Pocket worthyStories to fuel your mind

Win the Cookie Swap With These Holiday Baking Tips

How to soften brown sugar, whip up meringues, and pack and ship desserts for optimal delight.

Maggie Hoffman

Read when you’ve got time to spare.

In partnership with

The holiday baking marathon is something we look forward to all year—poring through mountains of recipes, the meditative process of mixing dough and sorting through all the glimmering sprinkles and dragées. You too? Then you know the joy of going unapologetically over the top, baking several different batches of cookies, assembling a gingerbread house worthy of an Architectural Digest home tour, or making the kind of fruitcake that changes people’s long-held opinions.

Or maybe you’re a little trepidatious about baking—but still eager to gift and celebrate your favorite people with delicious and festive treats. Either way, our tips and recipes are sure to inspire your holiday dessert dreams, or at least make them feel a little more manageable. Starting with a guide to one of the most famously finicky cookies…

How to Pipe, Stripe, and Dip Meringue Cookies Like a Pro

“Crisp, light-as-air meringue cookies can be the star of your holiday dessert platter—as long as you follow these new recipes. Find out what ‘stiff peaks’ actually means, get a hang of using a piping bag, and soon you’ll be swirling peppermint meringues like a pro.” -Maggie Hoffman

Light Up Your Cookie Swap With Tutti-Frutti Thumbprints

Using an array of freeze-dried fruits and jams creates a striking mix-and-match palette of colors and flavors.

Nanaimo Bars, the Essential No-Bake Canadian Christmas Treat

The Nanaimo bar requires no glitter to sparkle, but it will certainly shine at any cookie swap or holiday celebration you bring it to.

An Easy-to-Make Panettone From the Baker Who Brought You No-Knead Bread

Learn famed baker Jim Lahey's hands-off technique for the holiday classic.

How to Pack, Store, and Send Holiday Cookies

We talked to some pros about how to keep those holiday cookies as fresh as possible in the weeks after your baking marathons.

We Found the Best Cookie Scoop Just In Time for Holiday Baking

Using a scoop means you can rock up to the cookie swap with uniformly baked, perfectly shaped cookies. We found the very best one.

This Mid-Century Modern Gingerbread House Is the Winter Baking Project We All Need Now

Okay, it’s not actually gingerbread—it’s better. Use Judy Kim’s detailed templates and blueprint to build the ultimate edible holiday centerpiece: a cardamom cookie house complete with twinkly lights, shimmery doors, ceiling beams, and color-coordinated wallpaper.

How to Soften Hard Brown Sugar: A Head-to-Head Test

In the mood for cookies but faced with a hardened lump of gold? Here’s the best way to bring it back to life.

Gourmet’s Classic Fruitcake

What other time of year do you get to play with glacéed fruit?

Maggie Hoffman

Maggie Hoffman is a contributing editor at Epicurious. Previously, she was the managing editor of Serious Eats and the founder of that site's drink section. She's the author of Batch Cocktails: Make-Ahead Drinks for Every Occasion and The One-Bottle Cocktail: More than 80 Recipes with Fresh Ingredients and a Single Spirit, both published by Ten Speed Press. Her writing about food and drinks has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Food + Wine, Rachael Ray Every Day, and others.