Custom Holiday Cookie Box Recipe
One Recipe, Endless Flavors
Emma Fontanella’s custom holiday cookie box
About my Custom Holiday Cookie Box
Making a whole box of assorted cookies has never been easier! The secret to this recipe is the method for quickly turning one big batch of base dough into several different cookie varieties.
From there, I’ll show you how to create endless variations of cookies by using different cutters, and adding different fillings, chocolate drizzles, color and other finishing touches. Your friends and family will be blown away by the professional-looking cookie boxes you produce with this recipe!
The idea for this recipe came to me when I was thinking about how to simplify the methods professional bakers use for making a wide variety of cookies every day for sale in bakeries.
I wanted a recipe that would work for home bakers, and what better time of year to make this recipe about than the holidays. I don’t know about you, but for me the holidays are a super fun time of year for baking cookies! When you succeed with this recipe (and you will!), congratulate yourself on making cookies the way the pros do it!
This recipe can be found in my new cookbook, Simple Pleasures. In the book, you’ll find many more cookie recipes. I included a variety of styles in the book so you’ll have fantastic cookies to make all year round—winter, spring, summer and fall.
Fillings, Drizzles, Colors and Other Finishing Touches
You can customize your cookies to create endless variations by using a few simple finishing touches. As one example, I get a lot of questions about the red sandwich cookies in the photo of my cookies box. For those, I use the vanilla sugar cookies dough recipe (see the recipe below) with a few drops of gel-based red food coloring to create the red color I want. Then I use a classic American buttercream filling in the sandwiches. If you wanted to, you could add a little cocoa powder to the dough. Then, those cookies would come out very much like Red Velvet Oreos.
When you’re thinking about what finishing touches you want to use, think about what kind of variation(s) you want to create. Is it flavor, color, some other visual interest, or texture? Or do you want some combination of those? In the sections below, I’ve given you plenty of delicious, fun suggestions to get your creative juices flowing! There are no rules with these finishing touches—so let your imagination run wild!
Fillings for sandwich cookies
As well as using different flavor jams, you can use any fillings that take your fancy. I love using buttercreams, lemon curd, chocolate ganache, whipped ganache, fudge frosting and even pastry cream. I have incredible, easy recipes for all these frostings, fillings, creams, and more, in my cookbook.
A great shortcut for the fillings is to use store-bought. You will get great results doing that. I have to say be honest, though—nothing store-bought comes even close to the delicious, homemade versions made with simple, fresh ingredients and pantry staples!
That’s just the start though. You can create endless different flavors of buttercream by adding a little flavoured essence e.g. use peppermint essence to create mint flavor filling. You can add sprinkles or crushed up hard candy to the fillings to create different textures. For example, smash up some candy canes into small pieces and mix it into some buttercream to create a crunchy, minty filling.
Drizzles for cookies
Adding a drizzle to cookies is a great finishing touch that adds visual interest as well as flavor. Good choices for drizzles are royal icing and chocolate. Any kind of chocolate works (milk, dark, and white). So, use what kinds you enjoy. For chocolate drizzles, simply melt the chocolate. You can add the drizzle to your cookies by dipping a teaspoon into the icing or chocolate, and then allowing it to fall off the spoon on to the cookie. What I do, though, to achieve are professional-looking result is to use a small piping bag (see the photo of the cookie box above).
Don’t feel you have to use a piping bag for this, though. The teaspoon method works really well, and is much less fuss. (Especially if you’re not used to working with piping bags).
Colors
You can color to any of the vanilla doughs in the recipe by using gel-based food coloring. Add enough to get the shade of color you’re looking for. Gel-based colors are best because they won’t change the texture of the cookie dough in the way that liquid colors do.
You can also add gel-based color to royal icing for drizzling or other decoration.
Other Finishing Touches
Adding crushed up hard candy, or different color decorating sugars creates lots of visual interest and a satisfying crunchy textural variation. There is a huge range of different color decorating sugars readily available on-line and in many supermarkets.
Royal icing (including the color variations above) is great for decorating your cookies. Why not add faces to your gingerbread people cookies, or even draw some outfits on them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I get packaging for cookie boxes?
You can buy really attractive, premium-looking cardboard boxes to use as the packaging for your cookie box. I recommend looking on-line to find packaging you like the look of. Good search terms on places like Amazon are “gift boxes”, “bakery boxes”, “pastry boxes”, and “cookie boxes”.
I like to line these boxes with tissue paper before arranging the cookies in them. You can go for white tissue paper for a classy, sophisticated look. Or, you can go for colourful festive shades to create a really fun look.
Which ever option you go for, a little bit of care with your presentation will make your cookie boxes look like they cost a fortune from a high end bakery!
What are the most popular cookies at Christmas?
Some of the most popular cookies in the United States at Christmas are: sugar cookies, peanut butter blossoms, shortbread cookies, chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal cookies, Italian Christmas cookies, gingerbread cookies, crinkle cookies, snickerdoodle, peanut butter chocolate cookies, and black and white cookies.
How far in advance can you make Christmas cookies?
At room temperature, in an airtight container, you can store cookies for up to 2 weeks, although they’ll be at their best in the first 4 or 5 days. Often, though, you can make the cookies up to the point where they’d go in the oven, and then freeze them. Then you can bake them off when you need them, straight from the freezer. When frozen, you can make the cookies up to two months in advance.
When should you start holiday baking?
My advice is to start holiday baking whenever you’re starting to feel festive! There are holiday recipes you can make months in advance, if you want to get going early. And of course, there’s nothing stopping you, your family, and your friends getting some early practice with the holidaying eating!
What is the most popular store bought cookie in the world?
The most popular cookie across the world is the Oreo. Originally, Oreos were very much a cookie that was eaten only in the United States. Today, though, they’re sold globally.
EQUIPMENT
Stand mixer
Assorted cookie cutters
Piping bag with a medium star tip
Boxes for packaging the cookies
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE BASE DOUGH
6⅔ sticks (750g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2½ cups (300g) powdered sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
6½ cups (900g) all-purpose flour
FOR THE PIPED BUTTER COOKIES
⅕ batch of base dough
FOR THE LINZER COOKIES
⅕ batch of base dough
½ cup (60g) blanched almond flour
4 tbsp (40g) all-purpose flour
¼ tsp almond extract
Jam of choice, for the filling
FOR THE GINGERBREAD COOKIES
⅕ batch of base dough
4 tbsp (40g) all-purpose flour
3 tsp ground cinnamon
3 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tsp ground ginger
FOR THE VANILLA SUGAR COOKIES
⅕ batch of base dough
5 tbsp (50g) all-purpose flour
½ tsp vanilla extract
FOR THE CHOCOLATE SUGAR COOKIES
⅕ batch of base dough
5 tbsp whole milk
7½ tbsp (60g) sweetened cocoa powder
2 tbsp (20g) all-purpose flour
Dark Chocolate Ganache or Nutella, for the filling
INSTRUCTIONS
Prepare the base dough
Make the base dough
In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt. Mix until the ingredients are well combined, and the mixture looks fluffy.
Add the egg whites and continue mixing until fully incorporated. Add the flour in three batches, mixing to fully incorporate each batch before adding the next.
Don't worry about overmixing; the large amount of butter will inhibit gluten development as you incorporate the batches of flour.
Divide the dough
Divide the dough into five equal portions. The dough will be soft because you will pipe some of the cookies.
Prepare the baking sheets
Line several baking sheets with parchment paper.
Prepare each cookie dough
Pipe the butter cookies
Transfer one portion of the dough to a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, pipe out the cookies.
You can pipe whatever shapes you like (I like to pipe them into S-shapes) but try to be as consistent as you can in terms of shape and size.
If this is your first time piping cookies, don't worry if things go a bit wrong-you'll get better with practice, and whatever the shapes you pipe, the cookies will be delicious!
Put the baking sheet in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to allow the cookies to set up.
Make the Linzer cookie dough
In a medium bowl, combine one portion of base dough with the almond flour, all-purpose flour, and almond extract. Using a rubber spatula, mix until the dough starts to form. Switch to use your hands to finish bringing the dough together.
Put the dough between two pieces of parchment paper and, using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to about ¼ inch (6mm) thickness. Place the dough, still sandwiched in parchment paper, in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Make the gingerbread cookie dough
Follow the same method as for the Linzer cookie dough but use the gingerbread cookie dough ingredients. When you've rolled it out, place the dough, still sandwiched in parchment paper, in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Make the vanilla sugar cookie dough
Follow the same method as for the Linzer cookie dough but use the vanilla sugar cookie dough ingredients. When you've rolled it out, place the dough, still sandwiched in parchment paper, in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Make the chocolate sugar cookie dough
In a small microwave-safe bowl, warm the milk. Add the cocoa powder and stir well to make a paste. Follow the same method as for the Linzer cookie dough but use the cocoa powder/milk paste and the flour. When you've rolled it out, place the dough, still sandwiched in parchment paper, in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Prepare and bake the cookies
Preheat the oven
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
Cut out the cookies
Take a sheet of dough out of the fridge and place on a work surface. Remove the top piece of parchment paper.
Cut out the cookies using cookie cutters of your choice.
For the Linzer cookies and chocolate sugar cookies, you will need one base and one top for each cookie; into each top, cut out a small hole of your preferred shape (such as a circle, star, or heart).
Place the cookies onto prepared baking sheets. If the dough gets too soft as you're working, put it back in the fridge for 15 minutes to firm up again.
Bake the cookies
Bake each batch of cookies for 15 minutes or until lightly golden (don't let them get too dark on the tops or the bottoms). Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets.
Assemble the sandwich cookies
Assemble the Linzer cookies
Put 1 teaspoon of jam onto each Linzer cookie base. Gently press the lid on top of the jam.
Assemble the chocolate sugar cookies
Put 1 teaspoon of chocolate ganache or Nutella onto each cookie base. Gently press the lid on top of the ganache.
Create your cookie box
Assemble the cookie boxes. Arrange the cookies in the presentation boxes.
Watch the video for more tips on the technique for making the holiday cookie box
Hi! I’m Emma Fontanella. Here you’ll find trusted, tested recipes to satisfy your baking addiction and carb cravings. Learn more…
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