Five creative cookie makers are dreaming of a white Christmas as Eddie Jackson challenges them to decorate cookies using only detail, texture and relief. Judges Ree Drummond, Dwayne Ingraham and Gesine Prado decide which colorless cookies stand apart from the rest. Then the bakers let loose with an explosion of color as they create cookie tarts with layer upon layer of giant cookies and luscious cream. They also brighten up their cookie displays with vibrant ingredients like pomegranates, red currants, kiwis and matcha in the hope of walking away with the grand prize of $10,000.
Santa's recruiting new animals for his team, and it's up to five of the best cookie makers around to come up with the candidates! After hosts Ree Drummond and Eddie Jackson select which reindeer replacements will make the squad, it's time for fun with a frosty friend as the cookiers craft one-of-a-kind 3-D snowmen. To infuse their cookie snowmen with a chilly flavor, the competitors incorporate frozen fruits like blueberry, strawberry, raspberry and blackberry. With $10,000 on the line, only one can be "Best in Snow."
Hosts Ree Drummond and Eddie Jackson ask five merry cookie makers to combine cookies and comics into an edible comic strip. The big laughs lead to an even bigger challenge as the cookiers create larger-than-life ornaments made entirely out of cookies! Their designs may be big, but the bakers will have to incorporate extra-small ingredients like sesame seeds, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds into their displays. The cookie maker who makes the most extraordinary, extra-large ornament will win the $10,000 prize and the title of Christmas Cookie Champion.
The festive fever is high in the decorating round as five trendsetting cookie makers hack classic cookie cutter shapes and decorate them with totally wild new designs. Judges Kimberly Bailey, Damiano Carrara and Ree Drummond will choose which three bakers have a knack for hacks and which two must pack for home. The competition intensifies in the display round when host Eddie Jackson challenges the remaining bakers to build an entire Christmas tree out of cookies. The cookie tree that rises above the rest will be crowned the best and snag the $10,000 prize.
Host Eddie Jackson welcomes five fabulously festive cookie makers into Santa's workshop. First up is the decorating challenge where the bakers craft two different decorated Christmas tree cookies. After judges Ree Drummond, Dan Langan and Aarti Sequeira size up the trees, they must release two cookie makers from the competition. The remaining three finalists are "puzzled" by the display challenge where they must create a giant cookie puzzle based on a Christmas carol. All the pieces will fit together for the one talented cookie maker who will leave the North Pole $10,000 richer.
These four grandmas are definitely not taking a holiday from the kitchen! First, Santa gives them his food hack favorite, a clothes iron, which they must use in the preparation of holiday appetizers. Next, the grannies must make a Christmas main course featuring at least one fresh, one frozen and one canned ingredient. Then, the final two grandmas have to turn old-fashioned fruitcake ingredients into a holiday dessert irresistible enough to earn one of them $10,000 and impress the judges, Monti Carlo, Nancy Fuller and Eddie Jackson.
The Dallas Cowboys head to MetLife Stadium to take on their league rivals, the New York Giants, on their home turf. Outside in the parking lot, Sunny Anderson and Vince Wilfork invite two teams of rival fans to battle it out and see who will be the Tailgate Takedown Champion! The Cowboys team aims to wow with Tex-Mex flavors while the Giants team serves up New York-style dishes to win over judges Eddie Jackson and Ian Rapoport and score tickets to the best seats at the game!
We're honoring the all-time favorite sandwiches in the Sandwich Hall of Fame because it's all about the bread and what's in between! If you've never had a BL"G"T, Eddie Jackson will tell you where to go. Fanny Slater hasn't missed a week without her "Friday Special," and Katie Lee heads to a small shop in New York to get the best Italian hoagie she's ever eaten. And Southerners don't have to travel to Philadelphia for the best cheesesteak, as Alton Brown reveals a hidden gem in Atlanta.
Host Eddie Jackson thinks it's time Santa's hard-working elves get some love, too, so for the decorating round, the five talented cookie makers must make one super-sized decorated cookie for Santa plus some tiny decorated cookies for the little guys. Judges Kimberly Bailey, Damiano Carrara and Ree Drummond whip out their magnifying glasses to see which three bakers decorate best no matter the size and which two are headed home. Then, for the display round and with $10,000 on the line, the remaining cookie makers must bring a winter wonderland scene to life using cookies to create a 3D tableau.
Santa has fallen behind on toys this year, so host Eddie Jackson recruits five crafty cookie makers to make decorated cookie toys in the first round. Judges Ree Drummond, Dan Langan and Aarti Sequeira decide which three bakers have saved Christmas for all the good little girls and boys. The gift-giving doesn't stop in the display round as the three remaining cookie masters must make entirely edible cookie boxes to fill with Christmas cookies. They say it's better to give than receive, but in this case, the best cookie maker will take home a $10,000 present.