You know what's more important than football or basketball season? Holiday season. Specifically, the holiday baking season. We have a complete list: bread, confectionery, the piesAND biscuits all filling the bench, ready to play. And this year, we've scouted the field and analyzed the stats, and we're ready to crown this season's MVP: cut and bake cookies.
They're not as flashy as Patrick Mahomes or as unique as Giannis; instead, they're routinely, reliably there, year after year, so brilliant that we take them for granted. Call him the Lebron of cookie baking.
Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne
Why cut and bake cookies are the ideal holiday bake
Are you baking a lot this month? Whip up a large batch of cookie dough and bake in slices, then pop the tightly wrapped log into the freezer. It will be there all month, ready whenever you are. Forgot about tomorrow's party? Need a last minute gift? Have unexpected guests coming to town? Roll out that dough, slice as many cookies as you need, and bake.
But even beyond convenience, there's something so fundamentally festive about crushed and baked cookies. Filled with mixes, like these Iced Cookies with Pistachio Crust, they make a stunning addition to any cookie platter. They can be nostalgic and comforting, like Dorie Greenspan's celebrity World Peace Cookies (widely considered slice-and-bake CHITI). And the seasonal flavors are many, from cranberry and rosemary THE chocolate and mint. With a sturdy construction and flat shape, they can easily be packed into a box to toss around town or ships nationwide.
Photography by Danielle Sykes; food styling by Liz Neily
The tool you need to make your cookies great
We love cutting and baking cookies so much that we created a whole new product made just for them: this Dough holder set for chopped and baked dough. This flexible silicone mold is designed to shape and store your favorite cookie dough in the fridge or freezer until you're ready to cut and bake.
To use, simply roll your cookie dough into an 11″ long log, approximately 1 1/4″ thick. Place the log in the base of the holder and close the lid tightly. For easy identification, label the lid with the name and date of the recipe, then refrigerate or freeze the dough for future use. When it's time to bake, remove the log from the holder and cut along the marks (which ensure that all the cookies come out evenly). Place the cookie slices on a baking sheet and bake according to your recipe directions.
Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne
Three new slice-and-bake cookie recipes
In anticipation of the busiest baking time of the year (and in celebration of the product that makes it even easier), our Test Kitchen developed three new seasonal recipes to cut and bake:
Blueberry Melt Butter Break: These crumbly cookies are fragrant with rosemary and pack a sweet punch with dried cranberries, but what really makes them stand out is the butter. Using melted butter in the dough provides all the softness of traditional bread, but you don't have to wait for your butter to reach room temperature or cream it with sugar.
Salty-sweet shortbread: These French-inspired cookies really are the best of both worlds: packed with delicious umami from the Parmesan and just a little sweet thanks to a little sugar. They straddle the line between salty and sweet effortlessly, making them the perfect accompaniment to a cheese plate or cocktail.
Peppermint Cookies: With their melty smooth texture and lingering minty finish, these cut-and-bake cookies feature all the traditional ingredients ofpeppermint bark: deep chocolate aroma, creamy and crunchy white chocolate, refreshing menthol.
Tips for baking the best cookies
How can I make my cookie dough log circular instead of square?
A key step in making sliced and baked cookies is shaping the dough into a round log. In addition, sometimes this can be more difficult to achieve than it sounds, and you end up with a trunk that is not round: it is a square or a triangle or an inappropriate combination of curved and straight sides.
Here it is Cut and bake the cookie dough holder comes in handy: The sturdy silicone mold gives your cookie dough an even circular shape and keeps it that way as it cools.
Photography by Rick Holbrook; Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne
But if you don't have this tool, you can achieve circular dough logs with just some parchment paper and a paring knife. Test Kitchen Director Sarah Jampel explains how in her post about it great tricks for round cookie dough logs: Basically, you use a piece of parchment paper to gently smooth the log of dough onto the straight side of a paring kniferounding its edges.
And to keep your dough round while chilling, you can wrap it in a roll of paper to give it support and prevent it from getting misshapen in the fridge or freezer. (If the dough log is thicker than the paper towel roll, you can simply cut the cardboard roll on its side.)
My cookies always fall apart and bake when I slice them – help!
This is one of the real disadvantages of cutting and baking cookies – when you cut the chilled dough, it sometimes falls apart, ruining your perfectly round cookie. To ensure a clean cut, be sure to use a very sharp knife. Recipe developer David Turner recommends a serrated knife and advises, “Apply even pressure by simultaneously pressing down and pulling the knife blade through the dough in a single motion. A back-and-forth sawing motion encourages chipping and should be avoided.”
Photography by Danielle Sykes; food styling by Liz Neily
Senior recipe developer Molly Marzalek-Kelly adds, “Be determined when you're creating your cookie registry! If the dough is not pressed evenly, then you will likely see more air pockets, which can result in broken and crumbly slices. Using a silicone cookie cutter is a great way to ensure your dough is packed tightly.”
She also notes that the temperature can cause a crumbly slice. “If you try to cut dough that is firm, it can be tricky to get consistent slices. Allowing the dough to come to room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes can be helpful here; you don't want the dough to be too hard that you can't easily slice it, but you don't want the dough to be too soft so that it sticks to the cutting board and you have uneven circles.”
And if (when!) your cookie dough still inevitably falls apart, just use your hands to gently squeeze it back together into a cohesive circle. They'll be fine to bake—cookies are meant to be rustic, not perfect, after all.
Photography by Danielle Sykes; food styling by Liz Neily
My cookies always spread as they bake
“It usually comes down to temperature—both in the dough and in the oven,” says David. “Make sure your oven is set to the temperature indicated in the recipe. The call is not always right; an inexpensive oven thermometer is your friend!” As for the cookie dough: “If the recipe doesn't call for a chilling step before baking, consider refrigerating the cut cookies for 20 to 30 minutes to help prevent spreading during baking.”
Molly also says that too much sugar in the recipe could be the culprit. “If you're constantly seeing a lot of cookie spread, try reducing the sugar by 10%. You'd be surprised what a little tweaking can do!” She also recommends baking Parchment papersince a heavily greased baking sheet can often be the cause of the cookies spreading too much.
Looking for more cookie inspiration? Check out our 43 classic holiday and Christmas cookies to bake.
Cover picture (Peppermint Cookies) by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne.
