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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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Gift: KitchenAid 7 Qt Bowl Lift Stand Mixer
Store: KitchenAid
Value: $699

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’s pick, for one lucky reader: A gleaming workhorse of an appliance, a KitchenAid mixer big enough for kneading a couple loaves of bread or whipping up meringues and holiday cookies.

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There are a few recipes that we turn to every holiday season, and this buttery dreamboat of a sugar cookie is one of them. The dough is delicious and easy to work with, and it makes the most beautiful cookies; we even had a reader tell us it saved the day for her!

While many sugar cookie recipes are a little bland, and frustratingly inconsistent in their texture (too sticky to roll out one minute, tough the next) we feel that this one gets it just right. This is a firm dough that can be rolled and cut out more easily than Play-Doh, and yet it yields a meltingly delicious cookie, with notes of almond, vanilla, and lemon.

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