinkle ... dip ... sprinkle ... it's as easy as that!

4. Spiced Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

These may just be my new favorite chocolate chip cookie ... they're like gingerbread-meets-chocolate-chip-cookie, and it's a fabulous pairing. And guess what? ... these cookies are whole wheat.  Shhhhhhh ... I won't tell if you won't.

5.  7 Layer Cookies
These 7 Layer Cookies are a Christmas tradition from my husband's family. Since marrying him, I've heard many stories about his Mom having to make more batches of these like the day or two before Christmas ... because somehow they had all disappeared before the big day.

6.  German Chocolate Cracker Candy

How can you go wrong with chocolate graham crackers, praline topping, chocolate chips, pecans, and coconut? Ummmmm, in my humble opinion, you can't.

7.  Classic Chocolate Fudge
Aaahhhhhhhh, Chocolate Fudge ... always a winner.  Especially when it's super creamy like this one.

8.  Candy Cane Cookies
The tradition of making these Candy Cane Cookies started way back when I was a kid. Mom and I made this batch Thanksgiving weekend last year to donate to a local women's shelter. Making them with Mom was a fun trip down memory lane!

9.  Mocha Swirl Cookies
I made these beautiful swirls a couple of Christmases ago to include in the sweet treat boxes I give my co-workers as a gift. Were they a hit? Oh, yes!

10.  Decadent Raspberry Truffle Brownies
Rich, dark chocolate brownies topped with a layer of creamy raspberry truffle filling. Oh, and then drizzled with more chocolate. Divine.

11.  Pretzel Cookies with Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chips
Love, love, love the sweet-and-salty combination in these cookies! The pretzels and a tiny sprinkling of fleur de sel bring wonderful flavor for us salted chocolate lovers.

12.  Peppermint Crunch Chocolate Chip Cookies

We all need a little dose of peppermint during the holidays! I'll take mine in chocolate chip cookie form, please.

13.  Caramel-Walnut Squares
Cut these bars into small squares and place each square in a mini cupcake liner for a lovely presentation. These golden beauties are decadently delicious.

14.  Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies

Want the taste of chocolate covered cherries in a cookie? Well, here you go!

15.  Gingerbread Cookies

Another one of my favorite Christmas traditions. I like mine 'naked' ... but add frosting and decorations, if you'd like!

16.  Toffee Bars

Oh, these are soooooooo good! I'll just leave it at that. Okay?

17.  Raspberry-Almond Bars
Hmmmmmm, these oatmeal-based raspberry jam bars might just make an appearance on a Christmas breakfast treat tray, too. Oatmeal and jam make them count as a breakfast food, right?

18.  Cherry-Topped Brownie Bites
These little treats are so easy and so cute! Whip up a batch of brownies, cut them with a circle cookie or biscuit cutter, and top 'em with a cherry from a can of cherry pie filling. And, voila! ... pretty and festive little cherry-topped brownie bites.

19.  Yuppy Chow {regular or Nutella versions} ... or puppy chow ... or white trash ... or muddy buddies. Okay, this isn't even close to being a cookie ... but it's not Christmas at our house without a batch of this! It's my Dad's absolute favorite. So, hey, I say stick a bowl of it in the middle of the cookie tray and call it an extra good day.

20.  Christmas White Chocolate-Peppermint Popcorn
Don't want to stick a bowl of Yuppy Chow in the middle of your cookie tray? Okay. Then how about a bowl of White Chocolate-Peppermint Popcorn? You won't believe how amazingly yummy this stuff is.

I hope you've found a little 'cookie' tray inspiration from this tasty collection.  Happy holiday baking from my kitchen {playground} to yours!  Enjoy!!

Second grade teacher by day, kitchen adventurer by night and weekend. Follow along with Tracey's adventures on her blog The Kitchen is My Playground.
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 Drooling a little bit!

Which recipe looks tastiest to you?

*You'll find more holiday inspiration for this season at my Christmas series, A Season of Serenity, which is running all December long. The posts are rounded up as each one goes live. I'd love for you to visit!*

If you enjoyed this post or found it helpful, I hope you'll click your "Pin It" button to add this post to Pinterest, or a +1 for Google+. And I always appreciate kind comments.

Thinking Beyond the Mantel (Holiday Decorating Tips)

Welcome back to my Christmas series, A Season of Serenity at Home! Do you have a fireplace with a mantel? My family doesn't own either, and I used to get frustrated by not having a traditional spot for holiday decor and vignettes. I created a fix for our family, and Samantha from Crafty Texas Girls is here today with some great holiday decorating tips for us. Whether you have a mantel or not, it's time to think creatively!

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It's Not 'All About' the Mantel

Mantels get a lot of attention during Christmas time. There are poems and songs singing the praises of stockings hung next to a fire. But several of my favorite places to decorate for the holidays are away from the chimney. So if you don't have a mantel, or you are just looking to incorporate the holiday spirit into other parts of your home, you are in luck! It's time to think beyond the mantel. :)

Christmas Vignettes

Whether you know it or not, you are probably the proud owner of a vignette- a cluster of decorative items on display. If you don't have a mantel, or even if you do, you can add your Christmas decor to places other than your mantel. 

In our home, I like to display our holiday decor on the dresser by the stairs. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Valentines, and of course, Christmas decorations are perfect for this spot.

During December, I like to place an advent calendar and a few nutcrackers on this hall dresser. I took down my usual decor (an assortment of metallic frame and books) replaced it with my Christmas decor, like this lush evergreen wreath. 

And don't overlook the kitchen for touches of Christmas. A simple center piece on the kitchen table can make this room feel festive. I enclosed silver ornaments in a dome cake plate and then added gold mason jars filled with white hydrangeas. 

These gold mason jars were originally from my sister's baby shower. I now use them all the time. They work for every occasion from birthday parties to New Years. 

And other small touches of Christmas can be brought into other unexpected places. I put a mini Christmas tree with a burlap wrapped trunk and more of my nutcracker collection nestled on a tea table. 

Stockings Hung by the...

For those stockings, look around your home. Yes, the mantel is the traditional place to hang them. 

But, you could also add them to your banister, a cabinet, dresser, the end of a bed, or even on a line with clothespins. 

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Having a mantel to decorate is just the beginning. But it's not the "be all, end all" for holiday decor.

Anywhere you can clear space is a place where you can spread a little Christmas cheer.

Where is your favorite space for Christmas decor? Do you decorate beyond the mantel? 

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Thank you, Samantha! As someone who does not own a mantel, I do have to get creative with my decorating...for holidays and the everyday. We hang our stockings from our stairway railing, and I love the look!

*You'll find more holiday inspiration for this season at my Christmas series, A Season of Serenity, which is running all December long. The posts are rounded up as each one goes live. I'd love for you to visit!*

If you enjoyed this post or found it helpful, I hope you'll click your "Pin It" button to add this post to Pinterest, or a +1 for Google+. And I always appreciate kind comments.

A "Show-Stopping" Christmas: Giving Yourself Some Grace This Year

Today brings us the very first post in this year's Season of Serenity series! I'm pleased to welcome Richella from Imparting Grace back to Serenity Now today. I always ask Richella to open the series up for me. Her wisdom, grace, and wit are a blessing to me, and I hope they will be to you too. Today's post spoke to my heart. Please help me welcome Richella to the blog!

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Excited about the upcoming holiday season, I did what anyone with access to the internet would do. I began perusing my favorite blogs and Pinterest for great ideas. Almost immediately, my attention was captured by this headline: "How to Create Showstopping. . . ."

Honestly, I can't remember what that particular showstopping item was. Because almost as soon as I clicked over to read about it, I was filled with a sort of dread that left my heart thumping and my stomach hurting.

At the time, I simply left the computer. I got up and washed the dishes; I folded a load of laundry; I started preparations for dinner. And I felt like a failure. Not a single thing I was doing was showstopping, and my holiday preparations would be just the same.

Then, with a force that's hard to explain, the truth hit me:

Life isn't a show.

As we share our lives with one another via our various social media outlets, it's easy for us to lose sight of that fact. We stage and carefully edit our photos. We write catchy headlines and captions. Many times, we include the good stuff and leave out the bad. But life is full of unstaged and unedited scenes. Real life contains the bad as well as the good, the failures as well as the successes, the mediocre as well as the stunning.

That's okay, because it all counts. Sometimes we learn more from our failures than from our successes. We learn and grow as we struggle and wait. We may gain more from the daily grind than the yearly hoopla.



And sometimes the messes we make are a greater testimony to the truth than our carefully crafted  scenes could ever be. Because the truth is that God is at work. God is alive and full of love, and there's no need for us to try to impress Him--not during the holiday season or at any other time.

So this holiday season, I'm trying to leave my desires to create something show-stopping and enjoy real life. True, it's not always pretty, but if I have eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart full of gratitude, I can tell it's pretty wonderful.

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She pretty much hit the nail on the head, didn't she? Let's embrace those little messes that have a habit of popping up during the holidays...alongside all the wonderful. Thank you, Richella, for sharing your heart with us!

You'll find the link to this post, and all the others (as they go live) rounded in the series intro post. Please feel free to Pin, Tweet, Share, etc. I'd love for word to get out about this holiday series!

Tomorrow brings us a home decor inspired post...so be sure to check in!

If you enjoyed this post or found it helpful, I hope you'll click your "Pin It" button to add this post to Pinterest, or a +1 for Google+. And I always appreciate kind comments.

A Season of Serenity at Home (Christmas Inspiration Series, 2013)

It's time! Welcome back to my third annual holiday inspiration series, A Season of Serenity at Home. There are all sorts of creative and inspiring posts planned throughout the month of December, so I hope you will stick around...each post will be archived at the bottom of this post, so be sure to Pin to save for later. We have home decor tips, printables, crafts, recipes, style, and more!

Can you believe it? The Christmas season is here! Many of us spend months during the year planning, prepping, and dreaming of this special time of year.

And then we waste it.

Wait, what? (Cue screeching record sountrack)

Yep, you read that correctly. I'm guilty of it too. I let myself get all hyped up with holiday hysteria and plan for the "Pinterest Perfect Christmas" (seriously, look at my Christmas Pinterest board, people)...only to be disappointed when my expectations fall flat. I've thrown hissy fits over Christmas lights, yelled at my kids, spent more than I should have, and worried more about having a perfect Christmas craft to share on the blog than about making our family free time special.

So I started this series. I've said it before...it's as much for me as it is for you! This year, with a brand new baby, I don't want to stress out over comparing my holiday experience to others'. We all go through stages of life where it's just not realistic to expect a home that's decorated to the nines and blog posts that readers will Pin immediately. And perfection doesn't really exist, anyways, does it? 

A group of fabulous bloggers has agreed to stop by during the month of December to share projects, crafts, recipes, tips, and ideas with you. They are designed to be simple, affordable, and inspiring. It's my hope that we can all spend the month of December enjoying friends and family instead of fretting over editing photos and making things "perfect." Give yourself the gift of grace this year!

So, please, enjoy the series this year. I hope you find some fun new ideas to try out with your own family!

You'll find the links to each post in the series below (as they each go live):

• A Show-Stopping Christmas (Give Yourself Some Grace this Year)
• Thinking Beyond the Mantel (Holiday Decorating Tips)
• 20 Christmas Treats for Your Cookie Tray (Recipes)
• Paint and Glitter Dipped Pine Cones  (Holiday Home Decor)
• DIY Glitter Flats (Style)
• Drop Cloth Ornaments
• Free Christmas Printable
• Pom Pom Snowman (Christmas Craft for Kids)
• Seasoned Oyster Crackers Recipe

Please feel free to add to your own Pinterest boards and/or share with friends!

Merry Christmas to you!

If you enjoyed this post or found it helpful, I hope you'll click your "Pin It" button to add this post to Pinterest, or a +1 for Google+. And I always appreciate kind comments.

Inspiring Project Ideas {link party features}

Good morning and Happy December! I hope your weekend has been pleasant. Just wanted to remind you that there is one more day to link up to this week's Weekend Bloggy Reading link party. It was live on Friday, so feel free to hop on over; I'd love to see you there! I thought I'd share some Features today:

~Christmas Kitchen Decorating via Life and Home at 2102

~Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls via Circus Berry

~Christmas Porch via Lookie What I Did