Entertaining Holiday Planning Bake It Forward With Allrecipes Know someone who deserves a sweet pick-me-up this season? Whip up an extra batch of cookies with us. By Mary Claire Lagroue Mary Claire Lagroue Mary Claire Lagroue works as an associate commerce editor at Food & Wine. A former associate editor at Allrecipes, she joined Dotdash Meredith in 2019. She has written about food since 2017, and her work can be found in Cooking Light, Southern Living, and more. Allrecipes' editorial guidelines and Bailey Fink Bailey Fink Instagram Twitter Website Bailey Fink is a devout home cook and assistant editor at Allrecipes. She has written over 200 stories covering everything from cooking methods and storage techniques to grocery shopping on a budget, how-to guides, product reviews, and important food-related news. Allrecipes' editorial guidelines Updated on December 3, 2021 Share Tweet Pin Email A dusting of snow-white flour on the kitchen counter, the glisten of sprinkles, the gleam of cookie cutters that curve to form gingerbread men, the perfume of melted butter — these sights and smells announce the most wonderful time of the year. It's cookie season. What makes baking cookies such a special holiday tradition? Perhaps it's because we don't just bake for ourselves. We bake for others. And it doesn't matter whether your tradition centers on quadrupling a recipe for a cookie exchange, baking a batch a week for your family, or simply sending Santa off full on Christmas Eve. Baking taps into the holiday spirit of giving. In the same spirit, Allrecipes invites you to join us in a new tradition, Bake It Forward. Find out how to participate below, along with everything you need to give homemade cookies, from free downloadable cookie exchange invitations to festive cookie packaging. Before you get cracking (the eggs can wait), learn how celebrity chefs and Allrecipes home cooks bake cookies for the holidays and snag their favorite recipes. Chocolate-Dipped Palmiers (Orejas con Chocolate) Carrot-Pistachio Cookies Anne's Basic Sugar Cookies Cranberry-Ginger Linzer Torte Cookies How to #BakeItForwardWithAllrecipes Join the Allrecipes community in baking an extra batch of cookies (or more!) to share with friends, neighbors, essential workers, charities, or anyone who could use a treat. This can mean surprising them with cookies at their doorstep, but just as special would be mailing a batch to someone who's moved or gathering a group for a cookie exchange so that no one will leave empty-handed. We want to know how you bake for others! Share a photo of your cookies with @Allrecipes on Instagram using the hashtag #BakeItForwardWithAllrecipes, and follow along for recipe inspiration, a Q&A with our resident baker, and more. Our Top 20 Most Cherished Christmas Cookies 25 Christmas Cookies Just Like Grandma Used to Make 5 Special Cookies From Around the World Shared by Allrecipes Home Cooks 18 Vintage Christmas Cookies That Are Truly Timeless Visuals Editor: Lindsey Hayes Art Director: Tyrel Stendahl Designer: Emily Lundin Contributors: Ashley Berger, Chadwick Boyd, Anne Byrn, Martie Duncan, Duff Goldman, Pati Jinchi, Vicki Lanzendorf, Uzo Orimalade, Zac Posen, Aarti Sequeira, and Kim Shupe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit