It's beginning to feel a lot like the holidays! With your kitchen reflecting all of the baking you've done this season, nothing is more heart-warming than wrapping up all of your hard work and delivering it to those you love. And if you haven't started your holiday baking, there's still time! We've teamed up with Kristie of The Sweet and Simple Kitchen to share a simple brown sugar cookie recipe with an extra punch of holiday cheer! Packed full of toasted pecan flavor and a hint of spice! Not to mention, the easy to make cream cheese frosting. Talk about the perfect holiday bite! Just grab your favorite cookie cut-outs of stockings, stars, mittens, and trees. You'll have SO much fun decorating these shapes, you won't want to stop! So don't waste any time and get your baking on! We guarantee these delicious cookies will be a holiday hit! 

And what's better than giving baked goods for the holidays than the gift of Albion! Our Holiday Gift Guide will help you rally some ideas to gift your mom, sister, kids or even for YOURSELF! And don't forget to stock up on our little stocking stuffers! Like they say, the best things come in the smallest packages.

For more recipe ideas for the holidays, make sure you're following @thesweetandsimplekitchen!

Toasted Pecan Brown Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

INGREDIENTS

Cookie

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp pure vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 cup ground toasted pecans

1 1/2 baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

Pinch of nutmeg

Pinch of ginger

1 tsp Salt 

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4  cup butter, softened

1/2  package (4oz) of cream cheese, softened

3-4 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

Cookie

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugars until pale and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl a few times for about 5 minutes. Add vanilla extract and beat until combined.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, toasted pecans, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Add dry ingredients to the bowl of the stand mixer and beat on low until the mixture starts to come together; increase speed to medium and beat until all the flour is worked into the dough.

3. Remove dough from the bowl and divide it into two parts. Wrap the two dough balls in plastic wrap and form into two disks. Set in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or overnight.

4. When you are ready to roll your cookies, remove the dough from the fridge, set it on the counter to to come to room temperature for 30 minutes.

5. Lightly flour your work surface and the disc of dough on both sides. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough to about ¼ inch thickness.

6. Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 350F degrees.

7. Now use your desired cookie cutters to cut out the shapes. Place the cookie cut outs onto your prepared baking sheets as you go.

Tip: If you find your cut outs are sticking to the cookie cutters, give yourself a little pile of flour off to the side and stick your cookie cutters into the flour before you work your way to cutting out the dough.

8. Arrange your cookie cut outs so there is about 1 inch of space between each, tightly wrap your pans with plastic wrap and set them in the fridge for 30 minutes before baking. (This is not 100% necessary, but it will just help to ensure your cookie cut outs have nice clean edges when they bake)

9. Once your cookie cut outs have chilled, place the racks in the center rack of your oven and bake for 8-9 minutes or until you see the edges of the cookies are just starting to go golden brown.

10. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.

 *** Make ahead tip: Because this recipe makes a large batch of cookies, once you have cut them all out, you could set half of them on a parchment lined baking sheet, tightly wrap with plastic wrap and set in the freezer to bake off on a different day.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together butter and cream cheese until smooth and there are no lumps. Add in 2 cups of the powdered sugar and beat on low until the powdered sugar is completely worked in. Add in vanilla and another cup of icing sugar; beat on low for one minute and then turn mixer to high and beat for 4-5 minutes until fluffy.

2. If you find that your frosting is a bit too soft, add in another ½ cup of powdered sugar and beat until fluffy. If you find that your frosting is too stiff, just add in 1-2 tbsp of milk, and beat until smooth.

3. If you wish to add festive food colouring to your icing, simply divide your icing into a few different bowls and add a couple drops of desired colour to each bowl and mix with a spoon until combined.

4. Spoon icing into a piping bag fitted with desired piping tip. (I used two bags; one fitted with a small round piping tip and a small star tip.)

Now have some fun piping festive  decorations onto your cookies and enjoy eating them!