Delicious recipes straight from the kitchens of your favorite Tule authors.

My husband’s mom made cookies. Today I’m sharing with you her famous Swedish cookies. These are her three sons’ favorite of all the cookies she made at Christmas time. And she made a bunch of cookies! The cookies contain cardamom and almond paste with a simple icing. They are unique and delicious. Here’s the recipe.

Ingredients:

9 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2 cups)
1 cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup almond paste, crumbled
1 tablespoon butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
⅓ cup fresh orange juice
3 tablespoons canola oil

Icing:

2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons 2% reduced-fat milk

Directions:

Step 1: Combine flour, 1 cup powdered sugar, baking soda, cardamom, and salt in a food processor until blended. Add crumbled almond paste and butter. Process until completely blended. Combine juice and oil. With processor on, slowly pour juice mixture through food chute and process until dough forms a stiff ball.

Step 2: Divide dough in half. Gently press each half of dough into a 4-inch square on heavy-duty plastic wrap. Cover with plastic wrap. Roll each ball, still covered, to a 1/4-inch thickness. Chill 1 hour. Alternatively, roll into two rolls approximately 1 inch thick and chill.

Step 3: Preheat oven to 375°.

Step 4: Working with 1 portion at a time, remove top sheet of plastic, turn over and remove remaining plastic wrap. Cut with a 2 1/2-inch star-shaped cookie cutter into 24 stars. Alternatively, slice into ¼ inch thick cookies. Place cookies 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375° for 8 minutes or until verily lightly golden-brown. Cool on pan 5 minutes. Remove from pans. Cool on wire racks.

Step 5: For icing, combine 2 cups powdered sugar and milk, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Warm in microwave if too thick to spread. Spread about 1 teaspoon icing over each warm cookie; chill 1 hour.

These can be frozen, either as dough or as baked cookies.

GIVEAWAY: We will pick ONE winner to receive a digital book of their choice from the November releases. Comment down below saying which book you’re looking most forward to reading! Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY. The winner will be randomly selected at the end of the month.

Home Sweet Christmas by Charlee James (American Heart)

Release Date: November 5, 2020

Never underestimate the power of gourmet chocolate…

Pastry chef Kayla Hunter spent her childhood in The Candy Manor, a charming Victorian mansion that housed her grandparents’ chocolate business. After moving to the city to make her culinary mark, Kayla returns home to help with Hollybrook’s Christmas Eve Spectacular. But everything has changed. Her grandparents are retiring and selling their business and home, and this year they’ve left her in charge of holiday preparations with Hollybrook’s distractingly-handsome new lawyer.

Attorney Dominick Rowe left the hustle of the city and never looked back. Growing up with workaholic parents, he longed for the slow pace of a small town like Hollybrook. He’s happy to step up when his favorite clients ask him to work their beloved Christmas event. He’s less comfortable with Operation Mistletoe—their covert attempt to remind their granddaughter of how much she loves The Candy Manor and persuade her to move home. But when he meets Kayla and falls hard, his loyalties become divided.

Will their opposing hearts melt with holiday magic, or have Kayla’s grandparents stirred up too much trouble?

The Secret Christmas by Mallory Kane & Deborah Cox (American Heart)

Release Date: November 9, 2020

Can two childhood friends return the spirit of Christmas to this small town?

When Nicholas Frost comes back to Christmas Valley, he’s shocked. The town he fondly remembered as a Christmas wonderland is now completely barren of the season. He learns that his landlord uncle banned his business tenants—everyone in town—from openly celebrating Christmas after his wife died. When his uncle demands that he spy on the townspeople, Nick is torn. Should he choose family loyalty or his heart?

Christmas Valley restaurant owner Angela Corker isn’t happy to see Nicky Frost again. After his uncle banned Christmas, the residents have been struggling financially. So every year she puts on a “Secret Christmas” celebration for the town. Nick is beyond handsome and friendly, but can she trust him with her secret when his uncle is the town Grinch?

They both have secrets, but as they join forces to bring back the joy of Christmas, they discover so much more than they were looking for.

Montana Cowboy Christmas by Jane Porter (Montana Born)

Release Date: November 10, 2020

Wyatt Brothers of Montana, Book 2

It’s almost Christmas and nationally-ranked barrel racer Ivy Wyckoff has returned home to Montana desperate for a miracle. A cowgirl to her bones, she’s always solved her own problems, but when her ex—rodeo champ, Sam Wyatt—shows up offering more than a shoulder to cry on, Ivy’s tempted to grab the safety line he throws.

Sam Wyatt just wrapped his most successful year on the PRCA circuit. After long days and even longer nights, all he wants is a quiet holiday on his family’s Paradise Valley ranch…until he sees Ivy again. He can tell she’s in trouble. They may have called it quits two years ago, but she’s the one woman he regretted walking away from.

Sam will do anything to keep Ivy safe, including putting a ring on her finger and sharing his name with her this Christmas.

All’s Fair in Love and Chocolate by Amy Andrews (Montana Born)

Release Date: November 12, 2020

Marietta Chocolate Wars, Book 1

Christmas at Willoughby Close by Kate Hewitt (Holiday)

Release Date: November 16, 2020

Return to Willoughby Close, Book 3

Welcome back to Willoughby Close, with four new residents and happy endings to deliver…

Belinda ‘Lindy’ Jamison has moved to the Cotswolds for a fresh start and to open a dancing school—her lifelong dream. Pushing forty and still looking for Mr. Right, Lindy is determined to no longer wait for happiness but to reach for it with both hands. So she packs up her life and heads south to Wychwood-on-Lea to start up her school.

Soon Lindy has a motley crew of would-be dancers. But her most intriguing pupil is Roger Wentworth, a forty-something bachelor with a shy and awkward manner, but a heart of blazing gold. When Lindy decides to showcase her pupils in a Christmas show, Roger is deeply reluctant but finally agrees. Lindy longs to bring Roger out of his shell—but she didn’t expect to fall in love with him in the process.

Soon it is Roger teaching her how two lonely hearts might be able to embrace a second chance this Christmas…if they can just believe they’re both worthy of love.

A Convenient Christmas Proposal by C.J. Carmichael (Montana Born)

Release Date: November 17, 2020

The Shannon Sisters, Book 2

She’s the Christmas light in a world that seems so dark…

When Patrol Officer Kelly Shannon answers a suspected DUI call that results in the suspect’s death, she has to deliver the grim news to his young family, including his brother—her friend and crush, Mick. Kelly convinces herself that she’s only making amends when Mick begs for help looking out for his niece and nephew as his sister-in-law grieves and neglects her young children. But as Christmas approaches, Kelly admits the truth. She’s falling in love.

Journalist Mick Mizzoni spent his life trying to keep his younger brother out of trouble. When he gains temporary guardianship over his niece and nephew, he crosses the professional line he drew years ago and turns to Kelly Shannon for help. As she embraces him and his new family, she gives him hope that this Christmas could be different.

With their happiness hanging by a thread, Kelly hopes for a Christmas miracle, but Mick, who’s not as jaded as he thought, wants so much more.

Texas Christmas Baby by Katherine Garbera (Texas Born)

Release Date: November 18, 2020

Corbyn Sisters of Last Stand, Book 2

They have more than one surprise in store this Christmas Eve…

Zara Mitchell is about to be a single mother. After finding out her baby’s father lied about everything, she’s decidedly on her own. But when her car breaks down outside Last Stand, Texas, she’s rescued by the most beautiful man she’s laid eyes on. He’s her knight in shining armor, and Zara is starting to believe in fairy tales.

J.T. Williams has a charmed life, or so he thought until his parents’ marriage deteriorated and exposed a half-sister, Amelia, in Last Stand. Intent to make up for his father’s shortcomings, he sets out to meet her but is derailed when he comes across a pregnant beauty stranded outside of town. And when he learns that Zara and Amelia are best friends, he impulsively decides to hide his identity to get to know both women without added pressure.

As Christmas nears, J.T. and Zara find themselves giving in to their feelings. But J.T.’s well-intentioned lie might cost him everything.

—

In recent years, I’ve had love/hate relationship with the holidays. For me, Christmas was always about family. When I was little, we spent most Christmases at my Poppy and Mamaw’s house, my grandparents on my daddy’s side. They lived on a farm. And by farm, I mean no indoor plumbing, no telephone, no television, fireplaces and a wood stove for warmth, a barn with a very old horse and cows for milk and cream, fresh-laid eggs, snow and acres and acres of woods and fields to play in. Not to mention that the Christmas tree and wreath were always real, the decorations sparkled in the firelight, the smell of cookies and hot chocolate filled the air, the stockings were filled with oranges, peppermint candy and unshelled pecans, we popped popcorn in a wire basket in the fireplace and my grandmother made snow ice cream. Is it any wonder that my earliest memories of Christmas are magical?

Once my two younger brother were born, we began spending Christmas at home. I think my dad got tired of loading all the presents into the car. But Christmas was still magical. Mama and Daddy worked hard to make it so. Mama taught me how to make cookies and candy and Daddy stayed up late on Christmas Eve to be sure that Santa came. At our house, Santa Claus didn’t wrap the presents, he left them under the tree, all set up and ready for playing. Trains ran with the flip of a switch, toys had batteries inserted and bicycles were assembled and ready to ride.

My parents loved the movies and movie actors that were popular when they were young, so during the holidays we watched old Christmas movies. Of course there was Miracle on 34th Street, It’s A Wonderful Life, Babes in Toyland, Holiday Inn (where White Christmas was sung for the first time,) 1938’s A Christmas Carol, among many many others.

As my brothers and I grew older, got married, and my brothers had kids, our ways parted a bit, but we almost always made it back ‘home’ for Christmas, to my parents’ house, where the faces, sounds, smells, and traditions never changed. I had both my parents until 2008, for which I will forever be grateful, but the loss of my Mama in 2008 and my Daddy in 2010 was the beginning of my aforementioned love/hate relationship with Christmas.

My husband and I spend most of our Christmases with my brothers’ families, where the holidays are still wonderful and often magical. It’s very special and heartwarming to see the new traditions and memories being created. Those memories plus the memories of our irreplaceable memories our parents gave us keep me warm, cozy and forever grateful for the love and magic our parents gave us. Luckily, I’m loving Christmas again.

When I answered the call for Tule authors to write a Christmas story for this holiday season, I had no idea what I wanted to write. Soon, however, the idea of a brand new foal being the ‘baby in a manger’ on Christmas Eve took over my brain. The story began to grow and almost before I knew it, Her Secret Christmas Hero was a novella. Allie, my heroine, is baby-sitting a pregnant mare during a huge snowstorm on Christmas Eve. She has recently lost her father and is still grieving. When she rescues a man from a crashed vehicle, the two of them must trust each other in order to survive the storm and save Allie’s mare and her foal.

I very much enjoyed writing Her Secret Christmas Hero, part of the Secrets of Cherry Lake series for Tule Publishing. I hope that you find the story heartwarming and memorable.

Giveaway!

I would love to hear about your Christmas memories. If you’ll share them with me in the comments below, I’ll choose one commenter to win an electronic copy of my 2014 Christmas western historical romance, The Christmas Treasure, as well as an electronic copy of the 2015 anthology, Christmas Wishes, that contains my story, Three Christmases.

Thank you for allowing me a few moments to share my memories of Christmas. I hope you have a memorable holiday and may your Christmases always be magical.

—

Bestselling romantic suspense author Mallory Kane has published 38 Harlequin Intrigues and several indie projects including two western historical romance novellas and a short contemporary romance. She comes from a long line of southern storytellers and librarians and loves hearing from her readers.

When she’s not writing, Mallory loves designing steampunk and one-of-a-kind jewelry using broken vintage pieces. She lives in East Tennessee with her husband Michael and their three cats. For more information about Mallory and her writing, visit her website at www.mallorykane.com or write her at mallory@mallorykane.com