Christmas Star Sugar Cookie Decorating

Brown Sugar Cookie Stars

Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

The holiday season brings out the best and worst in us. Are we stressed and twitchy beyond all get-out? Yes. Are we loving every minute of it? Also, yes. From attending Christmas sweater-themed parties to watching all the Hallmark Channel movies to baking countless dozens of holiday cookies, we're maximizing that Christmas cheer at all times. As for the cookies—made for cookie swaps, church potlucks, household snacking, and Santa's plate—there is one little cheat: make now, freeze for later. You'll find that most of your favorite Christmas cookie recipes can be made ahead anywhere from a month to six months before the 25th of December. (Consult this handy how-to guide to the matter!)Generally, most recipes will be best if baked then frozen. When baking recipes that require royal icing or other accouterments, leave the cookie decorating until after you've defrosted the batch. And as a rule, slice-and-bake cookies do well when the dough logs are frozen for later use. Those are the rough guidelines to live by during cookie-baking season!Here are 32 of our best-ever make-ahead Christmas cookie recipes that freeze well.

Start Your Christmas Baking Early With These Freezable Cookies

Snowflake Sugar Cookies

Credit: Zoe Denenberg; Prop Styling: Rachel Mulcahy

Recipe: Snowflake Sugar Cookies

Nothing says Christmas like a batch of iced snowflake cookies. These are best baked then frozen, but leave the icing until after thawed.

Cranberry-Orange Butter Cookies

Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

Recipe: Cranberry-Orange Butter Cookies

Add an extra festive note to classic butter cookies with cranberry and orange. Freeze the rectangular roll of the dough before thawing to slice-and-bake later.

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies Swap

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Recipe: Easiest Peanut Butter Cookies

Four ingredients? Even more the reason to whip up and freeze a batch on any autumn afternoon.

Pecan Snowball Cookies

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Recipe: Pecan Snowball Cookies

Rolled in powdered sugar, snowballs are a cheerful holiday classic. This recipe makes 4 dozen, which makes it perfect for make-ahead food gifts. After defrosting, you might need to re-roll in powdered sugar.

Fudgy Flourless Chocolate-Pecan Cookies

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Recipe: Fudgy Flourless Chocolate-Pecan Cookies

These cookies are airy and crisp on the outside and gooey on the inside, like a brownie in cookie form.

Molasses Crinkles

Molasses Crinkles Recipe

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Recipe: Molasses Crinkles

Loaded with classic Christmas spices, like ginger, cinnamon, and cloves, these cookies are packed with holiday flair.

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Chocolate-Caramel Cookie Cups

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Recipe: Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Everyone's favorite holiday cookie got a chocolatey makeover—and just like that, it got even better. Freeze now and decorated with royal icing and sprinkles later.

Peppermint Pinwheels

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Recipe: Peppermint Pinwheels

For a super-festive cookie tin, swap out red and green food coloring in your batches. Either freeze the dough rolls before slicing and baking later, or choose to freeze the already-baked pinwheels.

Toasted Oatmeal Cookies

Toasted Oatmeal Cookies Recipe

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Recipe: Toasted Oatmeal Cookies

Make a case for oatmeal over chocolate chips with this toasty recipe. It's a game-changer.

Dipped Pistachio Shortbread Cookies

Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

Recipe: Dipped Pistachio Shortbread Cookies

This is the combination you never knew you needed. Leave the chocolate-dipping and pistachio-coating until after you've thawed the frozen shortbread cookies.

Fudgy Pecan Bourbon Balls

Fudgy Pecan Bourbon Balls Recipe

Credit: Hector Manuel Sanchez; Prop Styling: Karin Olsen; Food Styling: Kellie Gerber Kelley

Recipe: Fudgy Pecan Bourbon Balls

You'll never regret making a batch or two of these boozy confections before the holiday season starts.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Recipe: Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mark our words: Browning the butter is the key step to making the most gift-worthy chocolate chip cookies to dole out this Christmas.

Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies

Red-Velvet Cake Mix Cookies

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Recipe: Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies

Cake mix cookies are here to make your life even easier leading up to the holidays, especially this festive red-and-white batch. They'll look merry and bright in your cookie tin or on a cake stand.

Dark Chocolate-Ginger-Molasses Cookies

Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

Recipe: Dark Chocolate-Ginger-Molasses Cookies

These tasty cookies check off all the boxes for a winning holiday treat: rich, dark chocolate flavor, a slight hint of heat from both crystallized and ground ginger, and the deep smoky sweetness of molasses.

Spritz Cookies

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Recipe: Spritz Cookies

It doesn't get much more nostalgic than spritz cookies. Grab your best helpers to form the dough shape with a cookie press, and leave the sprinkling until after defrosted later.

Pecan-Cranberry Shortbread

Red Velvet Thumbprints

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Recipe: Pecan-Cranberry Shortbread

These shortbread triangles—also cute when shaped with holiday cookie cutters!—are packed with the flavors of the season: cranberry and pecan. Feel free to drizzle with chocolate either before or after freezing; just make sure to let them cool completely before placing them in the freezer.

Brown Sugar Cookie Stars

Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

Recipe: Brown Sugar Cookie Stars

Have you ever seen a batch of Christmas cookies so sparkly? We thought not. Prep the pretty star-shaped sugar cookies in advance and leave the decorating until after pulled out from the freezer.

Chewy Ginger Cookies

Chewy Ginger Cookie

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Recipe: Chewy Ginger Cookies

Don't let the black pepper scare you off. These chewy cookies (with even more kick from fresh ginger and molasses!) look and taste wonderfully nostalgic.

Toasted Oatmeal Cookies

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Recipe: Butterscotch-Toasted Oatmeal Cookies

We're partial to butterscotch chips, but you can sub in chocolate chips or cranberries (or go half-and-half) as you'd like. It's your Christmas cookie batch, after all!

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

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Recipe: Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Peanut butter and chocolate is the foolproof duo we rely on every Christmas. Many remember making these simple and delicious cookies with Grandma.

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Recipe: Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Our Test Kitchen's secret for keeping cookies crisp on the outside and gooey on the inside? Adding a bit of corn syrup to the batter. This recipe calls for both mini chocolate chips and chopped mint chocolate.

Spiced Molasses Drops

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Recipe: Spiced Molasses Drops

Something about the holiday season just makes molasses cookies seem extra warm and inviting. This deeply-spiced cookie recipe combines brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, and light molasses.

Kitchen Sink Cookies

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Recipe: Kitchen Sink Cookies

A cookie that packs all sorts of sweet, salty, and indulgent goodness into every bite? That's somehthing we can get behind. Prepare to wow the crowd.

Butterscotch Cookies

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Recipe: Butterscotch Cookies

Butterscotch chips give way to caramelized, buttery bites of goodness throughout. These are best baked and then frozen.

Miss Iona's Shortbread Cookies

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Recipe: Miss Iona's Shortbread Cookies

Mrs. Iona's paper doll-shaped shortbread, or her "little men" as she calls them, are buttery with a subtle sweetness. Make sure to be prepared with cookie tins or freezer space—because this recipe makes five dozen mini cookies.

No-Bake Fudgy Toffee Bars

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Recipe: No-Bake Fudgy Toffee Bars

"No-Bake, "Fudgy," and "Toffee?" Sounds like a Christmas miracle to us. While these are just as easy to make the night before your Christmas occasion, feel free to make and freeze the delicious bars.

Cranberry-Orange Shortbread Cookies

Slice-and-Bake Shortbread Cookies

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Recipe: Cranberry-Orange Shortbread Cookies

Orange zest and dried cranberries make this cookie recipe a no-brainer come December. Freeze the dough logs for up to a month before baking.

Brown Butter Snickerdoodles

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Recipe: Brown Butter Snickerdoodles

Cinnamon and sugar make a tasty pair, and no holiday cookie swap is complete without a plate of these all-time favorites.

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Recipe: Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cookies

This drop cookie recipe has all of your holiday gift-giving needs covered—it makes five dozen!

Chocolate Chip Cherry Cookies

Credit: Courtesy of Damaris Phillips

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Cherry Cookies

Dried tart cherries add a surprising note to classic chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. Chef Damaris Phillips shared this sweet recipe with us (the first one she ever wrote!).

Sugar-and-Spice Rugelach Cookies

Dark Chocolate-Ginger-Molasses Cookies

Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

Recipe: Sugar-and-Spice Rugelach Cookies

Sugar, spice, and everything nice, hm? This old-school recipe is oozing with holiday cheer.

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