This year, to assemble our own overstuffed cookie box, the Bon Appétit team created six recipes inspired by the flavors of their hometowns. From shortbread bars with Chicago’s preeminent caramel-and-cheese popcorn mix as their muse to a delicate sandwich cookie evoking an afternoon tea in Chennai, India, these treats taste like our holidays of years past, spent in the places we hold most dear. We invite you to share in the memories and make them a part of your gathering. Each will bring a little sweetness to your table no matter where you’re celebrating. —Kendra Vaculin

The jig was up the year our Christmas presents were held hostage by the frosted-over trunk of my parents’ car—a rare occurrence for typically mild Tennessee winters. At nine years old, I was the youngest and already suspicious, but Santa’s frozen gifts confirmed it: The holiday no longer hinged on his arrival. From then on, our Christmas Eve ritual took a new form—fancy dinner, followed by midnight Mass, then home for presents before traipsing to bed. But before any unwrapping could begin, my mother would dash to the kitchen to whip up a batch of hot chocolate. She always used Nesquik, a chocolaty powder containing, among other things, a whisper of cinnamon. Eventually, my siblings and I would decline the cocoa, opting to pour ourselves a cocktail instead, but the memory of those flavors is still with me. Come to think of it, these milky sweet, spiced cookies would taste as good with a whiskey on the rocks as they would a warm glass of milk. —Joe Sevier, senior SEO and cooking editor

The Windy City is famous for many things—hot dogs “dragged through the garden,” Portillo’s iconic chocolate cake, pizza as deep as lasagna—but perhaps my favorite of the bunch is Chicago-style popcorn. The kooky blend of cheddar and caramel corn is a Midwest staple, popularized by Garrett Popcorn and embraced for its perfect balance of sweet and savory flavors. Growing up in the Chicagoland area, I looked forward to the annual tin, unhinging my jaw as wide as possible while scarfing it down by the fistful. These bars borrow that same winning combination, reimagined into a cookie fit for the holidays. Savory cheddar shortbread does double duty, acting as a crisp base while also getting crumbled into a rubble-like topping alongside puffed caramel corn. A thick layer of chewy caramel holds everything together. It’s an unexpected treat that’s sure to steal the show. —Jesse Szewczyk, senior test kitchen editor