Baked it: holiday cookies

Finally I get to do holiday baking!!! This year I focused on 3 types of cookies. The first was a shortbread with 3 different add ins (one was cranberry and orange, one chocolate chips, one peanut-butter chips--and one plain). This recipe was super easy, especially because of the handy dandy kitchen aid mixer. I will probably not do the peanut butter chips next year, it was blah. The others were really good. I made the dough last weekend. I could have made it up to 3 months ago and kept it in the freezer. (if I ever do make cookie dough that far ahead, punch me).

The second was butterscotch bark. Graham crackers drowned in a butter and brown sugar mixture, baked until "bubbly" and covered in toasted coconut, pecans, chocolate chips, peanutbutter chips and sometimes dried cherries (on the ones without peanut butter chips). [the pic for this really did not look innerrestin']

The last cookies were gingerbread men, women, hearts and stars. I decorated these with royal icing (some appropriately, some inappropriately---got to blow off holiday stress somehow). The royal icing was a first. It was easy. I made it with meringue powder since the egg white kind is not good for certain people...cookies are supposed to be nice, not deadly! The first batch....kinda burnt (so if you think..."gee my cookie tastes kind of burnt", it probably is, what do you expect, it is a free cookie). The second batch turned out much better.If any one has a spicier gingerbread cookie recipe out there I am interested.
If you are wondering "where are my damn cookies?" I gave to people I happened to know I would see. If you want cookies next year, then you should say "hey, I am coming over to pick up my damn cookies" around mid-December next year. If you don't want cookies then steer clear of me for the next holiday season!