Want to learn what to put on a cookie tray for the holidays? Here is my guide on How To Make The Best Christmas Cookie Tray, kicking off my Cookie Tray Series.


Want to learn what to put on a cookie tray for the holidays? Here is my guide on How To Make The Best Christmas Cookie Tray, kicking off my Cookie Tray Series.

How was your Thanksgiving? Did you enjoy the biggest food day of the year? And if you’re not from the U.S., did you enjoy your weekend?

Now Thanksgiving is out of the way, time to focus on Christmas! Or if you celebrate another holiday, let’s focus on cookies.

Do other holidays even have cookie trays? Regardless, everyone loves cookies, right?

As a Pittsburgher, we love our cookie trays. So much we even have cookie tables at weddings.

It was only fitting to talk about How To Make The Best Christmas Cookie Tray where I’m sharing my top three tips for building the best cookie tray.

It’s probably ironic to talk about making the best Christmas cookie tray on a blog that focuses on small batch recipes, but hear me out.

Most cookie recipes focus on 1 dozen cookies, give or take a few.

If there’s one thing I noticed in my years of baking, it’s cookie recipes make a few dozen.

I wanted to scale them down, not only for you to make a small batch on a random Tuesday night, but also to make building a cookie tray more manageable.

Plus it’s make a great dessert after you cook your Christmas dinner for two.

Also the holidays are about seeing family and friends, so you won’t be alone eating these cookies.

And if you’re stuck with leftovers, they do freeze well.


A holiday guide to how to build the best Christmas cookie tray

Are you ready to get this cookie party started? The cookies you see in the photo starting from the top and going clockwise are:


Want to learn what to put on a cookie tray for the holidays? Here is my guide on How To Make The Best Christmas Cookie Tray, kicking off my Cookie Tray Series.

Here are my three tips for making the best Christmas cookie tray:

1. Plan ahead.

The hardest part about making a holiday cookie tray is making all of the cookies at once.

In the cookie tray I shot above, I made 5 recipes, which is roughly 5 dozen cookies total, give or take a few. I certainly couldn’t do it all in one day.

Luckily all of the dough can be made ahead of time and stored in the freezer until ready to bake.

Take a few days to make all of the dough. Once you’re ready to assemble, all you have to do is stick a few trays in the oven.

Don’t forget to give the cookies time to cool completely before serving.

2. Choose a variety of flavors.

As much as it pains me to say this, not everyone loves chocolate (gasp!). Nor does everyone love (or can even eat) peanut butter.

Try not to repeat too many flavors on the tray to help accommodate everyone. Some flavor ideas are:

3. Include a variety of shapes, colors, and textures.

In addition to flavor, you want to think about presentation.

How boring would a cookie tray be if every cookie looked the same?

That’s why I included cookie cups, cut out cookies, drop cookies, and balls served in festive paper liners.

Here are some ideas for shapes:

In addition to shape, think about color.

By default, there will be a lot of brown. Add sprinkles where they will stick, such as melted chocolate, frosting, or icing.

You can also add color to the dough, such as red velvet.

Even though this is technically called a cookie tray, you can add candy to change things up, including:



Can’t see everyone in person? Think about shipping cookies instead!

Check out my 8 tips for shipping cookies plus a recipe for Double Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies.

Got tips of your own? Want to share your family favorites? Comment below!