The Holiday season is here! So, we thought it would be a good idea to feature a few delicious cinnamon dessert recipes! We’ll start with Cinnamon Galaxy Cookies!

Yield: Approximately 2 dozen cookies

photo courtesy of lovenbake.com

Ingredients:
- 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup Love’n Bake™ Cinnamon Schmear
- Granulated sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Grease two baking sheets or line them with parchment paper.
2. Cream the butter and the 1 cup of sugar in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle until lightened. Scrape the bowl then beat in the egg and vanilla. Scrape the bowl then add the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix on low speed until combined.
3. Scrape the dough into a uniform ball. Drop the Love’n Bake™ Schmear in 5 large spoonfuls on the surface of the dough. Marble the Schmear through the dough by running the mixer for a few seconds. (Overmixing will blend the Schmear into the dough, and you will not have the visible swirl in the baked cookies.)
4. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate until firm, at least one hour up to three days.
5. Sprinkle some granulated sugar out onto a flat plate. Divide the dough into generous tablespoon-sized portions. Roll each piece of dough into a ball and then roll it in the granulated sugar.
6. Place the balls of dough spaced two inches apart on the baking sheets. Twelve cookies per sheet works well. Press each ball of dough with the bottom of a glass to flatted them.
7. Bake the cookies until they are lightly browned, approximately 10 to 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool on a wire rack.

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About: This recipe is courtesy of American Almond Products Company. Since 1924, American Almond Products Company has been crafting artisan-quality specialty nut ingredients for professional bakers, pastry chefs and chocolatiers. They recently created Love’n Bake™ to introduce home cooks to their products –all-natural almond paste, marzipan and hazelnut praline as well as its ready-to-use almond, chocolate and cinnamon Schmear™ fillings. The secret ingredient of professional bakers, Love’n Bake™ has been featured in the N.Y. Times, Food and Wine Magazine and newspapers nationwide. (In November, readers of O Magazine were treated to a Chocolate Pistachio Pie made with Love’n Bake™.)

Recipe courtesy of Montillo Italian Foods.

photo courtesy of Montillo Italian Foods

Ingredients
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon*
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg*
½ tsp. salt
1½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup margarine (1 stick), softened
1 cup Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin
3 oz. Vino Cotto di Montillo
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract

* For a cookie with more of a spiced flavor, increase cinnamon to 1 tsp. and nutmeg to ½ tsp.

Icing (optional)
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1½ tablespoons Vino Cotto di Montillo
1½ tablespoons milk
1/8 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
1/8 tsp. nutmeg (optional)
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Using PAM No-Stick Cooking Spray, evenly coat baking sheets. Lightly wipe surface with napkin or paper towel. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in medium bowl. Beat sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until well blended. Add pumpkin, vino cotto, egg and vanilla. Beat well. Gradually add flour mixture and beat until cookie batter is smooth. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets, leaving a 1¼” space between each. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Allow to cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes. Place cookies on wire racks to completely cool.

If icing is desired, combine all Icing ingredients shown above in a small bowl. Mix until smooth. If icing is too thick, add 1-2 teaspoons more of milk to desired consistency. Drizzle or spread evenly over cooled cookies.