Food Friends: Home Cooking Made Easy

What to Bake for the Holidays: Our Top Cookies and Treats for Gifting and Hosting


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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:

  1. Which cookies and sweet treats pack and travel well—and how to choose the ones that keep their ideal texture for days.
  2. A Martha Stewart must-bake recipe, along with nostalgic classics that delight all ages (especially the kid inside us).
  3. 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!

***

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

***

Got a cooking question? Leave us a message on our hotline at: 323-452-9084

For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our Substack here. You can also now find us on YouTube. 

We love hearing from you — follow us on Instagram @foodfriendspod, or drop us a line at [email protected]!

Looking for an in-person Food Friends experience? Book a farmers’ market tour with Sonya in Portland, OR!

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