Happy Holidays from the LBC Crew! It's that time of year when we fill our kitchens with the beautiful scents of warm baked goods.
The Crew has been baking up a storm so we wanted to share some of our decadent holiday favorites with you! 
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Lauren's Italian Rainbow Cookies​
What you'll need:
  • 7-8 ounces almond paste 
  • 1 cup unsalted butter 
  • 1 cup sugar 
  • 4 large eggs 
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract 
  • ¼ teaspoon salt 
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour 
  • 15- 20 drops each red & green food coloring
  • ¼ cup apricot preserves 
  • ¼ cup raspberry preserves 
  • 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips 
  • non-stick butter spray 
Instructions: 
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 3 9x13 baking pans with non-stick butter spray. Line bottom of each pan with parchment paper and spray parchment paper with spray.  
  2. In a stand mixer using the paddle or a large bowl using a hand-held mixer, add in the almond paste and break apart into pieces. Add in the butter and sugar to cream ingredients together - usually about 4-5 minutes. Add in the eggs one at a time. Mix briefly after adding each egg. Add in the almond extract and salt. Mix for another 30 seconds. Add in the flour and use a wooden spoon to combine flour into the batter. 
  3. Split the dough into 3 equal portions. Add red food coloring to the first bowl of batter and combine well. Add the green to the second bowl. Leave the third bowl as is.  
  4. Add batters to the prepared baking pans. Bake about 10-12 minutes. The sides will be slightly brown. 
  5. Remove from oven, place on cooling rack for about 10 minutes. Remove from pan and place the cakes on the rack to cool completely.   
Assembly: On a large sheet pan, place a large piece of plastic wrap (large enough to cover all three layers of cake). Then top with wax paper so that when you place the cookie down it won't stick to plastic wrap. Invert green layer cookie onto the wax paper and cover with apricot jelly. Place the plain cookie on the green layer.  Cover plain cookie with raspberry jelly. Invert and top with the red cookie layer.  Wrap the large cookie with the plastic wrap and place a cutting board on top of the huge cookie. Refrigerate 4-8 hours or overnight. Once ready, remove wrappings, and trim the sides all around to make straight edges. Set cookie aside. 

Make the glaze: Microwave the chocolate chips until completely melted and smooth (approx. 30 seconds to 1 minute).  Once melted, use a knife to spread half the chocolate on top of the cake. Place cake back in the fridge for about 30 minutes to harden chocolate. Remove from fridge and carefully turn cake over. Top with remaining chocolate. Place back in the fridge for about 30 minutes to harden chocolate.  

​To slice the Rainbow Cookies, use a serrated knife to cut the cake. Have warm water in a large cup ready to dip knife in for easy slicing. 1-inch slices are the preferred, but cut to your liking.   
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Renee's White Chocolate Cherry Shortbread Cookies 
(Makes about 3 dozen) 
What you'll need: 
  • 1/2 cup maraschino cherries, drained and finely chopped 
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
  • 1/2 cup sugar, plus extra for flattening the dough 
  • 1 cup cold unsalted butter, chopped into pieces 
  • 12 ounces white chocolate baking squares with cocoa butter; 4 ounces of it finely chopped 
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract 
  • 2 teaspoons of shortening ​​ ​
Instructions:
  1. In a large bowl: Combine flour and sugar. Use a pastry blender to cut in the butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in the drained cherries and 4 ounces (about 2/3 cup) of the chopped chocolate. Knead mixture until it forms a smooth ball. 
  2. On an ungreased cookie sheet: Shape balls into 3/4-inch balls and place 2 inches apart. Dip the flat bottom of a drinking glass into sugar and use it to flatten balls to 1 1/2-inch rounds. 
  3. In an oven preheated to 325°F: Bake cookies 10-12 minutes or until the centers are set. Cool for 1 minute on the cookie sheet, then transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool. 
  4. In a microwave: Slowly melt and blend remaining 8 ounces of white chocolate and the shortening. Line up cookies on a clean countertop with just a little space between all edges. Spoon melted chocolate into a pastry bag fitted with a small circular tip, or a zip-top freezer bag with a very small hole snipped from the corner. Gently squeeze lines of chocolate across all the cookies, extending the drizzle past the edges. 
​To store these cookies: About 20 minutes after drizzling chocolate, move the cookies to a pan and place them in the freezer for 15 minutes to set the chocolate. After that, they can be stacked for room temperature storage. Or, re-arrange them into space-saving stacks, wrap them as air-tight as possible, and refreeze them for future treats. 
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Phaedra's Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies 
​What you'll need: 
  • 2/3 cup butter, softened 
  • 2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar 
  • 2 eggs 
  • 1-1/2 cups Quaker Old Fashioned Oats (uncooked) 
  • 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Soda 
  • 1/2 teaspoon Salt 
  • One 6-ounce package dried cranberries 
  • 2/3 cup white chocolate chunks or chips   
Instructions: 
Heat oven to 375°F. In medium bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, mixing well. In separate bowl, combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt. Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition. Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered. 
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Ben’s Mother’s Super Simple Shortbread 
What you'll need: 
  • 3/4 pound of butter 
  • 1/4 pound of margarine 
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 4 cups of flour 
Instructions: 
Preheat oven to 275°F. Combine softened margarine, with the butter, sugar, salt, and flour, and mix thoroughly by hand until the dough forms. Press dough onto a 9" baking sheet, roll flat with rolling pin, and poke with fork. Bake for about an hour or until the top is very lightly browned. Cut while hot. Let them cool thoroughly and dust with fun sprinkles!
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Cookie recipe from a 2020 mom  (a.k.a. Sheri!)
​Life has been so complicated in 2020, so we’re keeping Christmas cookies simple around here. Here's a recipe to spread holiday joy and, most importantly, sanity.  

What you'll need: 
The Pillsbury Doughboy has already taken care of that by packaging
pre-cut sweetness into cookie shapes, complete with holiday pictures. And look, the boxes come in a 3-pack!  

Instructions: 
​Combine kids’ holiday enthusiasm with a trip to the supermarket. Buy pre-fab treats, take them home and enlist kids’ help to pop them onto the cookie sheet and into the oven. As the authentic cookie aroma fills the air, you have 15 minutes to check Google Classroom for the kids’ assignments. You might even squeeze in a couple of Amazon orders.  
Remove from oven, cool and serve. It’s the easy Christmas ritual we all deserve ... Happy Holidays, everyone!  
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Kathleen's Nantucket Christmas Cranberry Pie  
Prep Time: 10 mins 
Cook Time: 40 mins 
 
What you'll need: 
FILLING INGREDIENTS 
  • 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries 
  • 1/2 cup sugar 
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans 
TOPPING INGREDIENTS 
  • 3/4 cup butter softened 
  • 1 cup sugar 
  • 2 eggs 
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract 
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour* 
*GLUTEN-FREE ALTERNATIVE 
  • 2/3 cup brown rice flour 
  • 1/3 cup tapioca starch
Instructions 
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Combine the filling ingredients and stir to combine. Pour into a generously buttered 10" pie plate.
  2. Combine the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Add the eggs and almond extract and beat again until fluffy. Add the flour and beat once more.
  3. Spread the thick batter over the cranberry mixture in the pan. I used a small cookie scoop to quickly dollop spoonfuls across the top of the pie. It doesn't need to look perfect.
  4. Bake for 40-50 minutes, test doneness with a toothpick, just to make sure the topping is cooked through. Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!
Notes 
If you do not have a 10" pan, a 9" pan will work fine, it will simply need about 10 extra minutes of baking time.