4. STREAMLINE YOUR HOLIDAY BAKING

Cookies and holidays go hand in hand—the more, the merrier. It’s entirely possible to box up dozens (and check off your gift list) if you do a little planning and choose doughs that can be frozen (the ones here will keep up to three months).

use make-ahead doughs

• Icebox doughs, formed into logs for freezing, are especially convenient—just slice and bake what you need as you go. Before baking, roll the logs in sanding sugar, crushed peppermints, chopped toasted nuts, or other ingredients.
• For making cutouts, gingerbread, sugar-cookie, and other doughs can be patted into disks, wrapped in plastic, and frozen in resealable bags. Thaw in the refrigerator before rolling out.
• To save even more time later on, roll above doughs out to desired thickness, then freeze on a baking sheet, between layers of parchment (wrap the whole thing well in plastic). Let thaw for about ten minutes before cutting into shapes.
• Even better, cut the rolled-out doughs into desired shapes; freeze them on parchment-lined sheets (each wrapped in plastic) and bake straight from the freezer for the same amount of time.
• Form shortbread dough into a flat disk or square—whatever shape you plan to score it in before baking; freeze plastic-wrapped dough in a resealable plastic bag. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before scoring and baking.
• You could also freeze individual drop cookies, such as oatmeal, peanut butter, or chocolate chip, on a baking sheet, and then transfer them to freezer bags. Bake still-frozen cookies on lined sheets for a few minutes longer than usual.

make multiples

• For an easy way to get more variety, prepare a big batch of sugar cookie or shortbread dough, then portion it into thirds or more and add mix-ins to each one: chopped nuts or slivered almonds; toasted spices (such as crushed fennel seeds or cardamom); crystallized ginger, citrus zest, dried fruit (currants or cranberries), or dark chocolate.
• A cookie press makes fast work of making different shapes. The assortment of spritz cookies shown opposite all comes from a basic dough recipe. You can leave it plain; tint a portion green or another hue; add ground spices (ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and black pepper) with the dry ingredients for a spice cookie; or mix up a chocolate version by replacing part of the flour with unsweetened cocoa powder.
• Glazes (plain or flavored with citrus juice and zest), nonpareils and sprinkles, and other toppings lend further distinction to pressed cookies, as shown, as well as simple icebox-cookie slices, shortbread, and cookie cutouts.

decorate with ease

• Work in assembly-line fashion. Setting up stations—rolling and cutting out shapes here, piping on details there—will help keep the (potentially messy) activity under control.
• Schedule a bake-off and invite friends to pitch in, with cutters or presses, pastry bags and tips, white and tinted icing, and colorful sprinkles and sugars. This is especially fun for a kid’s party.
• Or host a cookie swap (see below).

cookie swap

Rather than baking multiple varieties yourself, gather friends and colleagues together for an old-fashioned cookie exchange.

• Invite a group of six to eight—any more and guests will have to make an unwieldy number of cookies.
• Have each person make enough of one kind of cookie to share—a dozen for sampling and another dozen for each guest to take home—and bring printouts or recipe cards for sharing (or create an online doc for everyone to copy their recipes to).
• Set up a packaging station with kraft boxes or festive jars, tags or sticky labels, and ribbons, twine, and other trimmings.
• At the party, sample the treats, then trade and package them in appealing assortments. Everyone leaves with finished gifts—and plenty of new recipes.