The holidays can be an especially sweet time of year, particularly for those of us who love to bake. Timeless as the holiday cookie ritual may be _ combining butter and sugar with eggs and flour, shaping and baking _ there is magic behind this simple chemistry. Because traditions adapt with time, our cookies reflect this evolution as we tweak flavorings, add ingredients and merge customs. If anything, this makes our baking even more important. These handmade gifts are crucial and comforting, particularly as times change or _ as this year's devastating California wildfires can attest _ our routines and very lives are upended. Each cookie is a story, whether sweetened with powdered sugar, punctuated with spice or flourished with decorations. Timeless, perhaps, but equally timely. We asked Times readers to share their recipes and stories with us for our seventh Holiday Cookie Bake-off and then to vote for their favorites. We received almost 100 submissions, and close to 20,000 votes. We took the top 20 recipes and judged them to come up with our five favorites. It wasn't easy. There were so many wonderful entries, each inspired by family history and memories. Last week, we invited the finalists to The Times' Test Kitchen to celebrate their recipes and stories.
