Cookie Classics

Rich and buttery shortbread makes a tasty gift for teachers, grandparents and others on your Christmas list.

Use a pastry or plastic bag to squeeze the soft dough into batons. Once baked, the cookies are dipped in melted chocolate and rolled in sprinkles.

Every Christmas, guest contributor Cynthia Caldwell lets her kids leave their mark on these jam-filled cookies.

In the United States, these cookies are called snowballs, but in other parts of the world they're known as Mexican wedding cakes or Russian tea cakes.

When you're looking for holiday treats to send to far-flung relatives, here's a cookie that fits the bill.

Diane Richardson, from Kirkwood, Missouri, found an ingenious way to get her picky six-year-old, Robbie, to eat his zucchini--by turning it into a treat. She makes double batches and even lets her kids eat them for breakfast.

In Colonial days, when children learned the alphabet, their families celebrated by making gingerbread letters.

Dress up your holiday table with edible place cards made from cookies in the shape of a holly leaf.

Taken from MARCELLA CUCINA by Marcella Hazan. Copyright © 1997 by HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Use cookie cutters to customize your cookies for the occasion.

Baking these cookies has been a holiday tradition for Claudia Wardius since childhood.