The sweet taste of Christmas

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Samantha Ferraro from Seal Beach made cherry pistachio ruguelach cookies. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Linda Amendt from Murrieta, Ca. made cranberry orange pocket cookies. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Joan Hertsberg made Santa’s Coat Buttons cookies. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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Lida Frankel from Porter Ranch, Ca. made gluten free wedding cake cookies. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Sean Early from Los Angeles made Finish cookies called, joulu piparkakor, or yuletide spice cookies. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Carol Eblen from Ensinitas made uber lemony shortbread cookies. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Laurel Gillis from Glendale made almond sweeties. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Kelli Abrahamian from Burbank made apricot rosemary bars. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Christina Conte from Glendale made snow cookies. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Deb Love from Santa Monica made Mexican wedding cake cookies. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Gluten-free Wedding cakes. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

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Mexican Wedding cakes. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

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Cranberry Orange Pockets. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

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Santa’s Coat Buttons. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

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Lemon Moons and Stars. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

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Almond Sweeties. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

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Snow cookies. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

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Rosemary apricot bars. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

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Joulu Pipparkakor. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

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Cherry Pistachio Rugelach. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

By Noelle Carter

Dec. 15, 2012 12 AM PT

Los Angeles Times

Beyond the colorful decorations and after the initial rush of sugar, holiday cookies are about memories and tradition. Be they humble or ornate, our baked goods are used to celebrate and give thanks — thanks for our childhoods, the blessings of family and friends and the magic that can be found only this time of year.

VIDEO: Meet all the Holiday Cookie Bake-Off winners

This fall, we asked L.A. Times readers to share their special cookie recipes with us for our third annual Holiday Cookie Bake-Off and then to help us narrow down their favorites to the top 50.

We received close to 200 submissions, and more than 2,500 votes were cast. We took the top vote-getters to Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Pasadena, where students spent one Saturday morning baking batches of cookies. L.A. Times Food Editor Russ Parsons, Test Kitchen manager Noelle Carter and features Web producer Jenn Harris joined Lachlan Sands, dean of the cooking school, and culinary student Donna Feoranzo to taste and test each cookie, narrowing it to our top 10.

FOR THE RECORD:
Holiday cookies: The recipe for rosemary apricot bars in the Dec. 15 Saturday section should have credited the cookbook “Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented” by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, from which it was adapted. —

Just over a week ago, the L.A. Times Test Kitchen was jammed with happy bakers and their helpers for this year’s photo shoot. Amazing cookies, memories and traditions were shared. One cookie is a “marriage of the holidays” for one winner, the red and green Christmas-inspired filling lovingly rolled into traditional Jewish rugelach, while another cookie reminds a winner of her childhood in Scotland. One cookie brings memories of a winner’s father close to her heart every time she bakes them. Still another winner, new to Los Angeles, makes cookies to remind her of loved ones and friends she misses across the miles. One cookie is a mother’s holiday specialty; she’s now 98 and no longer able to bake, and her tradition is lovingly carried on by her daughter.

Celebrating memories, cookies remind us ofhome. Or remind those close to us of home. One winner made cookies to share with a friend from Sweden. When he tasted the ginger-spiced cookies, the friend remarked, “This is my taste of Christmas.”

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Recipes:

Lemony moons and stars

Cranberry orange pockets

Cherry pistachio rugelach

Mexican wedding cakes

Gluten-free wedding cakes

Santa’s coat buttons

Joulu pipparkakor

Rosemary apricot bars

Snow cookies

Almond sweeties