5 Tips To Make Holiday Baking Easier

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Tip #1: Prepare

Sure, you could grab your favorite cupcake recipe and head to the grocery store right now, but if you do that, you're going to have to do it again the next time you want to bake. And the time after that. And the time after that.

The holidays include enough shopping trips without going to the grocery store over and over and over again. Plan out all your bakes ahead of time so you can shop once and bake for the rest of the season.

Think about what you want to bake and how many people you want to bake for. Then, choose a recipe for each occasion, and make a list. It might look something like this: two dozen sugar cookies, one pecan pie, one batch of chocolate brownies, 20 holiday cakies.

Once you've chosen your recipes, you can make a list of the ingredients you need to make it all — flour, butter, eggs, cocoa powder, and so on. The beautiful thing about baking is that most of the ingredients have a long shelf life, so you can store them in your pantry all winter. Even perishable ingredients like eggs and butter last a long time in the fridge.

To become a true preparedness master, you can also take time to prepare your favorite tools. Make sure they're organized and easy to get to. If you have a favorite holiday apron or mixing bowl, get it out to get in the spirit. You can also treat yourself to some festive new tools — holiday cookie cutters or holiday edible glitter, perhaps — to prepare for the treats you're about to make.

Tip #2: Don't Be Afraid of Store Bought

It may seem blasphemous, but you don't have to bake everything you take to a holiday party this year. Grab a few grocery store items, and get your baking fix by adding your own toppings and decorations.

Try buying plain cupcakes and topping them with a homemade holiday buttercream. It's half the work of making the cupcakes and the frosting.

Or, dress up a pack of chocolate chip cookies or a tray of brownies by adding some melted chocolate, candies, and sprinkles as decoration.

Throw your own style on a store-bought good, and it becomes a one of a kind treat made by the one-and-only you.

Tip #3 Freeze

We don't mean stop moving — although, a break can be a very good idea at this time of year — we mean freeze all those baked goods you've been working so hard on.

Cookie dough is probably the best candidate for the freezer. Make your favorite holiday cookie recipe, shape your dough into little balls like you're going to bake them, but instead of sticking them in the oven, stick them in the freezer.

When you're in need of fresh cookies, the dough can go directly from the freezer to the oven — no thawing required. So, you can have fresh cookies at the drop of a santa hat. All season long, you'll be like: Surprise guests, here are some fresh cookies. In-laws, oh look, I have fresh cookies. Block party, guess what, fresh cookies.

Fully baked cakes and cupcakes also freeze well. Just remember to take them out of the freezer a few hours before you need them so they can thaw.

Tip #4: Turn Simple Treats Into Sweet Gifts

Ok, so this is really an after-baking tip, but if you're planning on giving baked goods as gifts, you can make them look extra special with a few simple tricks.

When you're prepping your seasonal baking supplies, pick up a few decorative gift boxes and some ribbon. Create a sweet presentation by displaying your baked (or store bought!) goodies on a bed of decorative sprinkles or add some edible gold leaf and glitter to the top of your treat to make it shine.

Take a Baking Tutorial

This is our favorite way to keep baking fun during the holidays. When you take a baking tutorial, you don't have to figure everything out for yourself — you can get hands-on support from an expert.

Plus, a baking tutorial allows you to carve out some me-time — sorry, friends, I'm baking tonight. Sign up for a live holiday tutorial to learn from a baking expert. You can make gorgeous hand-held treats, like shiny meringues and macarons, become a beautiful cookie decorator, pipe the prettiest buttercream, or do all of the above with a holiday baking bundle (more classes for less money!).

And if you want to do a lot of holiday baking without the brain strain, leave all the planning up to Yo.

In her FREE Holiday Baking Basics program, she'll walk you through her 16 MUST-HAVE holiday recipes with a collection of step-by-step video tutorials that you can watch at your own pace. Learn how to make holiday classics like gingerbread cake, pumpkin spice cake, eggnog buttercream, Bailey's Irishcream cheese frosting, and a dozen other recipes...plus, Yo’s got 4 bonus recipes to share. This program will set you up for the whole season. Oh, and did we mention it's free?

🎄✨ BAKE THE SEASON BRIGHT ✨🎄

As you gather your supplies and prepare yourself for a marathon of making goodies for everyone you know, remember one thing: Baking is supposed to be fun. This holiday season, let's keep it that way (and all keep our sanity).

There are lots of things you can do to take the stress out of the season. Come up with a game plan, cheat a little when you need to (those store bought brownies will look homemade by the time you're done!), and turn to the experts for all the fun holiday treats you can handle.