Five Delicious New Holiday Cookies To Freeze Now And Enjoy Later

Every December, I turn into a cookie-making machine. I’ll take over an entire corner of my house, piling containers of sweets and packaging materials into little towers. I make cookies to the detriment of all my other daily responsibilities. Let me tell you: Making that many cookie boxes takes planning, and I’ve learned some things along the way. 

Sturdy characters such as shortbread can sit for a few weeks at room temperature, but most cookies are better eaten fresh. Luckily, freezing them is in my DNA—my granny’s freezer was seemingly filled to the brim with cookies, year-round. Depending on the cookie, some freeze better before baking, while others are particularly delicious when baked, frozen and then consumed partially defrosted. Airtight containers, layers of wax paper, freezer bags and vacuum sealers are your friends. Finishing touches like glazes and fillings often need to be done as close to consumption as possible, but the cookie bases can usually still be frozen. And mailing cookies is absolutely possible: Pack well-insulated boxes (biodegradable peanuts are a good choice) with frozen cookies that stand up well to extremes of temperature and over long periods, and then choose the fastest shipping method your budget can handle.

So fire up that spreadsheet, clean out the freezer and start filling it with cookies! Anyone who comes through your door this December will be greeted with sheer delight.

Cranberry-Glazed Eggnog Cookies

These delicious, eye-catching cookies from recipe developer Camilla Wynne combine two iconic holiday staples: cranberries and eggnog. Get this eggnog cookie recipe.

Black Forest Thumbprints

These delicious cookies from recipe developer Camilla Wynne have all the flavours of Black Forest cake—chocolate, cherry, kirsch and vanilla—in a hand-held treat. Get this black forest thumbprints recipe.

Chocolate Ginger-Mint Sandwiches

One of the best dessert experiences of recipe developer Camilla Wynne's youth was eating these sandwiches—two fudgy cookies bonded together by a melted After Eight—cold from her aunt’s freezer. This ginger-spiked version is even more festive than the original. Get this chocolate ginger-mint sandwich recipe.

Orange Espresso Hazelnut Crescents

Nut crescents were a fixture in recipe developer Camilla Wynne's granny’s cookie repertoire. Here, Wynne updates the beloved recipe with a little orange-espresso twist. Get this orange espresso hazelnut crescents recipe.

Caramel Apple Millionaire's Shortbread

Recipe developer Camilla Wynne put a caramel-apple spin on her granny’s millionaire’s shortbread—a buttery base topped with a thick layer—and she thinks this version is even better than the original. Get this caramel apple millionaire's shortbread recipe.

Clementine Dolci

These adorable citrusy cookies from recipe developer Camilla Wynne are based on Italian pesche dolci. Get this clementine dolci recipe.