Not outside, actually. The D.C. area is expecting a balmy 60 degrees through the week. But in my office, the temperature has dropped like a rock. It makes me want to put on a blanket and eat these cookies while my students huddle into their sweaters.

These cookies are my favorite, and I’ve upped the fun by sticking a candy cane Kiss in the middle. They melt down in the oven, making for a perfect surprise center. Hello, holiday cookie!

Now it’s time for me to vent, so get ready.

Did you know that women freeze in their offices all the time because the average temperature in any building is set to a man’s sense of heat and cold? In other words, even the dang HVAC system all over the country is sexist.

Seriously, I’m tired of accommodating for a man’s world. Folks, I’m petite. I’m gonna be cold at work for the next several months. But it isn’t just the temps. It’s little things, like how I’m always jumping up (in heels, mind you) to reach shelves in stores, which makes me look and feel ridiculous. It’s how the water cooler refill at work is impossible to lift and put on the stand without getting water everywhere. And it’s how people expect me to be good at crafty things, just because I’m a female.

Really, guys. I can’t craft to save my life. Zero interest. I try to tie bows on things and it doesn’t work. I’ve heard of decoupage, but for years I just thought it was something dirty.

So as I sit here freezing my butt off, I’d rather think about what’s all fine and dandy in my world, and that’s holiday cookies. Lots and lots of them! Like these.

The dough for these is made with powdered sugar instead of granulated. That makes the consistency of these cookies completely different from any other holiday cookie. You can call these snowballs, but I made them flatter to make that filling spread out more evenly throughout the cookie. You can call them wedding cookies, but ain’t nobody getting married right now.

So instead, I call them snowdrifts. These are a dreamy, soft, minty sweet escape from the perils of life. One bite of these and I totally forget that I’m cold. In fact, winter seems kind of quaint, just for a minute.

And when the cookies are all done, I can rail about the patriarchy controlling my office temps until I stick another cookie in my mouth. Seems like a perfect routine, really.

As the winter looms and we get more easily irritated by life’s little inconveniences, remember to be grateful for holiday cookies. I know I am!