The Holiday Cookie Tray

Various homemade dairy-free cookies on the tray for the holidays season or any occasion.

After spending a week of baking the cookies for the holiday, I finally take a break from playing around and make a delicious mess in the kitchen. Now it is time to divide all the cookies I made for give away to friends and family.

There are lots of choice for store bought and readily available holiday cookies in the store, but baking them by your self is more satisfying and you have control over what you put on the ingredients.

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Especially if you have diet restriction like an allergic reaction to dairy, peanut, tree-nut or gluten intolerance, you have to be careful to choose the product you see in the store.

I mostly spent lots of time reading all the label when I purchase a ready-made cookie, breakfast cereal, granola or even ice cream. Whole food like fruit and vegetable, of course, an excellent choice, but once a while we want something quick for snacking, fixing the sweet tooth, or while we are on road trip that requires to stop by at the quick store to grab that snack your kid asking for.

With holidays season almost here, you must be always on the go, keep up to date for the plan. Maybe finishing up the holiday shopping, and hoping in a few day later you don’t forget if you need to get another thing that on the list.

That’s what I did mostly, back and forth to get what on the list, before realizing that you pick the wrong size. Or maybe bake some cookies to enjoy with family and friends, it also great while you decorating the tree with the kids.

For some idea what cookie to include in the holiday cookie tray, here what I have been up to this whole week in the kitchen. All cookies are dairy-free and nut-free.

Dairy-free Homemade Cookies

Matcha Mint Sugar Cookies

A delicious sugar cookie by adding matcha powder to get a green color naturally.

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Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

The comfort food on cookie category, this cookie is always a big hit here, you got chocolate and oatmeal at the same time. Who doesn’t love that?

Double Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies

It is based on our favorite Double Chocolate Chip Cookie that always disappeared fast. By adding the chopped regular chocolate chip and additional mini chocolate chip, you will get chocolate on every bite.

Sugar Cookies

Holiday is not complete without sugar cookies, right? With icing sugar or not this cookie always look beautiful because of the different cookie cutter we use to make the shape of the cookie. I made icing by adding matcha powder to get green color naturally and cherry juice to get pink color naturally.

Sunflower Seed Butter Cookies

A great alternative to peanut butter cookies for somebody who has a peanut allergy. One of my daughters has a severe peanut allergy, so she can try this cookie without worrying about allergen.

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Tapioca Spritz Cookies

Melt in the mouth spritz cookies as soon as you take the first bite. This gluten-free cookie only uses five ingredients. You can make any shape you like flower, spiral, mini wreath or heart shape.

Rolled Cinnamon Sugar Cookies

It will make your house smell wonderful during baking until a few hour after baking. It also great to enjoy this cookie with hot chocolate while you finished up decorating the tree with the kids.

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What You Can Do During Holiday Season

With the holiday coming, the most important thing is we can get together with all family that sometimes we only see them during family dinner. Visit family and friends, have fun watching those holiday movie, take a break from the everyday busy schedule.

If possible to visit kids who is sick in hospital, cheer them up during holiday, make donation for the poor who can not afford food for them self or their family. Call a family member and have long chat over the phone or video call that it always limited time if we call them on another days because of the busy schedule or different time zone.

There actually lots of things to do during the holiday. Going on holiday trip is an awesome idea, as we will experience new thing than the same routine on holiday season we used to do at home.

Just have to make sure consider the cost and time if we want to go on a trip during the holiday, it might be very busy out there and of course will be more expensive.

The safety is the most important of all, because if you take the trip by the road then the traffic might be very busy. If you live in the four season place like I do here, sometimes right on holiday season, we have a heavy snowfall, blizzard, slippery road.

This road and weather condition always make me want to just snuggle with my family. Grab a warm and toasty blanket, enjoy the hot chocolate with cookies, have an interesting chat with family, telling funny joke, listen to the kids story, watching a holiday movie.

Or catch up that new family movie that we always missed it, because there is not enough time to sit still in front of tv. Or how about grab that chocolate you see in the corner of the pantry, it is waiting for you the whole time.

Another thing about the holiday is about food. What you plan to cook for the holiday’s breakfast, lunch, and supper, always make sure to have self-control for what you are going to eat.

To be honest, I always want to try everything served on the table. Because it is not every day I see that kind of special meal that only serves during the holiday, especially if it related to the tradition.

This is what we did when I was still live with my family before I moved out to a different country. During celebration my mom always makes the special soup with some condiments that everybody will rave about it, then ask for more in the next day.

Good thing this was just a bowl of soup so it is comforting. So the last time I got the chance to visit my parent during the celebration, sure enough, my mom made a big batch of this special soup.

That kind of thing that we always missed and look forward the holiday season. The special thing that only serves on the table during the holiday and the warm feeling with the whole family to get together share all the story we did throughout the years.

I hope you have a safe, warm and fun holiday. Enjoy your quality time with family and friends. And don’t forget to grab that cookie.

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