Get ready to whisk, roll and bake your way into the holiday spirit with our Christmas cookie recipes. These sweet treats are so good, they’ll become part of your yearly baking traditions. From flavors like our Cashew-Cardamom Shortbread to our Vanilla Candy Cane Peppermint Bars, these cookies are a festive delight for everyone.
Cashew-Cardamom Shortbread
These cardamom-spiced shortbread cookies were inspired by the Indian sweet kaju katli, and offer a delicious spiced flavor that pairs perfectly with chai.
Ginger & Spice Crackles
These soft and moist cookies are spiked with ginger, cinnamon and a hint of cloves, and they crackle on top when they bake. Rolling them in powdered sugar gives them a lightly sweet coating on the outside that looks like a dusting of fresh fallen snow.
Vanilla Candy Cane Peppermint Bars
These festive bars are easy to make for a cookie swap or holiday treats for friends and family.
Lingonberry Linzer Cookies (German Lingonberry Linzer Cookies)
These tasty Linzer cookies are inspired by Linzer torte, an Austrian dessert featuring a nutty, jam-filled pastry with a lattice-designed top. Depending on the region and country you’re in, you’ll find these cookies under a variety of names—in Austria, they’re called Linzer Augen, which translates to Linzer “eyes” to reflect their circular design with a round cutout. This version uses lingonberry jam for the filling, a drizzle of white chocolate and a dusting of crushed dried raspberries.
Mini Gingerbread House Cookies
Holiday cookies don’t get any cuter than these mini gingerbread houses that kids and adults alike will love. Use a mini gingerbread house cookie cutter to cut out all the parts (the kids will love helping with this part), then build the houses and let the kids go to town decorating.
Spritz Cookies
It’s time to break out your spritz cookie press for these festive Christmas spritz cookies! These easy Christmas cookies can be decorated with sprinkles or flavored with citrus, spices or sweet sugar glaze.
Citrus-Kissed Honey Buttons
These citrus-flavored sugar cookies are a lovely addition to any holiday cookie platter.
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Brown butter chocolate chip cookies take regular chocolate chip cookies to a whole new level. The browned butter add nuttiness to each cookie, while a sprinkle of sea salt takes these easy treats over the top.
Ginger Molasses Cookies
The spelt flour in these ginger molasses cookies offers a chewy texture and a nutty flavor that shines with the ginger with these easy holiday cookies.
Espresso Walnut Marzipan Cookies
Marzipan is typically made with almonds, but here we use walnuts to make the marzipan for these nutty cookies. The espresso flavor is delicate, but adds a nice bitterness to the cookie. If you prefer, you can brew your own espresso and use that instead of instant espresso.
No-Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies
Creamy natural peanut butter and chocolate team up in these easy and healthy no-bake cookies! Whip up a batch for after-school snacks, dessert or anytime your sweet tooth comes calling.
Coffee Star Cookies
Spelt flour’s earthy flavor is a good companion to the warm spices and molasses in these cheerful cookies. Play around with the glaze and decorations to vary the look of the batch.
Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
All that’s required to make fresh-from-the-oven cookies is five ingredients, a single bowl and 35 minutes. “These cookies are a staple in our house,” says Top Chef's Season 14 champ Brooke Williamson. “The almond butter they call for is loaded with healthy fats and adds protein. My son Hudson is a big fan of them too!”
Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies
A generous amount of melted chocolate gives these cookies a fudgy, brownie-like texture, but it also means a very soft dough. Chilling it helps firm the dough up to a scoopable consistency.
Soft Sugar Cookies
Keep things simple with these easy and classic sugar cookies that are perfectly soft. We incorporate mild-tasting white whole-wheat flour for extra fiber and nutrients.
Italian Hazelnut Cookies
These crispy cookies are made with Piedmontese staples—hazelnuts and eggs—and called Brutti Ma Buoni: literally, “Ugly But Good.” But they are really more plain-looking than “ugly,” and pack a powerful, sweet, nutty burst of flavor, making them welcome at any table.
Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cookies
It’s quick and easy to mix together these slice-and-bake chocolate-chocolate chip cookies whenever you need something sweet. The recipe makes enough dough so you can bake half and put the other half in the freezer—ready to pull out and bake up a few fresh cookies anytime.
Oatmeal-Coconut Cookies with Cranberries & White Chocolate
Our classic oatmeal cookie gets a flavor twist with coconut, white chocolate chips (which have a more delicate flavor than milk or dark chocolate) and tart dried cranberries. The result is a chewy, sweet treat that’s sure to leave you coming back for more.
Button Shortbread Cookies
These shortbread cookies use white whole-wheat flour instead of white flour, adding nutrients without overpowering the classic shortbread taste. These cookies are easy to make, so they’re perfect for a holiday cookie swap or afternoon tea. These cookies are also wonderful to bake with small kids because they’ll love poking the buttonholes in the shortbread dough.
Cranberry-Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
In this installment of Diaspora Dining, Jessica B. Harris’ series on foods of the African diaspora, the author and historian rings in some changes to the Christmas traditions of her own childhood.
Thumbprints with Ruby Chocolate
You can fill these thumbprint cookies with jam or ruby chocolate, a naturally pink chocolate that has a tart, fruity flavor. You can find ruby chocolate (also called ruby cacao or ruby couverture) at some specialty grocery stores, including Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, and online.
Chocolate Chunk-Walnut Meringue Cookies
Look to these meringue cookies if you want a new, simple, no-fuss holiday cookie recipe. They’re ready to eat after drying in the oven for an hour, but you can leave them in there longer—even overnight.
Chocolate-Dipped Cardamom Cookies with Candied Grapefruit
Inspired by the German cookie Kardamom Plätzchen, we swap rum for rye whiskey, as the spiciness pairs well with the cardamom in these delicate cookies. Candied grapefruit peels add an extra flavor contrast as well as a pretty finish.
Salted Hazelnut Thumbprint Cookies
Hazelnuts do double duty in these cookies. Hazelnut flour adds nuttiness to the dough, while chocolate-hazelnut spread is used for the filling. A touch of fresh orange zest and juice adds a sweet note to balance the nut and chocolate flavors.
Snickerdoodle Thumbprint Cookies with Chocolate
These cinnamon-sugar snickerdoodle thumbprint cookies have an added bonus: chocolate filling! With slightly crispy edges and a chewy, chocolaty center, these snickerdoodle cookies are the ultimate crowd-pleaser.
Cinnamon Icebox Cookies
Slice-and-bake icebox cookies are the ultimate make-ahead treat. You can make a batch and bake as many as you like, saving the rest of the dough in the freezer. These simple swirled cookies are rolled in finely chopped pecans. They’re mildly sweet—perfect for after dinner or paired with coffee.
Gingerbread Pine Cones
“This is a really good, solid gingerbread recipe,” says Duff Goldman. “I was in a baking store and I saw this really cool cookie mold shaped like a pine cone and I knew I had to have it. I thought this would be a perfect gingerbread cookie and if I could make it look like it got snowed on, that would be awesome.”
Chocolate-Mint Crinkle Cookies
No need to avoid the dessert table when you bring these lightened-up cookies to the party. These chocolate goodies are rolled in powdered sugar before baking and the end result is as tasty as it is beautiful.
Healthy Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies
Here’s your new cookie jar staple. This recipe for classic oatmeal–chocolate chip cookies gets a healthy boost with whole-wheat flour and uses less sugar and butter than traditional recipes. Don’t hesitate to make a double batch—they’re so satisfying they’ll be gone fast.
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