Hurry! The deadline is just around the corner for the 14th annual Taste Holiday Cookie Contest. That would be noon Friday, Oct. 21. (Yes, it's really noon. By the end of the day, we will have chosen our recipes to test.)

The winning cookie recipe and four finalists will be featured in the Star Tribune on Dec. 1. That day the Star Tribune will also hold a free tasting of the winning cookie (and four finalists) at 11 a.m. at #StribHQ in the Capella Tower in downtown Minneapolis. Join us.

The fame doesn't fizzle out, since winning entries taking their place in our much-visited online archive (find it at StarTribune.com/cookies), a collection of recipes from more than 70 past winners and finalists.

Another incentive to enter? The winner is awarded a $200 gift card to a Twin Cities kitchenware store.

And there's more. The Mill City Museum in Minneapolis will invite the winner and four finalists to bake for the public in the museum's baking lab on Dec. 3.

It's easy to enter. Your recipe doesn't have to be original, but it does need to stand out. Though we love spritz, gingerbread cutouts, iced sugar cookies and other holiday standards, we're looking for recipes new to many of us that can enrich our holiday baking plans. Last year's winner, Apple Cardamom Pecan Star Cookies, from Jana Freiband of Minneapolis, is a perfect example.

Cardamom Orange Zest Sugar Cookies (from baker Jeanne Nordstrom) ] The winner and four finalists in the 2015 Taste Holiday Cookie (Cooky) Contest: Chocolate Decadence Cookies (from baker Elaine Prebonich), Kit Kat Christmas Bars (from baker Julie Olson), Cardamom Orange Zest Sugar Cookies (from baker Jeanne Nordstrom), Bacon Cornmeal Venetos (by bakers Julie Bollmann, Wendy Kleiser, Joan Koller, Geri Olson and Mary Urbas) and winner Apple Cardamom Pecan Star Cookies (from baker Jana Freiband).

Entries should include the cookie recipe, along with the story behind the recipe: Is it a family treasure, or a new-to-you formula? Where did it come from (it's OK if you found it in a cookbook, newspaper, magazine or website, just tell us where), and how did it become part of your holiday baking traditions? Don't forget your contact information: street address, daytime phone number and e-mail address.

Including a photo of the cookie doesn't hurt, but it's not necessary.

Enter via e-mail at taste@startribune.com (please write Taste Holiday Cookie Contest in the subject field), or mail to: Taste Holiday Cookie Contest, Star Tribune, 650 3rd Av. S., Suite 1300, Mpls., MN 55488.

Don't delay. Deadline is noon on Oct. 21.

Finalists will be notified by early November.