Enter your cookie recipe for the chance to win big

We’ve hardly treaded into pumpkin spice season, but it’s already that time of year again: We’re accepting recipe submissions for the Chicago Tribune’s 37th annual Holiday Cookie Contest starting today.

Going strong since 1986 (except for a blip in 1999), the cookie contest seeks out Chicagoland’s most mouthwatering treats. Who took home the gold last year? Chicagoan Caroline Crispino for her luscious Chocolate Salted-Caramel Surprise Cookie.

Maybe what began as a sourdough starter pandemic purchase morphed into a full-on baking fixation. Maybe you’re the Beyoncé of baking in your family and the world needs to hear your song. Or, maybe you’re listening to the clang of abandoned cookie cutters in a cluttered kitchen drawer, beckoning for your return. No matter the reason, our team is excited to bake — and eat — your recipes, and get to know your stories along the way.

Readers can enter their recipes until 11:59 p.m. Oct. 15. Voting will begin Oct. 16, and readers can vote online at chicagotribune.com/cookies2023 once a day for the recipes they want to compete for cash prizes for first, second and third place. After voting ends, the top 12 recipes (with an option to turn it into a baker’s dozen of finalists, should our team feel one recipe merits the addition, named the Joe Gray Save after a former dining editor) will be baked by Tribune staff.

This year, we’re introducing a panel of guest judges to help decide our winners. Martin Sorge, Nirali Chauhan and Sarah Chang, Chicago contestants in this year’s “Great American Baking Show,” will help us decide the best of the finalists. Need ideas to get you started? Check out their recipes here.

You can also find more sweet inspiration in our “Holiday Cookies” cookbook, which features winning cookie contest recipes of decades past, plus a few extras, here.

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We’ll announce the winners online and in print after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Here’s how to enter:

To enter the Tribune’s 37th annual Holiday Cookie Contest, submit the cookie recipe — describing why it is special and how you developed the recipe — and a photo of the cookies (if you have one) below. Please limit descriptions to a maximum of 200 words or less.

Bakers can enter their recipes for consideration until 11:59 p.m. Oct. 15. Afterward, readers will vote on their favorites and narrow it down to 12 finalists. Tribune journalists will bake the finalists’ recipes and our judges will pick three winners. First place wins $250 cash; second place, $150; third place, $50.

Find the recipes for last year’s cookie contest winners here.

(If you don’t see the entry form below, try refreshing the page or click here.)

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