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It’s time for 12 Days of Cookies, Food Network’s annual virtual cookie swap. Each day, visit us here on FN Dish for a peek at new holiday cookies, party-planning tips and top techniques for rolling, spooning, slicing, baking and decorating delicious sweet treats to give — or keep — from your favorite Food Network chefs.

Kids — and kids at heart — will appreciate the bright color and seasonal whimsy of these decorated star-shaped bites. Although the Pioneer Woman’s recipe is similar to that of traditional sugar cookies, it boasts one secret ingredient: grated citrus zest, either orange or lemon. Just a half teaspoon of this refreshing flavor is all it takes to transform Ree’s cookies into light, scented treats. Before baking, Ree tops cutout dough with a brush of colored egg-yolk glaze, and later finishes the cooled cookies with snow-white powdered-sugar icing.

Get Ree’s Favorite Christmas Cookies recipe and check out 12 Days of Cookies for dozens more recipes and holiday baking inspiration. Then, join the conversation: Tell us what you’re baking this season and what your all-time favorite cookie is.

Related Reading:

• Find recipes for our Top Holiday Cookies and bake up a batch in your kitchen.
• Host your best cookie swap yet with these easy party ideas from Cooking Channel.
• Learn how to decorate cookies like the pros.
• Show us your best cookie creations.
• Get recipes for past cookies below.

Day 1: Trisha Yearwood’s White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

Day 2: Guy Fieri’s Gingersnap Stackers

Day 3: Tyler Florence’s Dark Chocolate Truffles

Day 4: Sunny Anderson’s Chocolate Chip Candy Cane Cookies

Day 5: Anne Burrell’s Pignoli Cookies

Day 6: Bobby Flay’s Triple Chocolate Cookies

Day 7: Jeff Mauro’s PB & J Blondie

Day 8: Ina Garten’s Fruitcake Cookies

Day 9: Chocolate Cheesecake Candy Cane Bars

Day 10: Geoffrey Zakarian’s Vanilla Crescents

Day 11: Alton Brown’s Chocolate Coconut Balls

Day 12: Jamie Deen’s Old-Fashioned Ginger Crinkle Cookies

For more cookie inspiration, download the Food Network Favorites: Smart Cookies app, available in the App Store.