Do you hear that?  Are they Santa’s bells?  Is it the excited squeals of children opening gifts?  No, it’s me – whooping it up at my computer as I type this.  When you think of a holiday cookie bake-off do you think of health?  Nutrition?  The LA Times did!  This year, my Cranberry Thumbprint Cookies were chosen as one of the ten winners of their Holiday Cookie Bake-Off!  After LA Times readers (and I know many of you were amongst them – thank you!) narrowed down the recipes from over 200, the 50 top recipes were brought to Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School where they were baked up and judged on flavor, texture, richness, visual appearance and holiday spirit.  I am thrilled to say that my Healthier Cranberry Thumbprint Cookies made with Whole Wheat flour, raw sugar and flax meal met those stringent requirements and then exceeded them!  Here’s to health, nutrition…and cookies!  Cheers! (more…)