Looking to make Christmas cookies in a pinch? We've got you covered.
Assemble that last-minute cookie box or fill a holiday dessert tray this week using a few easy recipes that utilize pre-made dough and other store bought ingredients (like boxed cake mix) to keep things super simple in the kitchen.
Delish editorial director Jo Saltz joined "Good Morning America" on Wednesday to help offer home bakers some last-minute Christmas cookie recipes that are perfect for kids -- and Santa too.
Scroll below to check them out and make them at home this holiday season.
Ingredients
1 tube sugar cookie dough
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons heavy cream
Green food coloring
1/2 teaspoon salt
Christmas nonpareils
Yellow mini M&M's or sprinkle stars
Directions
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350 F and line a medium cookie sheet with parchment paper. Make balls 1, 2, and 3 teaspoons large. Place on baking sheet and bake 5 minutes, remove smallest cookies and bake 3-4 minutes more. Remove from oven and let cool on a cooking rack.
Step 2
In a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat butter until fluffy. Add powdered sugar and beat until combined, then add vanilla, heavy cream, food coloring, and salt, and beat until combined. Add more food coloring until desired color is reached. Transfer to a piping bag with a medium star tip.
Step 3
Onto the largest cookie, pipe a circle of frosting. Top with the medium cookie, pipe another circle of frosting, and top with the smallest cookie. Pipe a point on the smallest cookie. Decorate with sprinkles and top with a sprinkle star or a small yellow M&M's candy. Serve.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
All-purpose flour, for dusting
14-ounce refrigerated pie dough (for 2 crusts)
1/2 cup (85 grams) white chocolate chips
1/2 cup Nutella
12 silver sugar pearls
1 large egg
Powdered sugar, for dusting
Directions
Step 1
In a small bowl, whisk granulated sugar and cinnamon. On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 pie dough to an 11-inch round. Cut into an 8-inch square, then cut into 4 equal squares. Repeat with remaining dough. Re-roll scraps to an 8-inch square and cut out 4 more squares for a total of 12.
Step 2
In a small heatproof bowl, microwave white chocolate chips in 20-second increments, stirring between each, until melted and smooth, about 1 minute total.
Step 3
Rotate squares so a corner points toward you. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Fill center with 1 heaping teaspoon Nutella. Fold right and left corners toward the center, then fold bottom corner up to form an envelope. Lightly press to seal. Dab melted chocolate in center of bottom fold. Gently press a pearl into chocolate to adhere. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate until cold, about 30 minutes.
Step 4
Arrange a rack in center of oven; preheat to 375 F. In a small bowl, whisk egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush cookies with egg wash.
Step 5
Bake cookies until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
Let cool 10 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to
a wire rack and let cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar.
Recipe tips
For the crust:
I used premade pie crust to help cut down on the prep time, but if you want to make your own, try our pie dough recipe. Once the crust is cut up, all that's left to do is fill and assemble -- it's that easy! If you've got kiddos around, make them honorary elves and get them in on the action. They can sprinkle the cinnamon sugar, punch out the little shapes, or fill them up.
Before working with the pie crust, let it sit out at room temperature for at least 10 minutes so it's easier to work with.
The leftovers:
I like to use the leftover dough to make even more holiday treats, and the easiest way to dough that is with fun cookie cutters. Look for festive holiday shapes, like Christmas trees, snowflakes, little gingerbread men, or bows, that are about 1 inch in size. If you don't have mini cookie cutters and don't want to buy some, you can make your own stencil or cut them out freehand.
Storage:
The treats can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Ingredients
1 box (15.25 ounces) devil's food cake mix
2 large eggs
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
2/3 cup (75 grams) finely chopped white chocolate or white chocolate peppermint bark (from about 2 1/2 ounces)
Cooking spray
8-ounce bag crushed peppermints
Directions
Step 1
In a large bowl, whisk cake mix, eggs, butter, and oil until just combined. (The dough will be quite thick and start to stick to the whisk.) Switch to a spatula and mix until a smooth dough forms. Fold in chocolate. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set, 5 to 10 minutes.
Step 2
Arrange a rack in center of oven; preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment, then grease parchment with cooking spray. Using a 3/4-ounce scoop, scoop dough into golf ball-sized balls.
Step 3
Pour crushed candies onto a plate. Roll tops of balls in candies. If baking immediately, transfer dough to prepared sheets, or store in an airtight container and refrigerate up to 4 days.
Step 4
Gently press down on tops of balls with the palm of your hand to slightly flatten. Bake cookies 3 minutes. Remove pans and bang against a solid surface (such as the stove or a wooden cutting board) about 6 times. This will help the cookies spread and take on the desired texture. Continue to bake until no longer glossy on top but soft and moist inside, about 3 minutes more.
Step 5
Let cool on baking sheets 5 to 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
Ingredients
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
17.6-ounce package Reese's Minis
1 family-size package M&M's, red candies only
2.9-ounce bottle small candy eyes
28 mini salted pretzels
3 green Airheads
3 red Airheads
3 white Airheads
Directions
Step 1
In a small heatproof bowl, microwave chocolate chips in 10-second increments, stirring between each, until melted and smooth, about 30 seconds total.
Step 2
Unwrap Reese's and remove from paper cups. Arrange half of candy (28 pieces) large sides down on a clean work surface; reserve remaining candies.
Step 3
Using a small amount of melted chocolate, attach a red M&M to the center of the small, flat sides of each peanut butter cup, pressing for a few seconds to adhere. Let set a few minutes. Using a small amount of chocolate, attach 2 eyes to ridged edge of cups. Using a small amount of chocolate, attach a pretzel to the top larger smooth side of each cup. Arrange pretzel-side down on a baking sheet and refrigerate until set, about 10 minutes.
Step 4
Meanwhile, using a rolling pin, flatten Airheads to a thin, even sheet. Using a paring knife, cut out 4-inch-long scarves.
Step 5
Arrange reserved peanut butter cups large sides down on a clean work surface. Using a small amount of melted chocolate, attach faces to smaller flat sides of each cup. Refrigerate to set, about 10 minutes.
Step 6
Gently wrap candy scarves around necks and attach with a small dab of chocolate.
Recipe tips
Assembling the bites:
I suggest keeping your Reese's in the fridge or freezer before assembling so that they're easier to work with. I also recommend building the faces before attaching the heads to the bodies, which gives the eyes and noses a chance to adhere before they need to be turned upright.
Serving the bites:
The recipe I've provided makes 28 reindeer, but you can easily scale this recipe up or down to make as many or as few as you'd like. They'll look adorable adorning your holiday table this year, and I bet they won't last long, either.
Ingredients
2 3/4 cups (330 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
5 drops (or more) red food coloring
Directions
Step 1
In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt.
Step 2
In another large bowl, using a handheld mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add egg and peppermint extract and beat to combine. Add dry ingredients and beat on medium-low speed until incorporated.
Step 3
Remove half of dough from bowl, form into a disk, and wrap with plastic wrap. Add red food coloring to remaining dough and beat to combine, add more food coloring if needed to reach desired color. Form red dough into another disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate both doughs until firm, at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.
Step 4
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. On a work surface, divide each disk into 18 pieces (about 2 tablespoon each). Roll each piece into a 6-inch-long rope. Take one red and one white rope and twist them together, bending the top into a hook to form a candy cane shape. Transfer to one of the prepared sheets. Repeat with remaining dough. Freeze until chilled, at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days.
Step 5
Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake cookies until just set and edges are lightly golden, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool.
Recipe tips
Choose your butter accordingly: While unsalted butter does already give you more control over your finished product, to really achieve the red and white look, it's the small things that count. A lighter colored butter will result in a slightly lighter dough, while a more yellow butter will deepen the color a tad.
Storage: These are great to make ahead of time. The dough can be up to 3 days in advance, wrapped tightly in the refrigerator. Baked cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days as well.
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