Apple Butter Cookies

...Yeah. Like you needed another reason to buy apple butter.

The stuff is brilliant, made from apples cooked down to thick perfection. Apple butter goes well with nearly everything, from toast to pork, and even as a spoonful eaten plain.

But the holidays are fast approaching! And, though no one would be upset if you simply brought a jar of apple butter to the festivities, you'd like to show a bit more refinement than that.

And so here they are: apple butter cookies.

Chewy, flavorful, an apple-y take on gingerbread cookies, these cookies are soft enough to be eaten on their own, yet flavorful enough to become enhanced with a big glass of milk.

After trying these, you'll soon realize Santa may have found his new favorite cookie.

To make, you'll need:

• 1/4 c. butter

• 1/2 c. apple butter

• 1 c. sugar

• 1 egg

• 1/2 tsp. almond extract

• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg

• pinch of cloves

• 1 3/4 c. flour

• 1/2 tsp. baking soda

• 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

• 1/2 c. cinnamon-sugar

1. Cream butter and apple butter together, then add sugar.

2. Mix until sugar dissolves, then add the egg and the almond extract.

3. In another bowl, whisk cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar until all are evenly dispersed.

4. Working in batches, add dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture, mixing until well combined before adding more of the flour mixture.

5. When finished combining, you should have a thick dough.

6. Chill dough for two hours. (Don't skip this part unless you want your cookies to bleed all over the pan.)

7. 15 minutes before baking, preheat your oven to 375 F and prepare your baking sheets.

8. Take chilled dough and roll into balls, rolling around in the cinnamon-sugar before placing on baking sheets.

9. Bake for 13-15 minutes. Place the remaining dough back into the refrigerator.

10. Let cool on pan for five minutes before transferring onto a cooling rack.

If you're impatient like me and didn't wait the full two hours to chill the dough, more than likely, your cookies bled into each other while baking. That's okay! Simply use a pizza cutter to cut them into bars, and you have yourself a spectacular treat!

What do you do with your apple butter? Let us know in the comments below!