From the very best cut-out sugar cookies and nutty chocolate truffle cookies to chai tea cookies and jam-filled vegan thumbprints that will (perhaps literally) change your life, we have plenty of buttery, frosted, spiced, and sprinkled ways for you to fill your cookie tray this year. While you’re waiting for your cookies to bake, make yourself a mug of our Spiked Chocolate Truffle Cocoa — it’s a new favorite for warming up on snowy days. Last but not least, bookmark this recipe for Eggnog Doughnut Muffins for Christmas morning (or tomorrow morning!) to get your festive, cheery day off on the right start.

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While we’re running our big Holiday Giveaway, we also wanted to make sure we gave all of you a present, something sweet and small for everyone to enjoy. So all week we’re offering printable tags and labels that go with five of our favorite cookie recipes!

So far this week we’ve given you chai tea cookie labels, coconut snowball tags, homemade doggie biscuit tags, and pretty tags for chocolate truffle cookies. We’re rounding off the week today with classic gingerbread cookies and patterned paper bags as our wrapping inspiration!

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Open Kitchen Tour

Who cooks and eats here: Jeanee Ledoux, owner of Finely Crafted Boutique
Where: Decatur, Georgia
Rent or Own? Own

Jeanee Ledoux is an Atlanta boutique owner who found herself the guardian angel of one of the most unique homes we have seen in a long time: a vintage Lustron prefabricated home in the heart of Decatur, one of Atlanta’s prettiest suburbs. The uniqueness of the house (and by extension the kitchen) inspired her to begin decorating in mid-century styles, resulting in a look that is equal parts modern and vintage, with an injection of Southern Hospitality courtesy of Jeanee’s Louisiana upbringing.

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When she was still with us, my grandmother baked Mexican wedding cookies every Christmas Eve. Today these nutty, powdered sugar-coated cookies take me back to her little house in San Fernando, where it was warm on most Southern Californian Christmases; I sensed these cookies were her way of giving us snow for Christmas. She had a heavy hand with the powdered sugar, and although I loved the nutty confections, I’d have a coughing fit with each bite as I inhaled — literally — the sweet, dusty exterior. And then I’d take another.

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Gift: Le Creuset 6-piece Cast Iron Set in Flame
Store: Le Creuset
Value: $730

This is the season for giving and receiving, and every year we extend our thanks to you, our fabulous readers, with a set of giveaways. This year we narrowed the list of goodies down to just five of our all-time, hands-down favorites. Today we have the one you’ve (probably) been waiting for: a set of Le Creuset cast iron cookware in their most classic color Flame, the one Julia Child adored, and the one that we think looks good in just about every kitchen.

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I have been chasing this cookie for years: Something deeply chocolatey and almost brownie-like in the middle, but with a crisp exterior. Something studded with tart cherries and crunchy bits of nut.

Something, well, like this cookie you see before you. Queue the hallelujah chorus and pour yourself a glass of milk — I am beyond thrilled to finally have this cookie securely in my recipe box.

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Open Slideshow

Skip the royal icing. Skip the pastry bags and the piping tips. Embrace your lazy inner baker. If you covet those glossy, perfectly iced sugar cookies but never felt like your pastry skills were quite on par with doing it yourself, I think I can help. This is the simplest, most straight-forward way to decorate cookies with icing that I know.

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This is the season for giving and receiving, and every year we extend our thanks to you, our fabulous readers, with a set of giveaways. This year we narrowed the list of goodies down to just five of our all-time, hands-down favorites. Every cook needs a good knife (or two) so today’s big gift is a collection of some of our personal favorite knives and accessories from Wüsthof and Microplane, including a stellar chef’s knife and the only bread knife you’ll ever need.

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While we’re coming up with special treats for one another during the holidays, let’s not forget our four-legged companions. The canines in our lives aren’t necessarily looking for the sweets that we indulge in this time of year, but their tastebuds will thank you for this little bit of bacon-y goodness. Whether the lucky pup belongs to you or a friend, these treats will make them your loyal lover for life.

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Open Slideshow

Who: Jen Musty
What: Professional cookie baker
Where: Batter Bakery, San Francisco

Today we have the pleasure of sharing holiday cookie baking tips from expert baker Jen Musty. Jen’s the genius behind my favorite chocolate chip cookie (chewy on the inside, crusty on the outside, big discs of quality chocolate and a touch of Maldon sea salt, oh yeah), so this interview and tour was of particular interest to me. (Inner dialogue: What is her secret?!)

From the surprising flour she uses for better chocolate chip cookies, to the reason why why she skips sugar cookies altogether, read on for some smart pro tips from Jen for holiday cookie baking.

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