“Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas.”

 Peg Bracken

If you are a fan of #Christmas365, there is never a letdown after the holidays.  This holiday season brought the heartwarming experience of holiday traditions, events, and concerts of nonprofits hosted by their incredible volunteers and staff. How wonderful to know that the gift of Christmas kindness continues throughout the year.

The celebrations sped by like a Santa train – or maybe his firetruck! (Thank you, firefighters!) The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Three Kings Day on January 19th this year, which I’m using as an excuse to roll out holiday posts a little longer to applaud so many lovely people and places that made the holiday bright.

This year’s cookie recipe for the annual holiday thank you is caramel snickerdoodles, which are both a sweet treat and fun to say.  (My nickname for them is “dulce de leche cookies,” which is equally delightful. Since there’s no snickerdoodle aisle in the supermarket, for the sheer pleasure of it, enjoy asking, “Does the store carry dulce de leche?”) Regarding “snickerdoodle,” Cheryl’s Cookies notes that term comes from the German “schneckennudeln,” or “snail noodles,” the name for a pasta dish, then a cinnamon roll, and finally for a cookie that traveled with immigrants from Germany to the US in the early 1900’s.  Other theories are that the name is from the Dutch snekrad (“wrinkle” or “crinkle”) or from the snipdoodle cinnamon-topped cake of the Pennsylvania Dutch.  A final theory is that this is a silly promotional name that bakers created to appeal to children.

The caramel snickerdoodle recipe is via Southern Living, a new addition to the holiday repertoire that went over well. Helpful hints:  Place the extra sugar for the cookie coating aside; in one gift batch, I rushed and put the extra into the batter, which resulted in cookies that were too sweet.  Crunching the candy caramels in double baggies with a hammer works better than using a rolling pin; it also gets more laughs and a better result than using a food processor. This silliness offers family fun or cookie exchange bonding and may even start a TikTok trend.

Baking is a way to express thanks at the holidays and to bring cheer, comfort, or holiday fun throughout the year.  The Christmas and Hanukkah cookie recipes on the blog can be adapted for other holidays like Purim, Cream Cheese Hamantachen with Fruit Filling, winter cheer, Chocolate Crinkle Cookies and Spice Krinkles, everyday pastries, Christmas kolaches using different jam, Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprint Cookies and Peace Dove Cookies, both year-round treats from New Jersey’s Martha Stewart, and Norwegian Sugar Cookies for any holiday, made to order by varying the cookie cutters.

Enjoy, and thank you for following!

(Sources: goodreads.com, southernliving.com, cheryls.com/Jonathan Rowe)

“A Heartfelt Holiday Thank You” All Rights Reserved ©2026 Kathleen Helen Levey