'Tis the season for cookies! We have SOOO many festive Christmas cookies flooding the site right now that, even if you've just glanced at the home page photo feeds, there's no way they won't put you in the holiday spirit. Kudos to all who have been posting this delightful work - keep it up, please!
Though I wish I could feature everyone who shared fabulous cookies this week, I'm going to let the site's secret trending algorithm pick the hot list* as usual, as that seems only fair - and consistent! 
That being said, the site has spoken, and here's what it says were your faves this past week . . .
#1: Happy Birthday, Julia! by Heather Bruce Sosa [EDITOR'S NOTE: At the risk of appearing self-serving, I honored the site's trending decision and kept Heather's thoughtful cookie in the #1 spot. I'm not one to draw attention to my birthday - especially not at the ripe old age of 59 - so I contemplated taking it out. But, at the end of the day, I wanted Heather to get her kudos as due. I also wanted the opportunity to thank her personally for such a kind gesture that came at a time that was actually pretty rough for me. (I am not taking to aging well. ) So, thank you again, Heather, for brightening my day. 😘 ~JMU]
#2: Christmas Advent Calendar by Cookieland
#3: Gingerbread Houses by Lorena Rodríguez
#4: Pivoted Peacock by LisaF [EDITOR'S NOTE: This striking 3-D peacock was Lisa's entry in my recent cookie art competition. I so wish I could have given every entry a prize - each one was special in its own right, as Lisa's entry is testament. Thank you, Lisa, for putting your soul into this piece and for sharing how you put it together in your comments under this post. I encourage everyone to read Lisa's comments for the wealth learning to be found in them. ~JMU]
#5: Christmas Trees by Laura Glass
#6: For the Christmas Tree by Ewa Kiszowara MOJE PIERNIKI
#7: Corona Navideña by Ana Borja [EDITOR'S NOTE: Special congrats to @Ana Borja on earning our coveted cover spot this week. The sheer cuteness of this composition captured my heart! ~JMU] 
#8: Christmas Ornaments by Mari Katagiri [EDITOR'S NOTE: Extra congrats to @Mari Katagiri as well, as I believe this is her very first Spotlight! 
]
#9: Świąteczne Pierniczki (aka Christmas Gingerbread) by Bożena Aleksandrow
And, rounding out this Christmas list in untraditional yet stunning colors is . . .
#10: Farmhouse Christmas by Cookies on Cambridge
With that striking farmhouse set, I wind up this Spotlight! What a Christmas-y sight! I look forward to seeing the holiday cheer that you all post in the coming week! 'Til then, happy Christmas cookie decorating!
So that no one has an unfair advantage in making it onto a hot list, the algorithm is secret even to site administrators. Only our platform developers know the code, which has been exhaustively tested by those developers and Cookie Connection staff.
All photos shown here are the courtesy (and copyright) of the designers listed.
To check out our other hot lists, at any time of day, visit our Hot Spot, also found in the site's main navigation line.
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