As the seasons change and the snow falls, a hobby appears in households across America: baking. Cookies are a necessity for the holiday season and knowing these recipe and a couple of tips and tricks will help you to make the best holiday cookies.

Sugar Cookies

This recipe from the website Allrecipes, and it offers a great set of instructions to make one of the most classic holiday cookies of all time: the sugar cookie.

What You’ll Need:

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

How To Make Them:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set them aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream and mix together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto un-greased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

Mint Chunk Cookies

A less common cookie to make for the holiday season is a minty mix on the traditional chocolate-chip-cookie. Personally, this is my favorite cookie and this recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction is amazing.

What You’ll Need:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick or 115g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 3/4 cup (150g) light brown sugar, packed

• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups and 1/4 cups (285g) all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups (340g) chopped Andes Mints OR Andes Mints Creme de Menthe Baking Chips
• 1/4 cup (60ml) milk

How To Make Them:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With an electric or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, then the egg yolk, mixing for about 1 minute after each addition. Mix in the vanilla extract.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the baking soda, baking powder, salt, flour, and unsweetened cocoa powder. Add 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the wet. Mix for about 1 minute on low speed. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until combined. By hand, fold in the Andes Mints.
3. Place balls of cookie dough, about the size of a tablespoon, onto a greased baking sheet onto un-greased baking sheet or silicone mat. Bake for 10-12 minutes until sides *slightly* begin to brown. I took mine out of the oven at exactly 10 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes and transfer to a wire rack. Cookies stay fresh & soft in a sealed container at room temperature for 1 week.

Tips and Tricks

• Aluminum foil can be used on a baking sheet to keep food moist, cook it evenly, and make clean-up easier.
• Let your ingredients set to room temperature temperature before mixing; they’ll mix easier.
• Rotate your cookie pan halfway through so the cookies cook evenly.
• Let the cookies cool completely before enjoying.
• Crack the eggs one at a time and mix after every egg.