Hi Reader,

Every December, I tell myself this will be the year I glide through the season like Martha-freaking-Stewart on a sleigh. I’ll bake ahead. I’ll gift-wrap like an adult. I’ll remember where I hid the presents. And yet every December, I end up standing in front of the oven at 3 AM, flour in my hair, muttering, “I hate the holidays!” And always feeling guilty. So, so guilty. (You can read all about my pathological guilt in this essay.)

Still, there’s something about the glow of that oven light—the way cookies puff and brown, the way holiday roasts hiss and sputter—that makes me feel grounded when everything else (shopping lists, shipping deadlines, my sanity, my never-ending guilt) feels like it’s spinning off its axis. It’s my one-man rebellion against the season’s chaos.

My December kitchen may not look like the sweatshops my Leite aunts ran. Back then, trays upon trays of golden sonhos, sugar fritters, and coconut cups cooled on every available surface while uncles and cousins were shackled to chairs, eyes bloodshot, filling Royal Dansk shortbread tins with treats. (Fun fact: My aunts would consume massive amounts of those cookies all year just to have the tins for the holidays.)

But that doesn't mean I'm not just as crazy. I'm thankful to have loved ones to gift all these holiday goodies to—mostly so THEY can feel guilty for not doing the same. (Did I just say that?!)

Keeping the Oven Hot and Your Guilt at Bay

1. Preheat Early, Often, and Always. Nothing kills a baking mood faster than realizing the oven’s cold. Turn it on before you even tie your apron.
2. Rotate Like a Pro. Halfway through baking, spin those pans. Unless you like cookies with multiple personalities.
3. Embrace the “Freeze Ahead” Gospel. Freeze cookie doughs now, thank yourself later. December is no time for culinary martyrdom. (Unless it wins you points with the family. Then by all means, please, bring a limp wrist to your forehead, sigh dramatically, and cry...just a little. Then whip out your Christmas list.)
4. Schedule Joy. Between the baking and gifting and decking and fa-la-la-ing, block off one evening to sit by the tree, nibble a cookie, and let someone else do the dishes.

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WHAT'S INSIDE...

• ​New York Times' Chocolate Chip Cookies​
• ​Classic Shortbread Cookies​
• ​Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies​
• ​Pistachio Shortbread Cookie​
• ​Windowpane Cookies​
• ​Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies​
• ​Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies​
• ​Gingerbread Men Cookies​
• ​Viennese Crescent Cookies​
• ​Biscochitos​

​New York Times' Chocolate Chip Cookies​
​(I HAD to. I don't have kids; these are my legacy.)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.89 from 141 votes

Say hello to the recipe that started an Internet craze and made bakers rethink how to make cookies. This originally appeared in an article I wrote for the New York Times on July 9, 2008. What makes them so damn special is the dough is refrigerated for 36 hours for a more complex flavor and greater variation in texture. Sea salt is the finishing touch.

​☞ ​Try this recipe​

​Classic Shortbread Cookies​

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.85 from 33 votes

These classic shortbread cookies are made with just 5 ingredients: butter, sugar, flour, vanilla, and a pinch of sea salt. A simple, perfect approach to a beloved Scottish tradition that's a perfect Christmas cookie.

​☞ ​Try this recipe​

​Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies​

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.67 from 54 votes

It’s simple: chocolate cookie dough surrounds a peanut butter center, and the whole is dredged in sugar before baking. In the oven, the cookie spreads out, and like magic, you end up with a peanut butter center between two wonderful chocolate layers.

​☞ ​Try this recipe​

​Pistachio Shortbread Cookies​

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.93 from 28 votes

These pistachio shortbread cookies are tender and crumbly like shortbread, yet subtly flavored and sweet like cookies. So which are they? Who cares when they taste this lovely!

​☞ ​Try this recipe​

​Windowpane Cookies​

I first made windowpane cookies in catechism class when I was eight. (Do you know how hard it was to make the manger scene out of cookies?) These give the illusion of being made of stained glass thanks to melted Jolly Ranchers. The look of cathedral windows only adds to their joy at Christmas.

​☞ ​Try this recipe​

​Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies​

These peanut butter blossom cookies are chewy and chocolatey like the classic, but they also go a little glam with the addition of Guittard milk chocolate wafers. Otherwise, they're exactly the same as the kiss cookies your mom had waiting for you after school.

​☞ ​Try this recipe​

​Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies​

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.97 from 30 votes

These old-fashioned peanut butter cookies, made with sugar, flour, peanut butter, and eggs, are like the cookies you grew up with, crispy, chewy, and peanut buttery.

​☞ ​Try this recipe​

​Gingerbread Men Cookies​

Gingerbread men cookies are simple to make and subtle in taste. Our kinda Christmas cookie.

​☞ ​Try this recipe​

​Viennese Crescent Cookies​

Viennese crescent cookies are a tradition in Austria. They're made with hazelnuts, shaped like a half-moon, and dusted with confectioners' sugar. One nibble and we think you'll understand why they're a classic.

​☞ ​Try this recipe​

​Biscochitos​

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.92 from 12 votes

These biscochitos are a New Mexican Christmas cookie classic. Their trademark flaky texture and flavor comes from using lard in the dough, along with cinnamon, sugar, anise, and brandy.

​☞ ​Try this recipe​