A Christmas cookie board works best with five or six kinds of cookie that look different from one another, laid out in short rows and small piles rather than one big heap. Put the largest cookies down first as anchors, fill the spaces around them by color and shape, and finish with something small, like candied nuts or a few pieces of fudge, to close the gaps. Build it within the hour before guests arrive, and the board looks generous and stays fresh.
A plate of cookies is a gift. A cookie board is a centerpiece that happens to be dessert. The difference is mostly arrangement, and the arrangement follows a few simple rules.
Choose cookies that look different
Variety on a cookie board is visual first. Six cookies that are all round and golden read as one cookie, however different the recipes. Aim for a spread across four things:
- Shape. Round drop cookies, cut-out stars or trees, squares and bars, and something long, like biscotti or rolled wafers.
- Color. Pale shortbread and sugar cookies, dark gingerbread or chocolate crinkles, and one bright note: red jam in a thumbprint, green sprinkles, a candy cane stripe.
- Texture. Something crisp, something soft and chewy, something that crumbles.
- Size. A few larger cookies to anchor the board, many medium ones, and a handful of bites.
Five or six kinds is enough for a board this size. More than that and each kind gets only two or three pieces, which reads as leftovers rather than a selection. If you are collecting cookies from friends, a swap is the easiest source; how to host a cookie exchange covers how to organize one so you do not end up with six plates of the same recipe.
Prepare the board
Start with a clean, dry board that smells of nothing. Butter cookies pick up the ghost of last night’s garlic faster than you would expect, so wash the board with hot soapy water the day before, dry it on its edge, and give it a sniff before anything goes on it.
If some cookies are sticky, glazed or dusted with powdered sugar, cut a few pieces of parchment to sit under them. Parchment also keeps a soft cookie from leaving a greasy mark on the wood. For dry, crisp cookies, the bare board looks better.
Set the anchors first
Every good board has a structure, even when it looks casual. Build it in this order:
- Anchors. Place the largest or most decorated cookies first: iced cut-outs, a stack of shortbread wedges, a row of biscotti. Put them in two or three spots, not in the center and not in a straight line. A loose triangle works well.
- Rows and fans. Lay the medium cookies in short overlapping rows, each one leaning on the next like fallen dominoes. Rows can curve along the edge of the board or run diagonally across it. A row shows the shape of each cookie; a pile hides it.
- Small stacks. Sandwich cookies and thick bars look best in stacks of three or four. Stacks add height, which keeps the board from looking flat.
- Fillers. Close the gaps with small things: squares of fudge, pieces of bark, candied pecans, a few clementine segments. Fillers make the board look full without adding more cookies.
Put dark cookies next to pale ones and alternate shapes as you go. Two kinds of gingerbread side by side blur together; gingerbread beside powdered-sugar snowballs makes both stand out.
If you are cutting bars or candy for the board, cut them small, about an inch, so they sit neatly among the cookies. How to cut brownies and bars and how to cut fudge and toffee have the method for clean edges.
Keep crisp and soft cookies apart
Texture changes on a crowded board. King Arthur Baking’s advice on cookie storage is never to store crispy and chewy cookies together, because moisture moves from the chewy cookies into the crisp ones: the crisp cookies soften and lose their snap, and the chewy ones dry out. It also recommends keeping strongly flavored cookies apart so their flavors do not mix.
The same applies, on a smaller scale, to a board. A gingersnap pressed against a soft molasses cookie for three hours will not be the same gingersnap. Leave a little space between crisp and soft kinds, or separate them with a filler, and keep peppermint and anise cookies at the far ends of the board from the delicate butter cookies.
This is also why the board should be built close to serving time, not the night before. Cookies keep best in airtight containers, grouped by texture, until they go out.
Label what needs labeling
Cookies hide their ingredients. The FDA lists nine major food allergens in the United States: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame. Most cookies contain several of them. Nuts and peanuts deserve particular care, because they are easy to miss in a thumbprint or a crumb topping.
A small folded card at the edge of the board is enough: “Pecan sandies, contain nuts” or “Peanut butter blossoms.” Keep any nut-free cookies at one end, away from crumbs of the others.
What can sit out, and what cannot
Most baked cookies are fine at room temperature for the length of a party. Anything with a cream cheese frosting, whipped cream, custard or a cheesecake layer is different. The CDC advises never leaving perishable food out for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour if the temperature is above 90°F, and dairy is on its list of perishables.
If you want those treats on the board, put out a few at a time and keep the rest in the refrigerator, which should be at 40°F or below. Replace them from the refrigerator rather than leaving the first batch out all evening.
Size the board to the occasion
A board 12 by 9 inches holds a selection for a coffee table, a small dessert course or an afternoon visit, not a buffet for thirty. For a larger party, make two or three smaller boards and place them where people gather, instead of one huge tray that everyone has to reach across. How to set up a holiday buffet explains where to put dessert so the line keeps moving.
A wooden board makes pale cookies look warmer than a white platter does. The WONAMU. acacia cutting board is 12 × 9 inches, with warm, varied grain and a perimeter juice groove, and the groove makes a tidy edge for a row of small cookies to rest against.
After the party
Sort what is left by texture and put each kind back into its own airtight container. Do not tip the whole board into one tin; the crisp cookies will be soft by morning.
Brush the crumbs off the board, wipe it with a cloth wrung out in hot soapy water, rinse, towel it dry and stand it on its edge. Sugar and butter left on wood overnight turn sticky, so do it before bed rather than after breakfast.
The short version
Choose five or six cookies that differ in shape, color and texture. Set the largest as anchors, then add rows, small stacks and fillers to close the gaps. Keep crisp cookies away from soft ones, label anything with nuts, and keep cream-filled treats in the refrigerator, bringing them out a few at a time. Build the board within the hour before guests arrive, and pack leftovers back by texture.
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WONAMU. makes an acacia cutting board designed for daily prep, 12 × 9 inches, acacia, with a perimeter juice groove. Available on Amazon.
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