Twas a night amidst finals week, when all through room, not a creature was stressing… because baking was in full bloom!

Thanks to an invite from our friend Amy, we decided that night to take a festive study break and thus commenced our holiday cookie baking season with snowballs! This was our first time making these Russian tea cakes, but boy were they delicious!

All wrapped up and ready for delivery!
http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/snowball-cookies/

As great as it is to try new recipes, no Yan Christmas would feel complete without this classic, Peanut Butter Crinkles. Ever since our sister-in-law brought a home baked plate over one year, they’ve become part of the Christmas tradition.

Made with her mom’s recipe
And not to mention they make an great pairing with Christmas morning yuan xiao 😛 (pictured in the back)

These next cookies continue on the nutty trail: almond thumbprints with strawberry jam. Yum yum.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Raspberry-and-Almond-Shortbread-Thumbprints/Detail.aspx?evt19=1

Last, but certainly not least… matcha trees! These have become my new favorite and although Christmas cookies (as the name suggests) have a temporal association with them, I’ll definitely be baking these all year-round.

Ready for baking ^_^

Green tea perfection http://userealbutter.com/2012/01/16/matcha-green-tea-shortbread-cookies-recipe/