A Holiday Cookie Box is a wonderful DIY gift for the holidays. I’ve shared all the recipes here so you can make your own for family and friends!
For the last few years I’ve oohed and aahed over the cookie boxes filling my Instagram feed. Who were these baking goddesses with so much time for holiday cookie creation during the busiest time of the year? This year, with no parties to prepare for and all my shopping completed online, I decided it was time to get in the kitchen and let the flour fly! What else was I going to do at home?
I planned ahead, making ingredient lists for some of my favorite cookie recipes from the blog and bookmarking new cookie recipes that looked interesting. There were a LOT that looked interesting. Ultimately, I wanted an assortment that I could bake and assemble in one or two days (so the cookies would be fresh when delivered), and I wanted a variety of flavors and textures.
The Recipes
Here are the cookies that made the cut:
- M&M Cookies from Mom on Timeout – in this recipe, she uses Easter M&Ms, but I subbed for the red and green M&Ms and was quite pleased with how festive they looked! I also subbed 70% cacao chips for the semi-sweet chips. I originally made these at Easter time, and personally found the combination of the M&Ms and the semi-sweet chocolate to be too sweet. I would go with a dark chocolate chip if you can find them!
- Oatmeal White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies from Live Well Bake Often – I’m not keen to pick a favorite from this bunch, since I really love so many of these cookies, BUT if I had to be pinned down, these might have been my favorites. I followed the advice of one commenter (thanks, Jill!) and omitted the cinnamon, opting instead to add in the zest of one large orange. The orange zest really helped these to stand out as different from the other holiday cookies. They also smelled amazing when they were baking.
- Mint Thumbprints from Fridge to Fork – one of our most pinned recipes! Use the multi-colored nonpareils (as in the photo) or holiday-specific nonpareils. I’ve linked both options on the recipe page here. If you’re not a big fan of mint, we also have an almond thumbprint recipe right here.
- Butter Spritz Cookies from Bon Appetit – Ok, let’s be real this is the only time of year that I get out the cookie press, so you best believe it’s getting some action. You can get several different cookies out of this one dough, both by switching out the plates to different shapes, and by coloring some of your dough with food coloring. I made wreaths, christmas trees, and poinsettias out of this one dough. I also dipped some of the wreaths in melted dark chocolate and then dunked in sprinkles. This dough wins on variety points!
- Earl Grey Tea Shortbreads from Fridge to Fork – Runner up for my favorite cookie in the lineup! If you like buttery, crunchy shortbread cookies, this one is for you. I love the extra crunch that the loose leaf tea adds. These have a more delicate flavor than some of the others in the cookie box, but certainly hold their own.
- Andes Mint Chocolate Chip Brownies – OK OK cookie police, I know these are not a cookie. Here’s why I snuck them in..I’m admittedly not the world’s biggest fan of chocolate flavored desserts (I tend towards vanilla and fruit flavored desserts, shortbreads, etc) That said, I knew I had to get some more chocolate-y goodness into the box to round things out. The problem was that I’ve never really been blown away by any chocolate cookie. (If you know of one that will change my mind, drop it in the comments!) So I made these mint chocolate chip brownies instead and stuck two in each box. I’ll post this recipe on the blog soon!
- Craisin Pistachio Bark from Fridge to Fork – ALSO not a cookie, but at this point I figured we needed something different and I was tired of baking. This was a great quick win to add to the box! Highly recommend adding a bark for variety. I added chopped pretzels to mine for some saltiness and crunch!
- Chocolate Covered Pretzels – I bought pretzels to add to the Craisin Pistachio Bark (see above) and had a lot left over, so I made a few handfuls of chocolate covered pretzels to fill in any gaps in the boxes. Totally optional, but just another quick idea to fill up space! You can sprinkle on decorative holiday sprinkles or just drizzle with chocolate.
The Timeline
Obviously I wasn’t going to bake everything listed here in one or two days alone. I bought all of the ingredients and set to work, first making the doughs that I knew would freeze well. I scooped the M&M cookies and the Oatmeal White Chocolate Cranberry cookies into even balls with my cookie scoop and froze them. I also made the Earl Grey Tea Shortbread logs ahead, so they could just be sliced and baked on delivery day.
Two days before delivery, I made the butter spritz cookies, and kept them in an airtight container. I also made the Craisin Pistachio Bark.
The final night before delivery, I baked the brownies and the mint thumbprint cookies. Store both of these in airtight containers separate from the other cookies — you don’t want the whole box to taste like mint!
Assembly
The most fun part! I had a blast assembling these. We set all the cookies out and James helped me divvy them up until they were gone! We used these cute macaron boxes with clear sleeves and they held a surprising number of cookies. I was very pleased with them. You could also use a holiday tin, or you can get really fancy like the bloggers on Pinterest and construct wooden boxes with compartments. They are really pretty and all, but I wasn’t sure what anyone would do with them after the cookies were gone.
This was, of course, a lot of work. James and I washed a lot of bowls, baking sheets, and spatulas for a few weeks. But I would absolutely do it again. I think baking so early in December really helped me to get into the holiday spirit during an otherwise weird year. I was so excited to gift these to our friends. I really had fun creating them, and can’t wait to do it again next year!
Have you made a cookie box? Do you have baked goods you love to make this time of year? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
