The Mother Of All Cookie Posts
I don’t want to boss you around but you should definitely try making some of these cookies for the holidays. I’ve put them all in one spot along with some helpful tips for getting great results every time. But honestly, this is a selfish post. I’ve been baking batches and batches of holiday cookies and even though I’m using my own dang recipes, I still like to look them up on the blog every time I bake so I don’t get them mixed up. Is it weird to google and print my own recipes off of the internet? If that’s the type of narcissistic behavior it takes to get perfect cookies, I’m all for it. Yesterday I was wishing I had my go-to, foolproof holiday cookie recipes in one place so…TA DA! Foolproof Holiday Cookie Roundup!
Tricks and Tips
The first four recipes are chewy cookies that you form into balls and roll in sugar: Chewy Molasses, Mexican Hot Chocolate, Eggnog Snickerdoodles and Chewy Chocolate Espresso. I’ve also included the adorable Gingerbread Birdhouses and Orange Cardamom Snowflakes. You can click through to any of the recipes to get details for that one recipe but here are some tips, tricks and links that sort of apply to all of these recipes. Follow these clues and I just know your baking will be less stressful and more fun.
Chill Your Dough
The most important step, that seems tempting to skip, is to chill these doughs overnight. Most of them would be fine if they were just chilled an hour or two. But if you chill them overnight, the dough has time to “settle” a little, yielding a better texture, and the dough will be the same temperature all the way through. That consistent temperature will ensure that they all bake evenly and every tray looks just like the last. Perfect uniformity is sort of a baking obsession of mine.
Invest In A Cookie Scoop
If you’re making one of the sugar-rolled cookies, you should totally have a cookie scoop. I’ve got a very intense post about cookie scoops here (I think I could actually feel the internet slowly backing away as I was typing. That’s how intensely I feel about cookie scoops.) If you don’t have a scoop or it’s not the right size, you can use this chart to calculate the weight or volume of your cookie balls to get the right size.
Choose The Right Cookie Sheet
Ideally, you would also have the right cookie sheets. I love these awesome Nordic Ware cookie sheets
Chill Those Cut-Outs!
For your roll-out cookies, don’t skip chilling the cut-out cookies, that’s how you get the even baking, and sharp edges. If the dough is too warm it will spread, leading your snowflakes to look like amoebas and your gingerbread houses to look like…well they’ll probably still look like gingerbread birdhouses but they won’t have nice sharp edges and the woodgrain pattern will disappear during the bake. They will also get too dark on the bottom and edges if you leave them in long enough to bake the centers. This pic is of my favorite buttery roll-out sugar cookies. Not technically part of this post but YUMMY.
Bake One Sheet At A Time
I bake my cookies one sheet at a time because I like putting them in the same place in the oven every time (bottom third is my sweet spot), but it doesn’t really slow me down because it takes a bit to roll out and/or cut out a new tray anyway. I routinely bake tens of dozens of cookies one sheet at a time. I know some people like to rotate their sheets halfway through but I don’t like opening the oven door while they’re baking.
Don’t overbake!
You want to watch the cookies and make sure that the sugar-rolled ones are still moist in the cracks (don’t ever make me say that again), and the roll-out ones are just barely beginning to brown at the edges. Overbaked cookies won’t have the crisp at the edges, chewy in the center texture that will really make your socks go up and down.
Storing Your Cookies:
Once your cookies have completely cooled you can store them in an airtight container at room temperature for about 2 weeks. I’ve also had good luck freezing them for up to 3 months. When you take them out of the freezer, just leave the container closed until it’s come back to room temperature so you don’t get any unwanted condensation on your cookies. If you can, store one type of cookie in each container. Mixing your cookie types together can cause the dreaded “moisture migration” where your crisp cookies get soggy and your moist cookies get dried out. Ew.
Finally, The Recipes!
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 30 minutes |
| Servings |
dozen
|
- 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup molasses I like Brer Rabbit Mild Flavor
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8-1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar for rolling
Ingredients
|
|
- In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter, 1 cup sugar, and egg until smooth. Stir in the molasses. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and white pepper in another medium bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and blend with a fork or wooden spoon. Cover, and chill dough overnight or for at least 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Roll a generous tablespoon of dough into balls (a #50 cookie scoop is great for this), and roll them in the remaining white sugar. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until tops are cracked but the centers still look moist. Cool on wire racks.
- If you want a slightly more substantial cookie, use a #30 cookie scoop, 2 tablespoons dough, for each cookie. You will need to add a minute or two to the bake time and the batch will make about 20 cookies instead of 36.
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 14 minutes |
| Passive Time | 1+ hour |
| Servings |
cookies
|
- 12 tablespoons butter melted
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder I prefer Nestle
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar +1/2 c. for rolling
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Ingredients
|
|
- In a large bowl, stir the cocoa and molasses into the warm butter. In medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cayenne pepper. Add sugar, egg and vanilla extract to the large bowl. Stir dry ingredients into the wet. Cover and chill dough for as little as an hour or up to 3 days.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll 1 tablespoon of dough into balls (a #50 cookie scoop is great for this), and roll them in the remaining white sugar. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.
- Bake cookies, one sheet at a time, for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are puffed, centers are set and they are beginning to form cracks. Do not overbake. Leave on sheets until they are cool enough to transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
- If you want a slightly more substantial cookie, use a #30 cookie scoop, 2 tablespoons dough, for each cookie. You will need to add a minute or two to the bake time and the batch will make about 18 cookies instead of 30.
| Servings |
dozen
|
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon eggnog extract I use Lorann Oils
- 2 3/4 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Ingredients
|
|
- Cream butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar in a medium bowl. Add eggs, vanilla extract and eggnog extract. Beat to combine thoroughly.
- In a separate bowl combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Slowly add dry ingredients into wet ingredients, mixing until just combined.
- Chill dough overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine 1/3 cup sugar and ground nutmeg in a small bowl. Roll 1 tablespoon of dough into balls (a cookie scoop is great for this), and roll them in the sugar/nutmeg mixture. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.
- Bake for 10-11 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
| Servings |
cookies
|
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder I prefer Nestle
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsulphered molasses I like Brer Rabbit Mild Flavor
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 packets Starbucks Via or 1-2 teaspoons espresso powder
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 cup sugar for rolling
Ingredients
|
|
- In a large bowl, stir the cocoa and molasses into the warm butter. In medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add 1 c. sugar, egg, vanilla extract and Via (or espresso powder) to the butter mixture. Stir dry ingredients into the wet. Cover and chill dough for as little as an hour or up to 3 days.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll a generous tablespoon of dough into balls (a #50 cookie scoop is great for this), and roll them in the remaining white sugar. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.
- Bake cookies, one sheet at a time, for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are puffed, centers are set and they are beginning to form cracks. Do not overbake. Leave on sheets until they are cool enough to transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
- If you want a slightly more substantial cookie, use a #30 cookie scoop, 2 tablespoons dough, for each cookie. You will need to add a minute or two to the bake time and the batch will make about 18 cookies instead of 30.
| Servings |
dozen
|
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 1/4 cup mild flavor molasses I like Brer Rabbit Brand
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon orange extract
- 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
- 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1 package white Betty Crocker cookie icing
Ingredients
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|
- In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add the eggs, molasses, vanilla extract, and orange extract and beat until combined. In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and beat until you have a smooth dough. Divide the dough into thirds and wrap each third in plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Remove one third of the chilled dough from the refrigerator and, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch (1 cm). (Keep turning the dough as you roll, making sure the dough does not stick to the counter.) Lay your woodgrain mat over your dough and then roll your rolling pin over the mat. Use enough pressure to leave a pattern but not enough to significantly thin the dough. Remove the mat. Cut out your birdhouses and transfer cookies to baking sheet. Place the baking sheets with the unbaked cookies in the freezer for about 5 minutes to chill the dough which prevents the cookies from spreading and losing their shape while baking.
- Bake cookies for about 9-10 minutes or until the edges are just starting to brown. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Decorate the birdhouses with the white icing as shown above. Be sure to let the icing dry at least 4 hours before storing.
| Servings |
Dozen
|
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon orange extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 package white Betty Crocker cookie icing
- white sparkling sugar I use Wilton
Ingredients
|
|
- In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add the eggs, vanilla extract, and orange extract and beat until combined. Add the salt, baking soda, and cardamom and beat to combine. Add the flour and beat until you have a smooth dough. Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Remove one half of the chilled dough from the refrigerator and, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch (1 cm). (Keep turning the dough as you roll, making sure the dough does not stick to the counter.) Cut out your snowflakes and transfer cookies to baking sheet. Place the baking sheets with the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to chill the dough which prevents the cookies from spreading and losing their shape while baking.
- Bake cookies for about 8-11 minutes (depending on size) or until the edges are just starting to brown. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Decorate the snowflakes using the steps shown above. Be sure to let the icing dry at least 4 hours before storing.
How do you store your cookies to keep them tasting fresh?
Hi Eileen! Once your cookies have completely cooled you can store them in an airtight container at room temperature for about 2 weeks. I’ve also had good luck freezing them for up to 3 months. When you take them out of the freezer, just leave the container closed until it’s come back to room temperature so you don’t get any unwanted condensation on your cookies. If you can, store one type of cookie in each container. Mixing your cookie types together can cause the dreaded “moisture migration” where your crisp cookies get soggy and your moist cookies get dried out.
Hello Jane you are amazing and I look forward to making your holiday cookies this year! I love your website and your information oh, I will definitely be investing in a cookie scoop this year!!!
Hope you all are doing well
Hi Linda! I’m excited for you to have a cookie scoop, a real rite of passage! XO.
I made the Chewy. Molasses and the Eggnog cookies. They were absolutely perfect. I’m sure my family is going to love them. Thanks for the recipes. Best recipes I’ve tried in a long time!
Aw, yay! That’s great, thanks so much for sharing. Happy holidays 🙂