New Hampshire Cookie Primary Highlights Political Christmas Season

Yes, even Christmas cookies have become political this Christmas season. Politicos looking for Christmas cookie ideas may look no further than Yankee Magazine's New Hampshire Cookie Primary for political Christmas cookie recipes from their favorite presidential candidates.

The New Hampshire Cookie Primary is a two part process. First, everyone is free to vote for their favorite political Christmas cookie recipe in the online New Hampshire Cookie Primary voting. As of today, Ron Paul is leading the online Cookie Primary at 94% of the over 8,000 votes cast. Ron Paul has been encouraging his supporters to vote for his wife Carol's Apricot-Coconut Balls recipe via his website, while Ron Paul supporters have been garnering New Hampshire Cookie Primary support through online forums.

On December 14, Southern New Hampshire University culinary student will prepare the political Christmas cookie recipes to find out how the candidates match up in the Cookie Primary taste test. The New Hampshire Cookie Primary winner will be based on both the online voting and cookie tasting.

So, what types of political Christmas cookie recipes have the candidates cooked up for the New Hampshire Cookie Primary? While several candidates submitted their significant others' Christmas cookie recipe for the Cookie Primary, Hillary Clinton opted for her own recipe (versus having potential first husband Bill submit) and chose an old stand-by with Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Like Hillary Clinton, several candidates submitted "healthier" political Christmas cookie recipes to the Cookie Primary, including Michelle Obama's Apple Cobbler and Senator Biden's Favorite Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. Bill and Barbara Richardson decided to indulge this political Christmas season with their Biscochitos (basic sugar cookie) recipe which includes one pound of lard (the lard is described as "a must, no substitutes"). Fred Thompson's Cookie Primary entry, Jeri Thompson's Grandmother's Sugar Cookies, also called for lard, but allowed for shortening as a substitution.