Christmas is a time when calories don’t count. It is a time for sweet thoughts and deeds and memories—and Christmas cookies.
Below is an easy cookie recipe that I started making with my mom and my sisters when I was barely tall enough to steal a few samples off the baking pan cooling on the kitchen counter.
It is also a time for romance, and right now my Kindle is filled with holiday romance. My Holiday Luv Bundle: Four Christmas Romances is now on sale for 99¢ until the end of the month.
Wishing you a merry and bright holiday season filled with love—and cookies!
Christmas Almond Crescents
Makes about 40 small cookies

Christmas nut crescent cookies on festive background
- 1 cup (1/2 lb) butter
- 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp brandy (optional)
- 2 tsp cold water
- 1 cup chopped almonds
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light. Mix in the vanilla, brandy and water. Add in the almonds and flour, Mix well.
- Shape into small crescents and bake on ungreased baking sheet for 12-15 minutes. When cookies are still warm, dust with confectioner’s sugar. Store in closed container. Cookies will keep for 5-7 days.
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Alicia Street is a USA TODAY bestselling author and Daphne Award-winner often writing in collaboration with her husband, Roy, as well as on solo projects. She spent many years as a dancer, choreographer and teacher. A compulsive reader of every genre, she also loves watching old black-and-white movies and inventing new recipes for soups.
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