For many of us, the holidays mean lots of quality time with friends and family… and lots of time eating delicious meals and desserts. That said, eating all the holiday cookies at once can be a huge (and rather unhealthy) challenge. Instead, keep your cookies as fresh as possible for as long as possible so that you can continue to enjoy them days after the festivities have finished.

Let cookies cool completely before storing

This tip might seem like common sense, but in all the holiday excitement, it’s easy to rush to pack up your cookies. Any warmth in the container will cause condensation, which will ultimately lead to soggy cookies.

Use an airtight container—especially for chewy cookies

Nothing beats a fresh chewy cookie, so preserve that freshness for as long as possible by packing them up in an airtight container. If, on the other hand, you’re storing ginger snaps or other crisp cookies, a less secure seal will keep them crisper for longer.

Store different-flavored cookies in separate containers

Opening up a tin to discover a variety of delicious holiday cookies is great in theory, however, strongly flavored cookies will leak into each other making your gingerbread cookies taste strangely minty if you store them together with mint-chocolate cookies.

Store soft cookies separate from crisp cookies

We touched on the fact that crisp and chewy cookies require different packaging if you want them to last, but just to drive the point home: crisp gingersnaps or other similar cookies will lose their crunchiness if they’re stored together with a soft or chewy cookie as the cookies will pull moisture from each other.

Let gingerbread sit a while

Ginger cookies are ones that you should make a bit ahead of time because their flavors will develop over time.

Don’t forget the parchment paper

Storing your delicate and decorated cookies between layers of parchment paper will prevent them from sticking to each other or breaking, which is especially important if you plan on showing them off at the next holiday dinner party you’re invited to.

Use the freezer

If you want to keep doling out cookies for the entire holiday season but can only carve out a bit of time to get all the batches out, then consider freezing them when they’re already baked. These cookies will last for up to a month.

Freezing cookie dough is also worth doing as it allows you to bake fresh cookies on the day that you need them without the hassle.