Get ready for holiday baking with helpful tips for making, decorating, storing, and sharing your favorite Christmas cookies and seasonal treats.
Holiday favorites include sugar cookies, gingerbread cookies, chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter blossoms, shortbread, and snickerdoodles. Baking a few different varieties gives you a festive assortment for cookie trays, parties, and homemade gifts.
Many Christmas cookies can be baked several days before you plan to serve them. For longer storage, bake cookies ahead and freeze them in an airtight container. Delicate decorations and frostings are often best added closer to the day you plan to serve or gift the cookies.
Let cookies cool completely before placing them in an airtight container. Store different types separately when possible so flavors and textures stay at their best. Most cookies can be kept at room temperature for several days or frozen for longer storage.
Use colorful icing, sprinkles, sanding sugar, melted chocolate, or festive candies to dress up homemade cookies. For a simple decorating activity, set out several toppings and let everyone create their own designs on sugar or gingerbread cookies.
Yes, many types of cookie dough freeze well. Portion drop-cookie dough into individual balls before freezing or wrap prepared dough tightly before storing it. When you are ready to bake, follow your recipe's instructions for thawing or baking from frozen.
Stock your pantry with baking basics such as flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla extract, chocolate chips, and seasonal spices. Butter, eggs, decorating icing, sprinkles, nuts, and festive candies are also helpful to have ready for holiday recipes.