Sometimes selecting which holiday cookies to bake can be more trouble than the actual baking.

With every magazine and celebrity chef offering scores of ideas for holiday treats, how do you pick between one molasses cookie, gingerbread man or oatmeal-chocolate chip something-or-other and the 20 other similar recipes?

You don’t. The Associated Press has done it for you, leafing through dozens of magazines and stacks of books in search of just the right mix of holiday favorites that are easy, light on labor and look and taste great.

Jam Stars

Every holiday cookie collection has to have something dainty and pretty. For that, we have these cookies from “Baking with Love” by the editors of Reader’s Digest (2006, $24.95).

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup ground almonds

3/4 cup caster (superfine) sugar

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) butter, cut into small pieces

Jam Stars from Baking

3 egg yolks

2/3 cup currant jam

2 to 3 tablespoons powdered sugar

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the flour, ground almonds and sugar. Add the butter and egg yolks, then beat until mixed and crumbly, about 1 minute. Press the dough together by hand.

Divide the dough into three pieces. Shape each piece into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Halfway through the chilling, preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out each ball of dough on a lightly floured work surface, or between two sheets of parchment paper. Using a 2 1/2-inch star cookie cutter, cut out cookies. Use a smaller star-shaped cutter to cut stars out of the center of half the cookies.

Arrange the cookies on the prepared baking sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Spread a thin layer of jam over the cookies without the center cut out. Sift the powdered sugar thickly over the other cookies. Place a sugar-dusted cookie over each jam-coated cookie.

Makes about 70 cookies.

Giant Ginger Cookies

These cookies, from the special cookie edition of Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food magazine, are rich, chewy and spicy thanks to generous amounts of ginger, allspice, freshly ground black pepper and molasses.

These also make great gift cookies, as they improve with age, getting even chewier on the inside. They can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week.

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/3 cup for coating

6 tablespoons unsulfured molasses

1 large egg

Arrange oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Preheat to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, allspice and pepper. Set aside.

With an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar and 1/2 cup granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the molasses and egg and beat until well mixed. Slow the mixer to low and gradually add the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.

Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and freeze for 20 minutes for easier handling.

Tear off chunks of the dough and with your hands shape into 2-inch balls. Place the remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a bowl and roll the balls in it to coat. Place the coated dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, at least 4 inches apart.

Flatten the balls into 3-inch rounds. Pressing the balls with the bottom of a heavy mug works well. Sprinkle the cookies evenly with any sugar remaining in the bowl.

Bake, rotating the sheet halfway through, until the cookies are set and cracked on top, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 12 cookies.

Source: Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Everyday Food magazine, Collectible Cookie Edition

Chewy Cranberry-Oatmeal Cookies

Every tin of holiday cookies needs something oatmealy. And these cookies from the December issue of Fine Cooking magazine are a great choice, combining the traditional oats and brown sugar with tangy dried cranberries.

Like many drop cookies, these really spread as they cook. Be sure to leave ample space around them on the baking sheet.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 1/2 cup rolled oats

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, slightly softened

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon honey

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups dried cranberries

1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil two baking sheets or line them with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and oats. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the honey and vanilla and beat until blended.

Add the flour mixture in two batches, beating until well blended. Stir in the cranberries and walnuts.

Drop the dough, one heaping tablespoon per cookie, about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the centers of the cookies are soft, but no longer look wet, about 10 to 12 minutes. Rotate the sheets if necessary for even browning.

Let the cookies cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Makes about 46 cookies.

Source: Recipe from the December issue of Fine Cooking magazine

Cranberry-Orange Shortcake Cut-Outs

At least one batch of holiday cookies should call for dragging out the cookie cutters. But this recipe from Country Living magazine’s Holiday 2006 issue takes a new approach – cutting the cookies after they’ve baked.

This is a nice approach that avoids the fuss of trying to cut sticky doughs. The only down side is that you can’t smoosh together the dough remnants in order to make more cookies. Instead, save the scraps and use them as a topping for ice cream.

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter,

softened

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole-wheat flour (or another cup all-purpose flour)

Finely grated zest of 1 orange

1/2 cup whole fresh or frozen

cranberries, finely chopped

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place one rack in center of the oven. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line one baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and both sugars. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add both flours, the orange zest, cranberries, salt and vanilla. Beat on medium-low until mixture is fully combined.

Turn the dough out onto the prepared baking sheet. Use fingers and the palm of your hand (or a lightly floured rolling pin) to pat the dough into a 1/4-inch-thick rectangle. Bake until slightly firm to the touch in the center and edges are golden brown, 25 to 35 minutes.

Transfer the baking sheet to a work surface. Let cool about 5 minutes. Working one at a time, press a cookie cutter into the large shortbread to create shapes. Use a small knife to cut away any cranberry pieces. Continue until all the shortbread has been cut.

Once cool, transfer the shortbread to an airtight container.

Makes about 12 cookies.

Source: Country Living magazine’s Holiday 2006 issue