‘Twas the night before Christmas 2024, and for whatever reason, our house just didn’t feel very… Christmas-y. The presents were wrapped. The tree was glowing. Everything looked festive. It just didn’t feel festive.
Joe wasn’t about to let that happen.
He wandered into the pantry, determined to fix the problem with whatever ingredients we happened to have. Leftover peppermint bark? Check. Christmas Oreos? Check. Chocolate chips? Close enough. Then it hit him.
“Cookies.”
Within minutes, the boys had been recruited for mandatory screen-free family time, and our kitchen transformed into the happiest kind of chaos. Flour dusted the countertops. Someone cracked an egg a little too aggressively. Someone else kept “taste testing” the chocolate chips. Christmas music played in the background while we stirred, measured, laughed, and occasionally argued over whose turn it was to mix.
It wasn’t fancy. It wasn’t perfectly planned. But somewhere between the butter, the Oreos, and the peppermint bark, Christmas quietly found its way back into our house. As we pulled the first batch from the oven, my youngest looked at the cookies and asked,
“What are we going to call them?”
Without missing a beat, my oldest grinned and said,
“Christmas Joy.”
And just like that, they had a name.
Some traditions begin with months of planning. Ours started because one dad refused to let Christmas Eve feel ordinary. Now these cookies make an appearance every Christmas, and somehow they taste like more than butter and sugar.
They taste like laughter around the kitchen island. Like flour-covered countertops. Like boys who are growing up far too fast. Like one ordinary evening that quietly became one of our favorite family memories.
Ladies and gentlemen…
I’d like to introduce you to our family’s favorite Christmas cookie.
Christmas Joy Cookies.
Christmas Joy Cookies Recipe
This recipe actually started as a simple butterscotch chip cookie, but Christmas Eve had other plans.
Swap the butterscotch chips for chopped peppermint bark and Christmas Oreos, and you’ve got the cookies that accidentally became one of our favorite family traditions.
Ingredients
● 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
● 3 tablespoons cornstarch
● ½ teaspoon salt
● ½ teaspoon baking soda
● ½ cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
● 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
● 6 tablespoons brown sugar
● 1 egg
● ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
● ½ bag butterscotch chips (or semi-sweet chocolate chips)
● For Christmas Joy variation: substitute with 4 squares Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark (roughly chopped) and 6 Christmas Oreos (broken into chunks), and measure with the heart chocolate chips.
Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 475°F. Yep—you read that right. These are a get-in, get-out kind of cookie because nobody has time to wait forever for fresh cookies.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda.
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla extract until well mixed.
5. Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until a soft dough forms.
6. Fold in either the butterscotch chips or the peppermint bark and Oreo pieces for the Christmas Joy version.
7. Scoop the dough using a heaping tablespoon and place the cookies a few inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
8. Bake for 6–7 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden. Keep an eye on them—they bake quickly.
9. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for a few minutes. They’ll continue baking as they cool.
A Little Tip
If you ask me, these cookies are at their absolute best while they’re still warm enough for the chocolate to be just a little melty.
Trust me.
One bite, and you’ll understand why they’ve earned a permanent place in our Christmas tradition.
