12 Days of Christmas and 12 Days of Cookies

I loved my cookie baking last year and am starting this years 12 Days of Cookies today.
There are only 18 days until Christmas and the timing is perfect to have a nice seleciton of cookies done just in time for the holiday festivities and some giving.

Having done no planning yet I am going to start with sugar cookies, easy peasy. There are so many sugar cookie recipes out there which recipe to choose is the big question ... I want them to be as simple as possible.

I'd love to get fancy and use cookie cutters but I need to just dig in and get started and am not ready for anything more complicated. Yet. I am going to choose some more elaborate cookies as I go along but for today nice, round sugar cookies will have to do!

Searching recipes online I happened upon Martha Stewart's "Basic Sugar Cookies".  Right away I realized this was not the simple, quick recipe I was looking for.
Total time for Martha's delectables: 2 hours
Prep time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Items Martha's recipe calls for that I do not have:
Parchment paper
Time to chill dough
Time or patience to rotate cookies halfway through baking.
Sorry Martha, your recipe is out.

Moving on I checked out Betty Crocker's "Classic Sugar Cookies". Betty is showing her age by calling for margarine in her recipe. Sadly the Betty Crocker classics are also a miss because they call for almond extract and creme or tarter. Not only do I not have those ingredients I don't think my family or friends would be very excited about these cookies. Sorry Betty, your recipe is out too.

So it's back to one of my favorite websites for basic recipes - allrecipes.com
I have all I need to get started and there's no chilling, cutting or parchment needed.

Do you have favorite cookies you make at the holidays? I'd love to hear about them, post in the comments. Any and all suggestions and recipes welcome!

How is decking the halls going for you?
Around the English household we are easing in to the holiday spirit this year. I've still got dead mums hanging around that need to be replaced by wreaths and greens. A few things are out and I am expecting a delivery with a new tree skirt (I have been wanting one for YEARS) and table runner.
The tree buying excursion (a drive around the corner) is happening tonight and the hope is we'll be further along with our decorating by the weekend.

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One area that is ready for Christmas is my dining room. It has the 12 Days of Christmas framed and hanging. That was done in time for Thanksgiving and I love it.

First day of Christmas - A Partridge in a Pear Tree
First day of cookies - Easy Peasy Sugar Cookies
Dirty Dish Count - 11
Observation - It's not just about the cookies