What’s one of the best parts of the holidays? Baking, of course! Cookies, pie, cake, bread…there are so many delicious things to enjoy this time of year. It’s also an opportunity to carry on family traditions. Perhaps you remember a relative’s scrumptious pie or secret cake recipe, or maybe you help your kids make a recipe you yourself learned as a child. My family, for example, made sugar cookies every year that we’d decorate with brightly-colored, powdered-sugar icing. As a kid, I loved mixing food coloring into the bowls of icing, and then drizzling it over the cookies in fanciful patterns. I also remember my great-grandmother’s cookies–she made dozens of them every Christmas. My favorite were her potato chip cookies (don’t knock ’em until you try ’em!). What are your favorite holiday baking traditions?

Keep up with your family’s baking traditions or start some new ones this year! Here are some handy products to make your holiday baking more fun.

Cookie Cake Pans: the best of both worlds! Make a chocolate cake with vanilla icing in the middle for a jumbo-sized Oreo-style cake!

Fun holiday shapes are yours to decorate with the Holiday Baking Pan by Paula Deen.

Make perfect spritz cookies in a variety of patterns with this Cookie Press.

POURfect Measuring Bowls make it easier to pour ingredients in the bowl without spilling. Especially handy if you have kids in your kitchen!

Animal pot holders are so cute, they’re sure to make you smile.

Looking for some new recipes? Homemade Christmas Cookbook from Gooseberry Patch has some deliciously simple ideas.

Or if you want to let someone else do the baking, try bakery food gifts from The Swiss Colony!