Christmas Cookie Challenge
Holiday cookies are more than mere sweets: they are gifts, mementos of childhood, and most certainly made with pride. In this Christmas Cookie Challenge hosted by Jonathan Bennett, five confident and daring bakers compete to prove their holiday cookie-making skills. Tough-love judges Duff Goldman, Damaris Phillips, and Sherry Yard are on hand to crown the holiday cookie master, who will go home with a $10,000 prize!
Episodes
It's a real barn burner in the workshop as hosts Ree Drummond and Eddie Jackson ask four countrified cookie makers to share how farm animals hoedown for the holidays at the North Pole. After this challenge, one farmhand will have to pick up sticks, while the one with the best Christmas critter cookie designs will rustle up an advantage for the next round. Then, it's time to bring in the holiday harvest as the cookie makers tinsel up festive-looking 3D Christmas tractors. They'll have to include a farm-fresh herb in their cookies: thyme, basil, lavender or tarragon. The cookie maker who crafts the most festive tractor will reap $10,000 and the Golden Ornament.
Ho-Ho-Hike! When the weather turns icy, the magical folks who live at the North Pole love gathering together to play winter sports. Hosts Ree Drummond and Eddie Jackson ask four competitive cookie makers to tackle making two winter sports cookies. One cookie maker will suffer the agony of defeat, while another will advance with an advantage for the next round. After a big game, the merry residents of the North Pole gather in the town's gazebo to socialize, so the cookie makers craft their own towering 10-foot tall Christmas gazebos complete with classic pitched roofs. Their cookies will have to incorporate comforting drinks perfect for sipping at social occasions, like peppermint mocha, pumpkin spice, chai or apple cider. The cookie maker who creates the gazebo most worthy of the North Pole's town square will paint the town red with $10,000 and the Golden Ornament.
Every year, the holiday spirit twinkles to life with the opening of Christmas markets all around the world. Hosts Ree Drummond and Eddie Jackson challenge four of the finest gingerbreaders to create their own massive North Pole Christmas market displays out of gingerbread. There'll be a treasure trove of edible ice-skating rinks, snowball slides, hot cocoa stalls, sugar angels and more. These gingerbread geniuses will have to overcome a mid-round twist and pick one festive fruit from the produce cart to incorporate into their cookies: apples, pears, black berries or blood oranges. The gingerbreader who crafts the most merry monumental market of all will close up shop with $10,000 and the Golden Ornament.
Hosts Ree Drummond and Eddie Jackson invite four clever cookie makers into the workshop to put their spins on the North Pole's favorite interactive puzzle game, "Where's Santa?" Ree and Eddie bust out their magnifying glasses to find Santa among all the distractions and red herrings on these richly detailed decorated cookies. The cookie maker who hides Santa in plain sight will be finding the exit, while Ree and Eddie will reveal an advantage in the next round for this stealthy challenge winner. For their final challenge, the remaining three cookie makers create delectable 3D cookie displays showing Santa's favorite North Pole spots, like his beloved burger joint. They'll have to include some of Santa's favorite burger toppings in their cookies: bacon, pineapple rings, mustard or cheddar. Whoever creates the most spectacular versions of Santa's stomping grounds will sleighride home with $10,000 and the Golden Ornament.
After a night of delivering presents, Santa arrives back at the North Pole with a big appetite. Hosts Ree Drummond and Eddie Jackson ask four talented cookie makers to whip up "imposter" cookies that look just like dishes fit for the most magnificent North Pole Christmas dinner. The cookier who delivers the most disappointing dish will be left on the chopping block, while the master cookie chef will gain an advantage for the next round. Then, it's time for dessert as the cookie makers tackle the sweetest new social media trend -- Christmas cookie pies! To make these cookie pies truly decadent and delicious, they'll incorporate chocolate chips. When the last lavishly decorated slice of pie is served, one cookie maker will walk away with $10,000 and the Golden Ornament.
Santa and Mrs. Claus are enjoying a yuletide seaside vacation, where the mermaids make merry, and the sharks stuff their stockings with care. Hosts Ree Drummond and Eddie Jackson invite four seaworthy cookie makers to reveal how sea creatures celebrate the season. The cookie maker who flounders will wash out of the workshop, while one cookie maker will reel in an advantage for the next challenge. Then, it's more festive fun in the sun as the cookie makers build 3D Christmas sandcastles, complete with crushed cookie sand. To give their cookies a taste of the tropics, they'll have to use papaya, mangoes, coconuts or guava. The cookie maker who crafts the jolliest Christmas sandcastle will swell with pride as they win $10,000 and the Golden Ornament.
Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's hosts Ree Drummond and Eddie Jackson welcoming four superpowered cookie makers into the workshop! They'll have to create cookies featuring Christmassy caped crusaders worthy of protecting the North Pole from dastardly villains. The cookie maker with the weakest creations will have to leave the Fortress of Cookie-tude, while the North Pole's newest cookie champion will win a supersized advantage for the next round. Then, the streets of the North Pole rumble as the cookie makers create outlandish vehicles for their superheroes and villains to steer. They'll use superfoods like açaí puree, pomegranate juice, turmeric or matcha as secret weapons in their cookies. One cookie maker will learn the ultimate comic book lesson -- with great cookie power comes great responsibility ... along with $10,000 and the Golden Ornament, of course!
Hosts Ree Drummond and Eddie Jackson rev their engines and ask four of the finest cookie makers in the land to create cookie billboards hawking holiday goods along the North Pole's frozen highways. One cookie maker will be eliminated, but the one who best gets their message across will win an advantage for the next challenge. For their final challenge, the remaining three cookie makers celebrate the beloved Christmas movie, The Polar Express. They'll draw inspiration from the festive film as they create their own edible trains hauling that most precious of cargoes -- scrumptious Christmas cookies! One cookie conductor will reach the end of the line with $10,000 and the Golden Ornament.
