Everything You Need to Bake Holiday Cookies, According to Professional Bakers

KitchenAid undisputedly makes the best stand mixers. Though the brand has various models, the Artisan Tilt-Head is the most popular version for home bakers, recommended by several people. I’ve been using mine for nearly a decade. The motor is powerful, and the settings allow for great control, whether you need to whip eggs and sugar into a light and fluffy mixture, or you want to add flour delicately as the whisk spins. Writer and chef Rachel Gurjar says the five-quart size is perfect. It can mix a single cookie recipe well but also holds enough to double. Pro baker and cookbook author Samantha Seneviratne notes that though it’s heavy, that’s actually a plus: It stays firmly planted on the counter even when mixing tougher doughs.

Nordic Ware’s sheet pans are our favorite for all types of baking (and cooking, too). Because they’re fully aluminum, you should place a silicone mat or parchment paper down before baking cookies to ensure they don’t stick (recommendations for those are below). But the material means they cook evenly and last for decades (generally longer than their nonstick counterparts). Chef and television host Elena Besser says they’re the “closest brand to the industrial baking sheets” she used in professional kitchens, and cookbook author and recipe developer Claire Saffitz says “they can really take a beating.”

If you do want a nonstick sheet pan, no option is better for baking than this OXO one, recommended by Tomlan. She says the textured bottom is ideal for baked goods because it improves airflow and “the light color of the sheet pan helps slowly transfer heat so the bottoms of your pastries don’t get too brown.” I have this pan and love it, too.

Once you take cookies out of the oven, they continue to bake on a baking sheet. This is helpful for the first few minutes, as they become a bit sturdier — but then you want to transfer them to cool completely, from the top and bottom, on a cooling rack. This one from Nordic Ware is sturdy and easy to clean.

Silpats are “thin baking mats that create a heatproof, nonstick silicone surface on any baking sheet,” says Schiff. “They are super-easy to clean and reusable, which cuts down on waste in a big way.” They’ll also make your pans last longer, since, as Schiff explains, most surfaces wear away over time. Gurjar says this Silpat from Williams Sonoma has been one of the best investments she made in the kitchen. “It’s reusable, nonstick, and bakes perfect cookies every time because of how evenly it distributes the heat.” Plus it saves you from having to scrub your baking sheets.

Spungen told us she prefers these pastry mats because “they’re thinner than the typical Silpats, and they stick to the counter in a way that makes it really easy to roll a tricky dough right on the mat without it sliding around.”

If you’d rather not invest in a mat, precut parchment paper, sized to fit a half-sheet pan perfectly, will be your best friend. You don’t have to worry about the paper curling underneath and not lying flat, and they make cleanup a breeze. Tomlan, and recipe developer and cookbook author Julia Turshen, are both big fans. An added bonus: Parchment paper can also be used to separate layers of cookies if you’re taking them to go in a storage container; just cut them down to the right size.

Sever says a bench scraper will make baking “delightful and easy.” Among its myriad uses in the kitchen, she says, “it’s ideal for lifting and moving doughs while rolling to prevent sticking, transferring chopped chocolate and nuts to your mixing bowl, cutting dough logs into neat portions, and cleaning off a work surface with ease.”

Schiff calls this scraper “the unsung hero,” of every dough she makes. She always has one in her apron pocket. Along with doing all the tasks Sever mentions above, “They’re so useful for getting the last bits of dough gathered up out of the bowl and into a ball,” she says. “Due to the stiff material, they’re much more effective than a standard, handled spatula.”

Gurjar and Saffitz both say an offset spatula is a must-have tool in the kitchen, especially for baking. You can use it to transfer raw cutout dough shapes to your baking sheet or warm cookies to a cooling rack, and to spread and clean icing to make your final product. Saffitz notes that not all offsets are created equal, though. “Don’t buy one that is tapered,” she says. “They’re not as stable.”

“If I were a sports person, I would compare having the right rolling pin to having the right golf club or baseball bat for your body’s movement,” Sever says. “I’ve tried every type of rolling pin and met my match with a solid maple rolling dowel, like the 19-inch one from JK Adams,” which she says gives her good control of her doughs. It’s also “gorgeous and takes on the most beautiful patina over time — the kind of thing you’ll want to pass down as an heirloom.” Saffitz agrees, saying that a non-tapered pin like this gives you more control.

Spungen prefers a rolling pin with spacers. While the original one she recommended is no longer available, this similar model fits the bill. It has five sets of removable discs that will raise your rolling surface so you can achieve the exact thickness you need each time you roll out your dough. While she used to think these were for less experienced bakers, she’s now a convert. When rolling shortbread or sugar cookies, “you won’t have any unevenness that leads to burnt spots, and all your cookies will bake at the same rate,” she says.

If you already have a beloved rolling pin, you can buy spacers separately.

Saffitz likes to keep things simple with round, fluted cutters. “I don’t make a ton of shaped cookies,” she says. “The more elaborate the details are, with super-skinny pieces and lots of corners, the harder it is to get everything baked evenly. These are still really cute, and easy to punch out.”

Cookbook author and recipe developer Susan Spungen also likes the round fluted shape, but prefers the plastic version, which she says “will last a lifetime, along with being easier to clean and care for than metal ones, which can rust and bend.”

If you want to get into more intricate design, Molly Yeh, cookbook author and host of Food Network’s Girl Meets Farm, loves these tiny cookie cutters, which she uses for marzipan cutout decorations, itsy-bitsy linzers, and homemade cookie cereal. The stainless steel set is “durable and sharp so they help achieve a super polished look,” she says.

Any pro will tell you that baking by weight with a kitchen scale instead of by volume with measuring cups will lead to better, more consistent results. It also means way fewer dishes. The Escali is cheap and simple to use, with a clear display that reads ounces, grams, or pounds. It’s reliable (I’ve had mine for nearly ten years, and it still works perfectly) and consistent, and is the preferred scale of most recipe developers I’ve talked to over the years.

If you insist on measuring cups (or if you want to be prepared for a recipe that might not list in weight), the best brand is Sur La Table. “They’re heavy gauge and single cast,” says Chris McAdams, a chef who works in product research and development. Another bonus: The handles are flush with the rim so you can easily level with a bench scraper.

We have many recommendations for solid measuring spoons, but these are my personal favorite. They’re well made, sturdy, and hold up in the dishwasher, and the ovular shape fits into small spice jars.

Professional baker, cookbook author, and all-around cookie legend Dorie Greenspan uses cookie scoops for everything from chocolate chip cookies to meringue snowballs. “I love the grip and the spring action,” she says. Sever and Saffitz are fans, too. Saffitz notes that while you don’t need this tool, it makes for quick and efficient portioning and ensures that all your cookies will be perfectly even in both baking time and looks. You can find cookie scoops in multiple sizes, but if you’re buying your first, a safe bet is one that holds around 1.5 tablespoons of dough, which will work for most cookies.

A steel shaker is another bonus item: It disperses a light-handed, even layer of flour on the counter to make the process of rolling out dough more seamless. Without it, you risk adding too little flour (the dough will stick) or too much (it will become caked in excess flour).

For next-level design (or if you’re doing a fun project with kids), Saffitz recommends this piping-tip decorating set, which she says has “everything you need and nothing you don’t.” It comes with six different tips, one pastry bag, and one coupler, which you secure between the bag and the tip. “My biggest problem with icing cookies is how messy it gets,” says Saffitz. “But the coupler allows you to change tips without emptying the whole bag.”