All About Cookies
Baking cookies is one of the most treasured of holiday traditions…and holiday memories. The familiar smells of cinnamon, almond extract and nutmeg are sure signs the holidays have arrived.  Find oodles of recipes with our holiday Cookie Finder!

It’s never too late to start a special family tradition! Try one of these for a new annual custom:

• Honor your heritage: Teach children about their heritage by looking up a sweet treat from a country of their ancestry and making it together.
• Remember Grandma: Talk to elderly relatives to find out what the must-have treat on the family’s cookie plate was “back in the day.”
• Bake somewhere else: Grab some Pillsbury® Create ‘n Bake™ refrigerated cookie dough or Pillsbury® Ready to Bake!® Cookies, your potholders, cooling racks, baking sheets and spatula, and go bake for someone who can’t! Remember some festive holiday paper napkins for serving, too!

Cookie Exchanges

Cookie exchanges have been a holiday staple for decades, and they’re perfect these days for crossing baking and holiday socializing off the list all at once!

• Gal pal time: Gather the girlfriends! Ask each to bring one dozen cookies for each of the other guests. Everyone leaves with a full selection of cookies and a night of friendship to remember!
• BYOB (Bring Your Own Batter!): Ask a friend or two to each bring a batch of unbaked cookie dough. Scoop, cut out, bake and decorate together while having a festive evening with friends!
• Lunch party: Use lunch hour and a conference room to host a cookie exchange with work-mates!

Bringing a cookie platter to a party? Assembling one for your own soiree? Here’s some great advice:

• Fill ‘er up: You don’t need a huge assortment. Make sure to have at least a couple kinds of cookies, then fill in with bars or fudge that are less time intensive to make. Keep serving sizes small.
• Plate mates: Fill in between cookies on your plate with purchased foil-wrapped candies, shiny curled ribbons or small colorful ornament balls.
• Avoid travel woes: Keep breakable platters for home use; instead, travel with metal, plastic or wicker.
• Keep frosted cookies separated: Not only will this avoid them sticking together, but each of these handcrafted gems can then shine as cookie plate focal points.

How to Ship Cookies

If you’re shipping cookies to loved ones far away, package them securely with absolutely no wiggle room:

1. Line bottom of an appropriately sized corrugated shipping box with bubble wrap.
2. Line box with two long sheets of plastic wrap, crossed at the center and overhanging the edges enough to fold over the top.
3. Cut waxed paper to fit the bottom (over the plastic wrap).
4. Place a single layer of cookies onto the waxed paper.
5. Place another sheet of waxed paper and a layer of bubble wrap over the top, then add another single layer of cookies. Continue until you fill the box, ending with waxed paper and bubble wrap.
6. Fold the plastic wrap over the top, one side at a time, until the cookie bundle is sealed within the box. Tape if necessary to secure.
7. Fill in any gaps in the sides or top with bubble wrap, tissue paper or biodegradable packing peanuts so the cookie bundle is well padded with packaging materials on all sides to absorb shipping bumps.
8. If you are not shipping immediately, place box in the freezer to keep contents fresh.
9. Check your shipping options versus cost. One and two-day shipments are costly, and most cookies will last a week in transit. If shipping overseas, be sure to claim the food contents on all customs forms.
10. If time and talent permit, create a custom cookie shipment label for the box to give your lucky recipients a clue to the interior contents.
11. Be sure to clearly indicate that the box should be immediately opened and enjoyed!