East Coast baker offers some tips for making delicious holiday cookies

Baker Emma Donahue believes traditional Christmas cookies are a must-have every holiday season.

The owner of Baked with Love in Sydney, N.S., Donahue says shortbread, gingerbread, sugar, and butter cookies are essentials because they are delicious and can be cut out into Christmas-themed shapes.

They also can be made ahead of time and frozen, either baked and decorated or as raw dough.

"Then you can bake them later and your kitchen smells good when you do," said Donahue, whose business operates out of the Cape Breton Farmers' Market.

If freezing the dough, Donahue recommends defrosting it at room temperature for about an hour before baking the cookies.

For Donahue, the best thing about making Christmas cookies is decorating them, and she encourages people to think outside of the box when it comes to how to do it.

"It's so much fun and there are so many different ways to do it," said Donahue. "You could use white sugar for snow on top of the icing, you can crush up candy canes and sprinkle that on top. You can even dip them in melted chocolate."

She recommends using a buttercream icing, which stays soft, or a royal icing, which is boiled and hardens after drying, or even a combination of both.

Looking for something a little different to add to the holiday baking list? Donahue suggests crinkle cookies, a popular Philipino treat, which can be made in different flavours like lemon, chocolate, and peppermint.

Unlike shortbread, gingerbread, sugar, and butter cookies, crinkles can't be cut into shapes but they can be decorated with sugar and sprinkles or even dipped in chocolate.

For traditional gingerbread, shortbread, sugar or butter cookie recipes, Donahue had these tips:

For baking

1. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper
2. Use room temperature eggs in recipes when required
3. Bake by eye, not by time, as some ovens are hotter
4. If the edges are slightly browned, the cookies are done
5. Find your favourite recipe, then change it up with different flavours and decorations

Tips for frosting

1. Buy different sized piping tips for different sizes of lines or designs
2. Work in layers, starting with the base, then adding details
3. Use room temperature icing shortly after being made
4. Cool cookies completely before frosting
5. Use your imagination for decorating ideas, like using crushed candy canes
6. Dipping cookies in melted chocolate can replace icing

Tips for freezing

1. Cookies can be frozen decorated or not
2. Freeze cookies on a cookie sheet, not touching
3. Freeze for 1-2 hours
4. Store in an airtight container with parchment paper separating layers
5. Defrost by removing from the container at room temperature for 2-3 hours

Classic shortbread recipe

• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cup white flour
• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch

Cream butter, then add dry ingredients. Roll out and cut.

For softer, fluffier cookies, Donahue recommends creaming the butter and sugar then whipping it with a mixer for five to 10 minutes before adding the remaining ingredients.

Cook at a lower temperature, between 300-350 degrees Fahrenheit. Watch the first batch to judge the time needed to bake - when the edges start to brown, the cookies are done.

Buttercream frosting

• 1 cup butter
• 3 cups icing sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla

Whip vanilla and butter, then gradually add icing sugar first, then milk. When all combined and smooth, with no lumps, use it to decorate your cookies.

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