The Type Of Christmas Cookie You Should Bring To The Swap This Year, Based On Your Birth Month
Choosing a cookie for the Christmas swap is partly about what you want to eat and partly about who you become when someone says, “Bring a few dozen.” Do you pull out the family recipe, start experimenting, or suddenly develop strong opinions about ribbon? Let your birth month pick what goes in the tin.
January: Shortbread
January, bring the shortbread. You appreciate something simple done well, and you’re willing to let a buttery little rectangle make its own case. There will be plenty of frosting on the table. Your contribution can have clean edges, a tender crumble, and absolutely no face drawn on it. You set down the tin without much ceremony, then notice people returning to it between more elaborate selections. By the end of the swap, someone is tipping it sideways to collect the crumbs.
February: Orange-Cardamom Cookies
You’re the person who reads a flavor combination and immediately wants to know what it tastes like. Orange-cardamom cookies give that curiosity somewhere festive to go: bright citrus, fragrant spice, a little departure from the expected. February, you don’t need everyone to declare them their new favorite. You’re delighted when someone pauses mid-bite and asks what’s in them. Now you get to talk about the ingredient that sent you down the baking aisle in the first place.
March: Snowball Cookies
A plate of powdered-sugar snowballs looks like something you would leave out for a visitor in a winter fairy tale. Naturally, March, you’re interested. You can already picture the little white mounds against a dark plate, with a few evergreen sprigs nearby.
Then someone takes a bite and gets sugar down their sweater. You get it on yours, too. The cookies suit your fondness for a lovely little moment, including the part where everyone starts laughing and asks where the napkins are.
April: Gingerbread People
Your gingerbread people should have expressions, April. One looks alarmed. One has an extravagant bow tie. Two appear to be arguing. You’re happiest when a project gives you room to play, and a tray of blank gingerbread faces is an invitation. The decorating may start with a sensible plan, but someone suggests eyebrows and suddenly you have a cast of characters. At the swap, you get to watch people choose a cookie based on who looks most likely to cause trouble.
May: Chocolate-Dipped Butter Cookies
May, you have opinions about the chocolate-to-cookie ratio, and this is your moment. A butter cookie dipped partway in chocolate lets you enjoy both, with a plain edge to hold while you take a bite. That’s the kind of detail you appreciate. You might spend longer choosing the chocolate than choosing the serving plate. At the swap, you try one from your own tray before making the rounds. Someone has to confirm that the chocolate-to-cookie ratio is correct.
June: Pinwheel Cookies
Red-and-white pinwheels have the cheerful, slightly dizzy energy of you working your way around a party, June. You came in with one person, stopped to talk to another, and somehow joined a conversation happening across the room. The swirls suit you. So does a cookie that gives people something to comment on before they’ve even introduced themselves. By the time someone asks how you made them, you’ve found out who they came with and whether they’re staying for dinner.
July: Jam Thumbprints
July, you remember everyone’s favorite, so choosing just one jam could be the hardest part. Raspberry for you, apricot for someone who asks about it every year, and a few strawberry ones because you know those will go first. Thumbprints suit your thoughtful streak—and your belief that there should be something on the plate for everyone.
You’ll probably arrive with the flavors arranged in separate rows. By the time you leave, someone will have requested their own batch next Christmas.
August: Iced Sugar-Cookie Stars
You saw the star-shaped cutter and immediately had a vision, August. Icing, sparkling sugar, a platter large enough to give everything its proper space. You enjoy making an occasion look like an occasion. Christmas gives you an excellent reason to follow through. Bring the decorated stars and enjoy the moment someone stops talking to admire them. You spent actual time on those little points. Naturally, you took a picture before anyone could eat the evidence.
September: Spritz Cookies
September, there is something deeply satisfying about a cookie press turning dough into rows of little trees. Once you find your rhythm, you want to keep going. The tray fills, another tray comes out, and you begin calculating how many will fit in each box. Spritz cookies suit your pleasure in a process that works. At the swap, someone asks how you got them all so even. You were hoping someone would ask. There’s a trick to it, and you’re happy to explain.
October: Cranberry-Orange Cookies
You can love chocolate and still notice when a table has six kinds of it. October, bring cranberry-orange cookies for the person who wants something bright and a little tart between richer bites. You enjoy thinking about how your contribution fits with everyone else’s. There’s pleasure in finding the thing an assortment could use. When someone says, “Oh, I’m glad somebody brought these,” you’ll know exactly what they mean. You were hoping for that option, too.
November: Chocolate Crinkles
The powdered-sugar outside gives these cookies a snowy holiday look. Inside, it’s all chocolate. November, that suits your willingness to be festive without abandoning your own strong preferences. You can admire the tiny iced mittens and still want the richest bite on the table. Bring chocolate crinkles, choose a version with a soft center, and keep a couple at home for later. You already know what you’ll want when the party is over and the kettle is on.
December: Christmas Kitchen-Sink Cookies
Chocolate chips, pretzel pieces, red-and-green candies: December, you keep thinking of one more good thing to add. Kitchen-sink cookies fit the way you approach a celebration. You hear that another person is coming and start pulling up a chair before anyone has finished asking. A crowded cookie makes perfect sense to you. Bring a batch with plenty going on, and enjoy watching someone turn theirs around to decide where to take the first bite. They were aiming for the chocolate. Then they spotted the pretzel.