A Favorite Holiday Cookie!

If you haven't made Linzer cookies before I'd say it's due time! They are reminiscent of the Knots Berry Farm cookies / jammy Pepperidge Farm cookies but easily a thousand times better because they are homemade and fresh. Plus they have much more flavor.

They are similar to thumbprint cookies, butter cookies and shortbread. But they have the addition of preserves sandwiched between the center and finely ground nuts in the dough (here we go the easier route with pre-ground almond flour).

These are such a fun cookie to make and they are great for parties and gifting (just be mindful and careful to not give to those with nut allergies).

You can use various shapes of cookie cutters here. I recommend rounds, squares, stars or hearts, and you'll just need to have a smaller cookie cutter to cut the mini shape from their centers.

Once you make these decadent sandwich cookies quickly hide them away. They'll disappear in no time if you don't!

No one can resist the layers of flavor, that nutty goodness, the perfect blend of textures and that tempting jammy goodness? It's one dangerously delicious cookie!

Try these other fruit pizza favorites: Sugar Cookie Fruit Pizzas and Brownie Fruit Pizzas.

In this fruit pizza recipe you get a soft and tender sugar cookie base that's covered with a rich cream cheese topping, and layered with a generous amount of vibrantly flavored fresh fruit.

Then it's finished with a sweet apricot jam which gives the pizza the perfect finishing sheen.

Simply put it's a staple summer recipe! I love to make it at least once every summer and top it with a colorful variety of seasonal fruit.

You just can't go wrong with a cookie topped with a sweet and tangy frosting, lots of tasty fruit and a simple fruit pizza glaze.

And the possibilities of how it can be decorated with creative patterns are endless. Such a fun dessert that everyone will love!

An Easy Breakfast Pastries Recipe

Let's be honest, what's the real reason we all love the holidays? I think many of us could say it's all about the food!

Holidays only come about 10 times a year so it's fun to have a day of splurging with delicious treats like so.

Though these may appear just fit for Valentines day this heart shaped, tender and flaky puff pastry breakfast is sure to put a smile on anyones face any day of the year! They are great for making in the summer when all the fresh fruit is in season too.

And since these begin with store-bought puff pastry they are easy to prepare. And who could resist that cream cheese strawberry combo?

The Best Thumbprint Cookie Recipe!

Every Christmas season these cookies need to be made at least once! They are one of my go-to cookie recipes throughout the year and people especially love them around Christmas time.

My brother who doesn't even like dessert loves these cookies, if that doesn't tell you something.

They are perfect for gifting, making for parties or just for an after dinner treat.

I love that they call for minimal, basic ingredients, they're so easy to make and they don't require hours of refrigeration.

And they're one of the tastiest cookies I've ever had. Simple ingredients yet so much delicious flavor!

Fruit Salsa with Baked Cinnamon Tortilla Chips

You know I'm all about the dips and salsas, especially when they involve something sweet. I'm totally in love!

I've always been a big fan of baked or fried sugar and cinnamon chips (I make these baked ones all the time), but I've actually never paired them with fruit salsa until now. But let me tell you, it is a match meant to be!

I adapted this recipe from Carrian and Kade Cheney's new cookbook, Our Sweet Basil Kitchen.

This is a wonderful cookbook filled with pretty pictures and more than 100 family-friendly recipes. There are so many recipes I cannot wait to try!

If you'd like to buy a copy for yourself, you can order the cookbook from Amazon. After trying this delicious fruit salsa, I'm excited to make more!

Fruit Salsa Ingredients

For the fresh fruit salsa, you'll need:

• Peach or nectarine
• Mango
• Kiwis
• Strawberries
• Strawberry jam
• Fresh lemon juice

Cinnamon Chips Ingredients

The cinnamon sugar chips are so easy to make! You'll need:

• Granulated sugar
• Cinnamon
• Flour tortillas
• Butter

How to Make Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chips

• To make the fruit salsa, dice the fruit into bite-sized pieces and add to a bowl.
• Toss with the strawberry jam and lemon juice.
• To make the cinnamon tortilla chips, first stir together the cinnamon and sugar.
• Brush the flour tortillas with butter, then dust with homemade cinnamon sugar.
• Cut the tortillas into wedges and bake until golden brown.

Can I Use Corn Tortillas Instead of Flour?

Corn tortillas would taste quite different and have a different texture and mouthfeel, I recommend sticking with flour tortillas for this recipe.

Does Fruit Salsa Stay Fresh for Long?

This fresh fruit salsa is best enjoyed within two hours of making it. The fruit will release more and more liquid the longer it sits, so I wouldn't recommend making this salsa too far in advance.

Can I Add Different Fruits to This Salsa?

Of course! You can use any fruits you want, although I personally think softer fruits are the best in this salsa (berries, stone fruits, etc).

Tips for the Best Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chips

• The cinnamon chips won't be fully crisp when you take them out of the oven. They need a few minutes to cool on the baking sheet to crisp up properly.
• Give this fruit salsa a good stir before serving it, as the fruit juices will collect at the bottom of the bowl.
• Fresh, in-season fruit is best for this recipe. I don't recommend using frozen fruit here (too runny and mushy).

More Fresh Fruit Recipes You'll Love:

• Fruit Pizza
• Sugar Cookie Fruit Pizzas (Chewy Version)
• Honey Lime Rainbow Fruit Salad
• Berry Fruit Salad with Honey Balsamic Dressing
• Berry Cheesecake Fruit Salad
• Brownie Fruit Pizza
• Creamy Cinnamon Apple and Walnut Fruit Salad

Raspberry Almond Snowball Cookies

They do require more work and time than your traditional snowball cookie - you'll have to roll out twice as many cookie balls (since you need halves) then you have to make indentations in each of them, fill them with a little jam and then bring them together and seal them.

So yes they are more of an intermediate cookie, but trust me, they are worth the effort!

Everyone was dying over how good these were! They have all the same flavors as another favorite Christmas cookie of mine, these Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookies, but here you get a surprise jam filling inside and they dough has little tiny bits of almond pieces, plus everyone will love that sweet powdered sugar coating.

You don't get a huge batch of cookies out of this, but rather about cooling rack full of little delicacies.

Keep in mind you want to fully seal the cookies once you add the jam and bring the two halves together so that delicious filling doesn't just leak out. Then another thing to note is that these cookies are pretty fragile so handle them care when assembling them and once they've baked up.

And I did think they are the very best the day they are baked, the jam lightly softens them the following days (which my mom actually liked) but if you like that extra tender, melt-in-your-mouth bite then serve them up the day you make them.

Surprise everyone with something more than just pie this Thanksgiving and serve these alongside all those pies, people will love it! I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday week, and have some time to breath :)!

More Holiday Cookies You'll Love!

• Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookie
• One Santa Cookie (Quick and Easy to Make)
• Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies

Thumbprint Cookies Pineapple Jam and Coconut!

So I didn't make it anywhere tropical this summer so instead I brought the taste of the tropics home with these utterly delicious, melt-in-your-mouth Pineapple Coconut Thumbprint Cookies!

I'm obessed with thumbprint cookies maybe these will complete my collection, but then again maybe not :). I absolutely love this summery twist on thumbprints!

It took a few batches to get them just right but after a little tweaking each time I got them right where I want them.

They are perfectly coconuty, deliciously buttery, they have just the right texture, and with the help of a little lemon juice and lemon zest you get a flavorful pineapple jam that makes for the perfect pairing with the coconut.

This post is brought to you by Smucker's Fruit Spreads.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

PB&J in cookie form? Yes please! My kids and I love peanut butter and jam sandwiches so of course we were excited to try these PB&J Thumbprint Cookies. My four year old saw them and said "Wow! Those look good!" Then she offered to help me finish making them. I gave her a plateful to fill and she thought it was so fun to load them up with different flavors of jam.

Not only do these cookies look colorful and scrumptious but they taste completely irresistible! They are just like those delicious peanut butter filled sandwiches laden with a berry jam but these are in sweet cookie form! They have that deliciously crisp exterior you find in your traditional thumbprint cookie and each bite just melts away in your mouth.

My personal favorite jam with these is the Smucker's Low-Sugar Strawberry Jam (not only do I love it's bold strawberry flavor but I also love it's vibrant red color. Its the red jam in the cookies but not in the picture of the jams. My jar was about empty because we eat it so often), but any flavor will do. Just use your favorite. Smucker’s Fruit Spreads are my go-to, because I know I can count on their authentic tastes and variety.

The great things about these cookies is that they are a cookie both young and old alike will love! Who could resist this jam filled peanut buttery goodness? Not me! They're the perfect after school treat from the whole family!

Another childhood favorite are these Homemade Pop Tarts. Another creation that's far better than the boxed kind.

Homemade Toaster Strudel

Really these are semi-homemade toaster strudels, unless you want to be really legit and make your puff pastry from scratch. And here we ditch the toaster and actually oven bake them instead (these would be a mess in the toaster).

You're whole family will love these tempting breakfast treats! They put the boxed kind to shame. And I may have spotted my husband squeezing the icing straight into his mouth, that little touch of butter and almond extract makes it just that good.

These are a simple pastry to make since they begin with a store-bought puff pastry, and they also use a store-bought jam so they really are a breeze to prepare.

Despite the shortcuts they still have a delicious, fresh homemade taste. You'll be savoring every last bite, trust me!

Chocolate Covered Strawberry S'more // grahams, milk or dark chocolate, fresh strawberries, vanilla marshmallow

I don't think there's a bigger s'mores lover out there than me, sorry guys I win (okay just kidding, but gimme top 10 at least). I've been making them since I was probably 4, back then with the help of my mom.

Early on I paid close attention at how to make the perfect s'more over the hot coals of a fire (big flames never work near as good), rotating the marshmallow at just the right time to get that perfectly golden brown exterior.

Now half the time I just make them over my stove top burner because I want to enjoy s'mores all year long, plus half the time in the summer I don't want to build a fire just for a s'more. In my opinion the indoor ones taste basically the same, especially if you can toast them just right. It's more about the fun of making them over a fire really. Although, I do love to make them in my house because I love that sweet aroma of a toasted marshmallows filling the air.

The possibilities with s'mores are endless. Yes of course the original is always amazing and I can never stop at just one, but if you want to try some of the best s'mores of your life and if you really want to impress then make these! And try all of them, but trust me you'll have hard time picking a favorite.