Margaret Chen · January 22, 2026
The first batch of royal icing cookies I ever made looked like something a toddler had decorated during an earthquake. I had spent three hours cutting out perfect little snowflake shapes, only to watch my icing slide right off the edges, pool into sad little puddles, and dry with giant air bubbles cracking across the … Read more
Margaret Chen · January 20, 2026
I almost ruined Christmas with a funnel and a bag of brown sugar. That’s the short version. The long version involves my kitchen floor, a very judgmental cat, and the moment I accidentally invented what is now my most-requested holiday gift: a cookie mix in a jar gift that costs about five dollars to make … Read more
Margaret Chen · January 19, 2026
Quick pairing picks I actually use: I still remember standing in my kitchen at 11 p.m. on a Thursday, covered in powdered sugar, with a sink full of dirty bowls and approximately zero functioning brain cells left — all because I had promised my mother-in-law, Diane, that I would bring “something homemade” to Easter dinner. … Read more
Margaret Chen · January 17, 2026
I want to tell you about the year I confidently committed to making thirty — yes, thirty — cookie gift baskets homemade from scratch, announced it to my entire extended family in a group chat, and then completely forgot that December also contains things like school concerts, work deadlines, and the basic human need for … Read more
Margaret Chen · January 15, 2026
Let me tell you about the Great Cookie Catastrophe of last December, which is what my sister now refers to as “the incident.” I shipped my college roommate a box of gorgeous, perfectly iced sugar cookies — little snowflakes, mittens, the whole festive lineup. She called to ask if I had intentionally sent her a … Read more
Margaret Chen · January 14, 2026
I almost didn’t give them away. It was the night before my mother-in-law’s retirement party, and I had spent an entire Saturday baking four dozen brown butter chocolate chip cookies — the kind with sea salt flakes on top and crispy edges and a center that stays soft for days. I had flour in my … Read more
Margaret Chen · January 12, 2026
It was a Tuesday in November, the rain was coming down sideways, and my seven-year-old had already asked me “what can we do?” approximately forty-seven times before 10 a.m. So I did what any reasonable cookie-obsessed parent would do — I handed him an apron and said, “We’re making thumbprint cookies.” What followed was one … Read more
Margaret Chen · January 11, 2026
I want to tell you about the Saturday morning I accidentally dyed four children’s hands completely purple and somehow ended up with the best tradition our family has ever started. That was eight months ago, and our kids cookie club baking sessions have been going strong every single weekend since. I had absolutely no idea … Read more
Margaret Chen · January 9, 2026
I almost cancelled the whole thing the night before. It was 10 p.m., I had a double batch of sugar cookie dough chilling in the fridge, and I had just discovered — in absolute horror — that I’d forgotten to buy any powdered sugar. Zero. None. For the royal icing. For a cookie decorating party … Read more
Margaret Chen · January 8, 2026
The day my six-year-old decided she was going to bake cookies “all by herself, Mom, stop helping” was the day I learned that a full cup of salt looks almost identical to a full cup of sugar when you’re in a hurry and your measuring cups are buried under a pile of sprinkles. The resulting … Read more
