I Need the Perfect Holiday Cookie

ON THIS WEEK’S episode of Dinner SOS, food director and host Chris Morocco is joined by associate food editors Rachel Gurjar and Kendra Vaculin and test kitchen coordinator Inés Anguiano to chat through their favorite holiday cookies.

For this year’s holiday issue, each member of the test kitchen developed recipes for a cookie swap, from Buttery Jam Diagonals to Tiramisu Snowballs. But for the purpose of this episode, Chris, Rachel, Kendra, and Inés each had to defend another person’s cookie—in other words, a cookie swap swap. Inés chose Rachel’s Chile-Cheese Shortbread for its complex savoriness (yes, there’s sharp cheddar and Aleppo-style pepper in this salty-sweet cookie) and ease.

Rachel went in a sweeter direction with Kendra’s Matcha Swirl Spritz Cookie, one that oozes holiday with its Grinch-green marbled color and relies on a cookie press to produce its distinctive shape (if you don’t have a press, you can still make them!). Kendra chose Baklava Cookies from Inés, which might look like a sugar cookie but are filled with a chewy, almost-molten, spiced pistachio and honey center. Chris’s pick? Jesse Szewczyk’s S’mores Crème Pies, the perfect campfire-inspired treat reimagined here as a sandwich cookie.

Listen now to hear our hosts offer tips on baking gift-worthy cookies—-including the best way to freeze dough to prep ahead, creative ways to decorate (think food coloring and sanding sugars), and an Anything Goes Biscotti recipe that allows for lots of add-ins.