Honestly, I don’t have a checkered past, I swear! It just sounded like a good title! These checkerboard cookies look so complicated and hard to make, but in reality are somewhat simple. OK… they really are not simple, but not as complicated as you would think. Yeah, they are also quite a bit time consuming. For these reasons, I only make these once a year, and that’s for Christmas. It really is a fantastic cookie. They look so cool, with the perfect checkerboard pattern, and each bite you take is slightly crumbly, buttery, chocolaty and vanilla-y. Good stuff.

Please excuse my lazyness before… recipe is now included!

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I’m sure you’ve realized by now that I love biscotti. Its such a great treat, and usually a fraction of the fat of a regular cookie. Not this one, though! There is a nice amount of butter in this recipe that gives it a great flavor. This is the combination of several recipes, using my favorite parts, of course! As usual, I added almond extract… I LOVE that flavor, but you can omit it if you want. This would be prettier if you use dried cranberries, as they are usually more red in color, but all I had was dried cherries. Tasted good, though!
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I always make gingerbread cookies to kick off the holiday season. To me, they scream Christmas, because you just don’t see them any other time of the year. This recipe is awesome, as its a bit spicy but not too sweet. All you need is a big glass of milk, or a mug o’ coffee. The recipe came from my favorite cookie book, Nick Malgieri’s Cookies Unlimited.

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