Bake from Scratch Holiday Cookies 2026

Make room in the cookie tin. This year’s Holiday Cookies issue is filled with recipes meant to be baked, gifted, traded, and enjoyed together: fresh takes on familiar favorites, beautiful bakes made for giving, cookies rooted in traditions from around the world, decadent bars, spirited treats for cocktail hour, and even a few that make a convincing case for cookies at breakfast. Editor-in-Chief Brian Hart Hoffman celebrates the way baking brings people together, from a tin left on a neighbor’s doorstep to an afternoon swapping cookies and stories around the kitchen table. He also settles the great holiday debate of whether a madeleine is a cookie or a cake, and shares a sneak peek from his upcoming book, A Moment for Madeleines, with his Red Velvet Madeleines. With something for every kind of baker and every kind of holiday celebration, it’s time to preheat your ovens.