CHICAGO — In 1995, Agnes Da Costa won fourth place in the Tribune’s 10th annual Holiday Cookie Contest with the sweetly named Friendship Cookies.
And while that might not be the most prestigious accolade in all of baking, I find myself flipping to her well-thumbed recipe in our “Holiday Cookies” cookbook again and again, making the simple drop cookie (the recipe only takes about 30 minutes from start to finish) for family, friends and, just as frequently, myself.
To me, this is what makes a perfect holiday cookie: An easy recipe for the busy holiday season yields a small gift of love and friendship to be shared with those we hold dear, with a little something special to make them stand out. This also happens to be what I love about the three winning recipes in this year’s Holiday Cookie Contest — now in its 36th year.
