The Holiday Cookie Plan (Cookiepalooza 2018)

As we enter another December weekend leading up to the holidays, I’m gearing up for a big couple of days. That’s right, it’s time for Cookiepalooza 2018! Every year, I make several batches of cookies to bundle up and share with family, friends, neighbors, teachers, and coworkers. This year, I am so excited that my elder daughter will be able to help out even more. It’s part of my holiday bucket list, and I can’t wait to bake, eat and share these tasty treats.

Cookie Variety

To make the cookie packages interesting, I try to pick cookies with an assortment of flavors, shapes, and colors. I box of plain but delicious cookies is, of course, totally fine, but for the holidays it’s fun to have some pops of color and brightness too.

Planning Tips

When planning for a massive baking day (or weekend!) like this one, the key is in the planning.

As I’m putting this together, I’m making a list of all of the collective ingredients and making a shopping list for tomorrow morning. Ideally I would have done this part last weekend, but my baking pantry is pretty well stocked. I might need a few things, but I have enough flour, sugars (granulated, brown, and confectioners’), eggs, vanilla, chocolate chips, spices, and decorating materials. And, of course, I know what to do if I run out of baking powder.

Before starting, you’ll need to get the frozen or refrigerated ingredients, like butter and eggs, to room temperature. For morning baking, I leave out what I need before I go to bed. This way it will be soft and easy to mix when I’m ready to make the batter. Of course you can take a shortcut and microwave it, but it tends to get a little too melted in parts and will make the cookies spread thinner when baking.

You’ll also want to prioritize your baking order. I usually work on cookie batter that needs to be refrigerated before shaping or baking first. These will include sugar, gingerbread, and peanut blossom cookies. Once those are in the fridge to chill, I work on drop cookies and other items to make the most out of the time in the day.

If the baking is done on Saturday, we’ll save most of the decorating for Sunday after the cookies have had more than enough time to cool. You can squeeze a few in on Saturday, but usually it’s almost the kids’ bedtime by the time everything is baked and cooled enough to put on icing. Of course they want to eat help with this part, so we save it for Sunday breakfast afternoon.

Allergies

I was so relieved to learn this year that I am not allergic to wheat! I avoid corn and tomatoes entirely, but luckily my milk allergy is very mild so a cookie here and there with dairy won’t affect me. Since I do still try to avoid it, in the follow up post I’ll note if I end up testing these recipes with any substitutions.

The Recipes

Here are the cookies we’re planning to make this year:

Sugar Cookies

A holiday staple, this recipe is my favorite to use because it’s so easy to mix, roll, and decorate! See Eloises Easy Sugar Cookies at Genius Kitchen.

Mexican Wedding Cookies

Also known by many other names – Russian Tea Cakes, Southern Pecan Butterballs, and Snowballs, among others – these are so easy to make, with just a few ingredients. I usually use the recipe from my Betty Crocker cookbook, but this recipe at Genius Kitchen is very similar.

Peanut Blossom Cookies

These were my absolute favorite as a kid, and they’re so fun to make now. These are the cookies with the chocolate kiss on top and a peanut butter cookie base rolled in granulated sugar. I make these festive by using red and green colored sugar. I’ve been using this recipe at Joy of Baking for years.

Gingerbread Cookies

Of course we do the classic gingerbread cookies. We do the classic gingerbread men and other shapes intermixed with the sugar cookies. My daughter loves these best, and my favorite recipe to use is this one at Genius Kitchen.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

My husband always makes a plea for these – they’re his favorite. They’re not exactly festive, but they are delightfully chewy and a great overall cookie. More often than not, they sneak into the holiday basket too. I use the Betty Crocker recipe for these. I do like to add the dash of cinnamon the link recommends in the tips for holiday baking.

Double Chocolate Biscotti

In a basket of soft, sweet cookies, adding something crunchy or savory is a great way to mix things up. These double chocolate biscotti go so well with a cup of coffee. They also go well with hot cocoa, if you want a triple-chocolate fix. I love this recipe from Once Upon a Chef.

Homemade Gumdrops

Okay, so these aren’t technically cookies… but they add a fun texture and a fruity sweet freshness to the box of goodies. I made these for the first time last year, and got SO many compliments on them that they are a permanent part of the rotation! Find the recipe I use at Taste of Home.

Looks like I’ve got a lot of cookies to bake this weekend. What are you up to?