The Bourbon

Cookie-making is a holiday tradition in many households. For Christmas, cookies became a sweet gift to give thanks to the fact that during medieval times, winters prevented the sharing of crops so baked goods took their place (via Culturally Ours). For Hanukkah, Insanely Good Recipes explained that gelt cookies and kichel cookies are super popular for the winter festivities. And Canadian Broadcasting Corporation says that the benne wafer is a Kwanzaa classic holiday recipe over a century old. The point is that no matter what you celebrate, cookies are a traditional holiday treat and the perfect gift to give friends and loved ones — and some of the best cookies are those chock full of spices and toasty flavors.

The cookie queen herself, Martha Stewart, is well known for her popular dessert recipes and has spent years perfecting the perfect chocolate chip cookie and snickerdoodle, but for this holiday season, Stewart recommends flavoring your favorite sweet with something a little boozier: bourbon.

The holidays are not complete without a tin full of cookies pre-prepped for guests and as gifts for family. It is quite popular to fill a decorative tin with a variety of sweets like chocolate-dipped pretzels, toffee, peppermint bark, and warm cookies. If you're looking for a new kind of cookie to spice up your holiday tin, the Today Show highly recommends Martha Stewart's Noël nut balls. These cookies are described as buttery, nutty, and wonderfully sweet. Plus, they look particularly festive when rolled in a dusting of confectioners' sugar — like delicious little snowballs. Stewart's recipe also adds a boozy kick in the form of bourbon (or orange juice if you don't want to include alcohol) to give the cookies some natural vanilla-spice flavor.

According to Martha Stewart, these baked treats are made simply by mixing flour, salt, pecans, butter, honey, and of course bourbon into a mixing bowl, chilling the dough, and baking into little round morsels until golden. After taking them out of the oven, they are then rolled in sugar and can be kept in an airtight container until ready to be eaten.