DECEMBER BAKING CHALLENGE
December 2019 Baking Challenge: Homemade Butter Cookies
Did you know that the December Baking Challenge always lands during another tradition of mine, Sally’s Cookie Palooza? Yes! My annual Christmas cookie countdown, Sally’s Cookie Palooza, begins tomorrow and we’re kicking it off with the December Sally’s Baking Challenge recipe: butter cookies! If you’ve ever tasted a bland or boring butter cookie– you’ll be THRILLED to know that this recipe promises a soft texture, buttery vanilla flavor, and features a festive dunk into dark chocolate and sprinkles. Plus that lovely piped design!
(I’m sharing the recipe and details tomorrow, but if you want to get ready, I use and recommend any large open star piping tip. I actually like Ateco #849, which is a closed star tip but it’s large enough and works well!)
GIVEAWAY
Everyone who participates in the December Baking Challenge is automatically entered. See below for How to Join Sally’s Baking Challenge. My assistants and I keep track of your photos and randomly select 1 winner at the end of the month. This giveaway is open to the whole world. Giveaway ends on December 30th 2019 at 5pm ET.
1 winner will receive: $250 Amazon Gift Card. Winner will be selected at random and posted in the January Baking Challenge blog post on December 31st 2019.
How to Join Sally's Baking Challenge
- Recipe: On or around the 1st of each month, I publish a new challenge recipe. Sign up for Sally’s Baking Challenge emails so you’re alerted as soon as a new challenge recipe is published!
- Bake & Comment: Bake the recipe during that month.
- Share: Share your recipe photo using #sallysbakingchallenge and tagging me (@sallysbakeblog) on your public Instagram or Twitter. (Instagram direct messages are hard to track, so please email me your recipe photo instead.) You can also email me your recipe photo or upload your recipe photo to my Facebook page or Facebook group. By sharing your photo with me, you are automatically entered in the giveaway. For a bonus entry, leave a review on the challenge recipe.
Want to subscribe? Sign up for Sally’s Baking Challenge emails so you’re alerted as soon as a new challenge recipe is published.
Let’s Review the November Baking Challenge
November Baking Challenge: Pecan Praline Pumpkin Pie
I had a feeling this pie would be a popular one! We all had pumpkin pie on the mind this month and you certainly didn’t disappoint with all your praline pumpkin pies. Featuring a sweet candied pecan topping, this smooth and creamy pumpkin pie was the star of so many Thanksgiving dessert tables this year! I’m truly honored to be part of your holiday tables. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. ♥
So many of you conquered your fear of pie crust this month, too!
One of my favorite comments came from reader Tessa:
“This pie is perfection! I’ve made your regular pumpkin pie before (although the word “regular” doesn’t do it justice!) and this is an amazing upgrade. I loved the combination of the slightly salty and flaky crust, the smooth spiced filling, the sweet crunchy topping and the creamy whipped cream. All of those textures and flavors pair together wonderfully!”
We gathered as many pecan praline pumpkin pie photo entries as we could and included them below. (Email is the best way to help guarantee your photo will be included!)
Giveaway winner for November is Lauri and she has been notified. 🙂
YAY!!!!!!!! SO excited that it’s finally time for Sally’s Cookie Palooza (confession: I’ve been waiting for this ever since last December, when I discovered your blog in the middle of Cookie Palooza 2018). So there are three reasons to celebrate with a whole bunch of SBA cookie recipes: (1), Cookie Palooza, (2), December Baking Challenge, and (3), my one-year anniversary of being a follower of Sally’s Baking Addiction 😀 All g-r-e-a-t reasons to celebrate. Those butter cookies look deeeeeeelicious, Sally, and I can’t wait to try them! They look especially appealing considering the chocolate dunk and the gorgeous Christmas-y sprinkles. The people at our connect group will love those!
I absolutely love reading this, Erin! You are so sweet to remember when you found my blog- YAY!! Let me know which Cookie Palooza recipes you end up trying this year 🙂 Happy baking!
Hi Sally: I’m starting my Christmas baking tomorrow…guess these will be the first to go in the oven! I was planning on trying a butter cookie this year and now I know I have a great recipe to use! Thanks Sally!
YAY!! What perfect timing! Happy baking 🙂
❤️❤️❤️ Christmas Cookie Palooza. I have looked forward to this all year. Today I will be making Peppermint Bark Fudge but tomorrow I will begin with the fancy butter cookies. Thank You Sally!!!
Two delicious recipes! Hope you enjoy these butter cookies 🙂 Happy baking!
Happy cookie baking to all your loyal followers! I started a tradition 2 years ago when I found Cookie Palooza…Each family member gets their favorite cookies in their stocking, plus more of my choosing. So far I’ve made Crispy Chocolate chip. YUM ! And gingerbread cookies. These butter cookies look divine.Ive ordered the star tip and the coupler…extremely glad that you offer these suggestions to make our baking experiences successful! Let the cookie baking extravaganza begin! In case the subliminal message failed to come through …Baking makes me HAPPY!
P.S. Thanks Sally….for EVERYTHING you do!
What a wonderful idea, Willa! I LOVE that! Thank you for your loyal readership and support of SBA 🙂 Wishing you a wonderful holiday season ahead!
I’m very excited to have found Sally’s website and all of the great recipes and participants in the blogs. I’ve learned a great deal just from reading the blogs and seeing the photos of their final product. Makes me feel like I can have similar results. Thanks to everyone.
Susan
So sweet, thank you so much Susan!
Can’t wait for the cookie baking to begin- something to look forward to every year! I looked forward to your email updates every day Sally and love being apart of everyone’s baking journey!
Happy baking, Lindsey! The most delicious time of year has begun 🙂
I am looking forward to doing the challenge this time. I just finished baking “Chocolate Chip Dunkers”. They are biscotti like cookies baked in a 9×9 pan then sliced and baked again. My favorite cookies to bake are walnut filler triangles. A family recipe with Hungarian/Polish roots. They are really good and flaky. I am looking forward to the Cookie Palooza . I bake and freeze many varieties of cookies. Today was my seventh variety. This is fun!
All of your cookies sound incredible! You have been busy in the kitchen 🙂 Happy baking, Karen!
Made these and they are sublime! Ihad some maraschino cherries in the fridge so I used them and I love the cherry/almond flavor combo! Thanks for a great recipe
I’m so happy you loved these, Heather!
Wow! They melt in your mouth and they were so easy to make!! Going to make them all year round. I did not have time to decorate this morning but they really need nothing else. So good!
Hi Jackie! So glad you enjoyed the butter cookies. Thank you!
This recipe makes my Danish heritage very happy. Even without the proper piping tip, I managed and they are wonderful. I used approximately 4 tablespoons of milk in order to pipe with a standard 1M tip. The tip for increasing the chill time is essential! Thank you for this recipe!
Thrilled you enjoyed these cookies, Lisa! Thanks for participating this month 🙂
These cookies are delicious!! They were a little difficult to pipe—my bag burst trying to pipe the second cookie, but the amazing taste made up for the work!!
Thank you so much for participating this month, Jamie!
Great recipe, as usual, and very easy to follow instructions..
Thank you so much, Kathy!
These cookies had great flavor! They were a little challenging for me to pipe, my bag burst, good thing I have many more bags I kept trying and they turned out very pretty. I dipped them in melted white chocolate and sprinkled with crushed candy canes. Very festive looking.
Yours sound so festive! Thanks for participating this month, Deb 🙂
I screwed these up majorly! They tasted awesome! But everything went wrong in prepping. I will try again, I know I had too much going on. I should have not rushed it. The dough was too thick, after 5 tries piping it, I gave up after the 2nd pan. We ate them, but they were too ugly to give away. They melt in your mouth. Sooo good!
Thanks for participating this month, Andrea! I hope you’ll try them again- I’m glad you loved how they tasted!! 🙂
Wow! These cookies are so delicious!! I’m so excited to give them to my friends and family! Love the almond flavour with the chocolate
I’m so glad you tried them and hope your friends and family love them!
I loved this recipe! I will be adding it to my annual Christmas baking for sure. The almond extract added that little extra something. The directions were easy to follow and they turned out amazing. I love how you explain why things are done a certain way.
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
LOVE reading this, Elizabeth! Thank you so much for your positive feedback 🙂 Thrilled this recipe will be part of your annual Christmas baking!