Recipe frustration

I kinda hate baking cookies. They take so long. And they're messy. But it's Christmas, and you do cookies at Christmas time. Colin's our cookie baker (and a fine one!), and he's got a list o' cookies he wants to do. But there are some specific cookies from way back in my past that I really am hankering to make and I'm not sure why.

Cookie #1 - back in the mid-70s, when we lived in Suquamish, Sunset magazine did it's annual cookie spread and mom and I made these brown sugar cutout cookies in the shape of pine trees. They were finicky on the cooking time - easy to burn. But were nice & crunchy if you got them right. Sort of like gingerbread, only not spicey. I remember we thought them rather bland at the time, but for some reason, I really want them! Mom has no memory of these cookies. Web searches have turned up nothing. Colin made me some brown sugar cookies from his 1001 cookie recipes book, and they're good. And he pressed cute little shapes into them, and they were pretty & tasty enough to give away. But they are tender, not crispy. So, not quite a match.

Cookie #2 - I want a round chocolate cookie with turbinado sugar around the edge. So, looking for an icebox/refrigerator/freezer type cookie that you roll into a log, roll the log into turbinado sugar, and then cut into slices & bake. I'm being finicky and not finding a chocolage refrigerator cookie that looks just right.

Plus, did I mention that I don't really like making cookies? So when I find one that's sorta close, I start gathering ingredients and then think "but it won't be quite right anyway" and wander off.

Hmph.