Whether you’re making sugar or snickerdoodles, there are plenty of ways to whip up a crave-worthy batch of holiday cookies. Here are some baking tips to keep in mind:

1. Chill your cookie dough first. Colder dough thickens and results in more consistent cookies.
2. Use room-temperature butter, not cold butter. Cold butter causes cookies to spread out even more than they would with room-temperature butter.
3. Don’t overfill your oven! Baking one batch at a time will help prevent burning on the edges of your cookies. One-batch baking also keeps cookies from spreading out too much or burning on the bottom.
4. Make sure your baking sheets are well-greased with vegetable shortening before putting any dough on them. This helps prevent your cookies from sticking and makes clean-up easier after baking.

Yes. In fact, we encourage making an extra batch to freeze, so you have some cookies to enjoy now and some for later! Baked cookies last up to two months in the freezer. Allow them to cool to room temperature, then wrap them individually in plastic and drop them in a resealable bag. Don't forget to label and date them!

So, you’ve gathered your sprinkles, flour, sugar and butter. Now what? It’s time to round up some baking tools! Here’s what we suggest.

• Cookie Scoops: You can use a spoon to scoop out your cookies, but it's much simpler to use a cookie scoop. It's also easier to get uniform-sized cookies this way. You can buy silicone or metal cookie scoops, and you'll want one in two sizes: one for mini cookies and one for standard-sized cookies. It's worth investing in a good quality metal cookie scoop; they're more durable than silicone ones and tend to last longer.

• Rolling Pin: A rolling pin is another kitchen tool that will make your life easier when you're making cookies. It's the best way to roll out your dough evenly, so your cookies will all be the same size and thickness when they come out of the oven — no more unevenly sized cookies!

• Baking Sheets: Baking sheets are essential for baking anything that requires even heating (like cookies). They let heat circulate freely throughout the entire pan, so all your cookies will bake at the same rate and don't burn on the bottom before their tops are done baking.

• Silicone Baking Mat: These are perfect for cookies because they don't absorb any moisture or flavor from what you're baking on top of them. Plus, they're nonstick!

• Measuring Cups and Spoons: If you want to bake like a pro, having a set of measuring cups and spoons is essential. You can buy them in all sorts of sizes, but it's best to have at least 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons), 1/3 cup (5 tablespoons), 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons), 1 cup (16 tablespoons) and 2 cup measures.

• Mixing Bowls: Make sure you have several mixing bowls in different sizes — from large to small — to create some of your favorite recipes. You'll need at least three: one small bowl for whipping air into egg whites for meringues, one medium bowl for creaming butter and sugar together, and one large bowl for making cookie dough. 

There are so many fun and delicious ways to decorate holiday cookies, but here are a few tips and techniques to try.

• Ice Your Cookies: You can use a variety of icing and decorating techniques, including flooding, piping or outlining with icing and flooding with buttercream, then piping details.

• Spread Frosting on Iced Cookies: This technique is often used on gingerbread men or other cookie shapes with flat surfaces.

• Color Your Frosting with Food Coloring: If you use liquid food coloring, make sure it’s gel-based so it won’t dilute the icing too much.

• Dip Your Cookie in Melted Chocolate: This works best for larger cookies like gingerbread men or snowflakes.

• Glaze Your Cookies: Glazing involves brushing melted butter over the top of your baked cookies before they've cooled completely so that they have a shiny finish with some shine from the butter.

When in doubt, always add sprinkles!

If you can resist eating them all at once, follow these tips to keep your cookies fresh for longer.

• Keep cookies in an airtight container. Cookies are especially prone to humidity, so store them in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator. If your cookies contain eggs and/or dairy, they'll last longer in the fridge than on the countertop.

• Store cookies in a single layer to maintain crispness. If you stack cookies on top of each other, condensation will form between them and cause sogginess.

• Need to layer? Use waxed paper or parchment paper in between. This will help prevent condensation from forming between layers of cookies and prevent their bottoms from getting soggy. It also makes it easier for you to separate them later without breaking them apart. Quick tip: Make sure cookies reach room temperature before using wax paper, as wax paper has a lower melting point. 

If you're shipping cookies, brownies and other baked goods for the holidays, here are some tips to keep them in tip-top shape.

1. Pack them in an airtight container or bag.
2. Wrap the container or bag in bubble wrap and place it inside a larger box.
3. Add packing peanuts or crumpled newspaper around the items inside of the box, and seal with tape.
4. Place a label on top of the box that says, "This Side Up" and "Fragile."