Cookie Recipe #23 - Spumoni Cookies!

Cookie Exchange Parties are SO MUCH FUN - for a few simple reasons:You get together with your friends

• You make only ONE kind of cookie and finish your holiday baking, after swapping out
• You get new recipes
• You often have snacks or games!

That being said, I do one every year - in December, about 2 weeks before Christmas. (You can read about it HERE or see a TV segment I did on it http://youtu.be/-iUR7GlAiQw).

I thought it would be fun to have a collection of 30 fun recipes to try - one a day in November - so you can be prepared for that holiday baking!

Today's recipe idea comes from Taste Of Home

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
• 1/2 cup chopped Diamond of California® Pecans
• 3 to 5 drops green food coloring
• 1/4 cup finely chopped candied red cherries
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 3 to 5 drops red food coloring

Directions

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually add flour and mix well. Divide dough in three portions. Stir chocolate into one portion. Add pecans and green food coloring to the second portion. Add cherries, almond extract and red food coloring to the third.
• Roll each portion between two pieces of waxed paper into an 8-in. x 6-in. rectangle. Remove waxed paper. Place chocolate rectangle on a piece of plastic wrap. Top with the green and pink rectangles; press together lightly. Wrap with plastic wrap and chill overnight.
• Cut chilled dough in half lengthwise. Return one rectangle to the refrigerator. Cut remaining rectangle into 1/8-in. slices. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake at 375° for 5-7 minutes or until set. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks. Repeat with remaining dough. Yield: about 7 dozen.