Food Friends: Home Cooking Made Easy What to Bake for the Holidays: Our Top Cookies and Treats for Gifting and Hosting
How do you choose from the endless holiday cookie recipes to include in your holiday baking?
Whether you’re prepping for a cookie swap, assembling homemade gift boxes, or heading to a holiday potluck, this episode is your calm, curated roadmap through the season’s abundant baking options.
By the end of this episode, you’ll discover:
- Which cookies and sweet treats pack and travel well—and how to choose the ones that keep their ideal texture for days.
- A Martha Stewart must-bake recipe, along with nostalgic classics that delight all ages (especially the kid inside us).
- Three standout slice-and-bake options: Dorie Greenspan’s iconic “World Peace Cookies,” a mosaic-style pistachio–dried fruit cookie, and a double-chocolate biscotti perfect for pairing with a hot cup of coffee or tea.
Press play now, and bake holiday treats that will fill your kitchen with buttery warmth, sugar, and spice!
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LINKS
Nostalgic Cookies
- Peanut butter blossom cookies by The Gerror Family for NYT Cooking (unlocked)
- Sonya’s marionberry rugelach
- Spoon Cookies from Gourmet magazine
No-Bake
- Rum balls by All Recipes
- Chocolate-dipped pretzels from House of Nash Eats
- Peanut butter balls with rice kispies
Colorful
- Peppermint stripe cookies by Susan Spungen for NYT Cooking
- Confetti cookies by Smitten Kitchen
- Decorated Best sugar cookies recipe by Susan Spungen for NYT Cooking
- Grasshopper brownies by Yossy Arefi for NYT Cooking
Fruity
- Cranberry streusel bars from Bake From Scratch, recommended by Shannon Sarna
- Chewy almond-raspberry sandwich cookies from Bon Appetit
- Orange blossom water crinkle cookies from the Splendid Table, and a similar almond cookie with cherries in the center from Sugar Salted, recommended by Kari’s friend Malin
Slice and Bake
- Dorie Greenspan’s World Peace Cookies
- Pistachio crusted ice box cookies by Charlotte Rutledge for King Arthur Baking
- Double chocolate biscotti from Once Upon A Chef that Malin made in her 2023 box
Chocolatey
- Chewy chocolate gingerbread cookies by Martha Stewart
- Double chocolate crinkle cookies by Sally’s Baking Addiction
- Flourless chocolate walnut cookies by Francois Payard from Food52
Wild Card
- Lemon Ricotta Cookies by Sip and Feast, recommended by Sonya’s friend Sam
- Choc chip cookies with black sesame and seawead by Zoe Kanan for NYT Cooking, recommended by Sonya’s friend Ethan
- Maida Heatter’s Key Largo Cookies as shared by Adam Roberts
Cakes
- Sock-It-To-Me bundt cake by Millie Peartree for NYT Cooking, and a spiced bundt version from Dorie Greenspan.
- Cranberry orange loaf cake by Natasha’s Kitchen and Tastes Better From Scratch
Additional Recs:
- Martha Stewart’s Rosemary Butter Cookies
- Dorie Greenspan Cookie Book
- Last year’s holiday cookie episode with Zoë François
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