I’m a one-trick pony: I make the same cookies every year. I’ve written pretty elaborate posts about them in 2008 and 2011, so this year I just want to round them up for you.

Today is the day I plan to address all of my Christmas cards once and for all. This year’s card list has over 70 families’ names! I’ve had more in the past, such as when Dave was a squadron commander and I sent cards to many of the squadron families.

But after the cards, I’m free to start COOKIES! This year has been unusual in that I didn’t do the early cookie batches to send to Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s a bittersweet thing: I’m sad that I don’t have troops to which we can send cookies, but I think that also means that our presence in the war zones is winding down.

These five cookie recipes linked below are our family’s favorites. We might do others (such as these Ande’s mint pillows), but these get done every year!

Feel free to drop links to your family’s favorite recipes in the comments section! I love trying new recipes! High altitude recipes will give you a double-bonus-word score!

I made a batch of cranberry-almond biscotti a couple weeks ago ahead of our Thanksgiving week trip to Estes Park (a forthcoming post), but those are almost gone. It’s time for more!

Tonight we’re making the Holiday Surprise cookies, which are always a big hit with friends, but is by far the most labor intensive of all our family favorite cookies. The kids don’t mind helping, which makes this a wonderful family activity.

The Neiman Marcus Cookies have received some internet-love at the end of last year, being featured in GeekMom’s “Eat Like a Geek” series, since the recipe was taken off an Internet chain-letter meme.

We also enjoy classic sugar cookies here. I use the Betty Crocker sugar cookie recipe, which includes almond extract. The taste of these cookies takes me back to my girlhood: my mom used the same recipe when I was growing up.

Finally, we will make spritz cookies. I haven’t done these in a couple years but I think this holiday season we will break out my Pampered Chef cookie press (earned by having a party!) and have a good time! My mother’s spritz cookie recipe included orange zest…but I don’t have that recipe. I rely on the Betty Crocker Buttery Spritz recipe.

Share your family’s favorite holiday cookie recipes in the comments or on my Facebook post about this post. Happy Baking!