One of my most cherished family traditions is baking Christmas cookies. This recipe for Candy Cane Cookies embodies all those sweet holiday memories for me.

When I was a child, as soon as I came in the back door after school and saw the bowls of red and white dough on the kitchen table, I knew it was officially Christmas.

My older sisters and I rushed to shed our snow-dusted outer garments and wash our frostbitten hands. It was cookie baking time! For the next several days we would help prepare the dozen or so recipes that had become family favorites.

As each batch was completed, they were packed between layers of waxed paper in empty ice cream buckets and stored on a shelf in the garage―which served as additional freezer space in Minnesota during the month of December. A tantalizing assortment of our efforts would be displayed on a large silver tray on Christmas Eve. It was the centerpiece of the dining room sideboard.

We started with the Candy Cane Cookies every year.

Mom usually mixed the ingredients while we were at school. Our part was to roll them out and shape them. After they were placed in the oven, we waited anxiously for the “ding” of the timer. We looked on as Mom donned her oven mitts and withdrew the hot pans. We argued over whose turn it was to sprinkle them with the crushed candy cane and sugar mixture. When they had cooled just enough to pick one up, that first bite of a warm buttery-minty cookie was pure heaven.

The cookie baking we enjoyed with my mom is one of the traditions that binds our family together.

It was always one of the highlights of the season for my children, as it had been for me. Even after they became teenagers and were too busy to help make the cookies, I soldiered on. They might have lost interest in the baking, but they still wanted to participate in the taste-testing.

A few years later, I started a new generation of cookie bakers with my three nieces. It took a while to advance to the Candy Cane cookies, but even when they were little they enjoyed decorating the Spritz and mixing up the ingredients for the Nut Goodie bars.

I thought I might have grandchildren by the time they outgrew the fun. Alas, it hasn’t worked out that way (yet!). These days, everyone is watching their sugar intake and our family is scattered around the country. I don’t bake as much as I used to. But I maintain hope that my children will think about their cookie baking memories one day and come looking for the recipes.

Each member of our extended family has their own personal favorite from the assortment of bars, candies, and cookies we made year after year. But for me, nothing evokes the happy memories and warm feelings of Christmas like a Candy Cane Cookie.

Does your family bake Christmas cookies? Or is there another food tradition you cherish? Tell us your story or share your favorite recipes in the comments!