Who doesn't love a cookie?

We love them with nuts, chips, raisins, and craisins. With oats, peanut butter, chocolate and coconut. Can't forget the icing, the sprinkles, the cinnamon and candy pieces. Let's face it, if we can cram it in a cookie or bar, we love it. Gooey and crispy, colored and topped. We even love them stuffed for goodness sake. They come with fancy frosting, fun holiday shapes and pressed down with a sugar coated glass. Oh, our love affair with cookies.

Everyone has their favorite. Every holiday has a cookie attached to it, and most cultures have some favorite recipe that is all their own. See, I told you that everyone loves cookies.

So what is your favorite? Around my place there are three most requested. First would be chocolate chip, most of the time these are the "go to" cookies. Who doesn't have fond memories of sitting down to a tall glass of milk and a plate of chocolate chip cookies? To change things up from time to time I'll add oats, nuts, peanut butter or even coconut. I've even been known to throw in a few dried cranberries or even white chocolate chips or peanut butter chips. It's all good!

Second choice is peanut butter. From time to time we'll add chocolate chips, but most often the only version that will satisfy is the good old fashioned flavor of a cookie like grandma made. Hard to believe I know, chocolate is after all a food group all on its own, right? Sometimes though, a sugary peanut butter cookie with that nifty crisscross pattern is all that will satisfy. That unmistakable signature of a truly tasty and classic cookie!

Sugar cookies are another favorite. You can roll them into a log and cut them like refrigerator cookies, make balls of dough and squish them down with a glass dipped in sugar, or roll the dough out to be cut into fancy shapes to suit any occasion! What could be better that the sweet butter goodness of a sugar cookie! Frost them, sprinkle them and decorate them to match any mood or craving! Sandwich them with a tasty filling, or make a thumb print into a ball of dough to hold a dab of your favorite jam.

With our busy lives filled with family, work and just trying to make ends meet, it's easy to avoid or put off making cookies. After all, the local grocer is sure to have a package of gluten-free cookies on their shelf and it's such a hassle to bake cookies anyway, right? Trust me, even once in a while, spending an afternoon or evening baking cookies with and for your kids is a very rewarding and important activity to make time for. If you use a few short-cuts, even a busy mom (or dad) like you can find time to bake a batch of tasty treats once in a while. Besides, everyone knows homemade is always better than store bought, right?

One huge time saver in making cookies is to make extra dough when you make them. Once you've baked the cookies you need for that baking session, it's easy to take the extra dough and roll it into a log to be stored in the freezer for a time when you are running short on time but need a tasty treat. If you are making a drop cookie, it's just as easy to put balls of dough onto a cooled cookie sheet and freeze them individually to be baked a few at a time. Just make sure they are frozen individually, then place them all into a freezer bag or container, label them with the date on them and you have cookie dough ready for any time at all!

Of course, you can also freeze the already baked cookies, but the smell of cookies baking is so inviting. I think they will taste better to you after you've enjoyed the smell of your favorite cookie drifting through your home. Makes a house smell like a home, better than any of those expensive room fresheners or candles that you can buy everywhere now. Such a wonderful fragrance to welcome your family after a long day, don't you think? Not much better as far as I'm concerned.

Finding shortcuts to making and doing wonderful things for your family will not only save you time, but also money. Both are in short supply these days, it's so easy to get wrapped up in the day to day and miss those "cookie and milk" kind of memories with your kids. Even if you just pull a mix from the cupboard and mix them up with your kids, it's well worth the time.

There are so many different flavors of cookies out there, a size and shape for any mood and enough flavors to enjoy a different one every day of the week. So, what are you waiting for? With so many different flavors and shapes to try, you had better get started now! Besides, kids love cookies tucked away in their lunch boxes. What better reason to start trying out a few new recipes? Who knows, you may find a new family favorite and make some priceless memories in the process!