55+ Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes

December 05, 2019
Photo: Helen Norman; Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas
It goes without saying that Christmas is the perfect excuse to make cookies—whether you’re giving them as a gift, decorating them with your family, or leaving them out for Santa, cookies are a simple and delicious way to spread holiday cheer and get everyone smiling. And fortunately, baking an impressive batch of holiday cookies doesn’t require a ton of time or effort in the kitchen. These easy Christmas cookie recipes maintain all that saccharine holiday magic without requiring too much energy or attention, so you can focus on sharing and enjoying them with those who matter most. 
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Sparkling Ginger Stars

Photo: Oxmoor House
Sparkling Ginger Stars Recipe
A heavy sugar crust and the peppery bite of fresh ginger make these gingerbread cookies scrumptious. Be sure your spices are fresh; it will make a big taste difference here.
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Chocolate Sugar Cookie Bars

Photo: Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas; Food Styling: Torie Cox
Chocolate Sugar Cookie Bars Recipe

Take your favorite cookie and turn it into a big slice bar. This dough is perfect for baking in an 8-inch pan. These bars are still perfect for bake sales or cookie swaps. We topped these chocolate sugar cookie bars with a creamy frosting and a few sprinkles for a festive touch. Simply switch out the sprinkle color to make them work all year round. What makes this recipe so perfect? You can prepare the dough up to 2 days in advance and bake the bars when you’re ready. What else can you make with this Chocolate Sugar Cookie recipe? Try these creamy Chocolate Cookie Cups with Caramel Filling or these Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies topped with roasted marshmallows. 

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Chocolate-and-Almond Macaroons

Chocolate-and-Almond Macaroons Recipe
Don't let these macaroons intimidate you. With just six ingredients, they are surprisingly simple to make and guests will be very impressed with the results.
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Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, and Pecan Cookies

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Styling: Jan Gautro
Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, and Pecan Cookies Recipe
These easy chocolate oatmeal drop cookies are crisp on the outside and slightly chewy on the inside. Chocolate minichips disperse better in the batter, but you can use regular chips.

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Chocolate Chip-Snickerdoodle Jam Bars

Photo: Jen Causey; Prop Styling: Christina Daley; Food Styling: Sarah Epperson
Chocolate Chip-Snickerdoodle Jam Bars Recipe

This may seem like an over-the-top cookie combo, but trust us on this one—you’re going to love these decadent hybrid cookie bars. Just imagine a chocolate chip cookie merged with a snickerdoodle and a jam thumbprint to create a single, epic (and epically delicious) cookie experience. The great thing about these bars is that they rely on one versatile cookie dough, that you enhance with various add-ins to create your layers. Plus, you can customize the cookie bars with any jam you please. We used just enough sweet-tart raspberry jam to balance the chocolate chips and cinnamon sugar, but you could use blackberry, orange, or even cranberry jam. 

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Rudolph's Christmas Sugar Cookies

Ralph Anderson; Mindi Shapiro Levine
Rudolph's Christmas Sugar Cookies Recipe

Start with refrigerated sugar cookie dough to make these adorable reindeer cookies. Kids can help place Rudolph's eyes, mouth, and antlers.

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Iced Shortbread Cookies

Photo: Antonis Achilles; Food Styling: Tina Bell Stamos and Rishon Hanners; Prop Styling: Sarah Elizabeth Cleveland
Iced Shortbread Cookies Recipe

These are perfect for the holidays because they are so versatile and make for a fun project with kids. 

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Wreath Cookies

Photo: Oxmoor House
Wreath Cookies Recipe
With only a few ingredients, you can transform shredded wheat cereal into these whimsical holiday wreaths. Let the kids help shape and decorate them.

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Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

Photo: Randy Mayor; Styling: Jan Gautro
Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies Recipe
Add some color to your cookie tray with these jam-filled thumbprints. This recipe could also be your healthy alternative for the next school party.
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Sparkling Snowflake Sugar Cookies

Photo: Iain Bagwell; Food Styling: Torie Cox; Prop Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine
Sparkling Snowflake Sugar Cookies Recipe

Adults will love these elegant cookies, made with a touch of brandy. And they're great for a Hanukkah party.

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Chai Swirl Cheesecake Bars

Photo: Jen Causey; Prop Styling: Christina Daley; Food Styling: Pam Lolley
Chai Swirl Cheesecake Bars Recipe

These eye-catching dessert bars taste like your favorite chai latte, reimagined in cheesecake form. Featuring flavorful swirls of chai-infused cream cheese filling, each bite offers richly aromatic, spiced flavor set against a cool and creamy vanilla cheesecake backdrop. They’re a simple dessert to make, but undeniably impressive. 

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Cranberry Cookies With Orange Glaze

Photo: Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall and Kady Wohlfarth; Prop Styling: Kay Clarke
Cranberry Cookies With Orange Glaze Recipe

Oh, so festive! These cakey cranberry cookies are a perfect Christmastime snack, dessert, or even breakfast.

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Peppermint Pinwheels

Photo: Iain Bagwell; Food Styling: Torie Cox; Prop Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine
Peppermint Pinwheels Recipe

Kids will love baking--and eating--these swirly, not-too-minty cookies. Feel free to swap out the red food coloring for green, if you prefer.

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Mudslide Cookies

Photo: Randy Mayor
Mudslide Cookies Recipe
Crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and rich and delicious all the way around is how readers rate these brownie-like cookies. Need we say more?

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Ginger-Lemon Sandwich Cookies 

Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Margaret Dickey; Prop Styling: Kay Clarke
Ginger-Lemon Sandwich Cookies  Recipe

Lemon, molasses, and ginger are an unexpected, but unbeatable combination in these simple sandwich cookies. The cookie itself is delicious on its own, but then the tart lemon curd brings out the best in the molasses and warm spices. The higher quality lemon curd you use, the better the sandwiches will be, but you can also make your own. This batch is easy to make and only look fancy, making them a perfect addition to a cookie swap. 

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Lemon-Coconut Snowballs

Lemon-Coconut Snowballs Recipe
Lemon and coconut add a new twist to the traditional wedding cookie. Don't be shy when rolling these in powdered sugar—the more powdered sugar, the bigger the snowball!

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Oatmeal Toffee Cookies

Photo: Randy Mayor; Styling: Cindy Barr, Jan Gautro
Oatmeal Toffee Cookies Recipe
Brown sugar and butter underscore the tawny sweetness of the almond toffee bits in these oatmeal toffee cookies.

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Dark Chocolate Peppermint Patties 

Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Margaret Dickey; Prop Styling: Kay Clarke
Dark Chocolate Peppermint Patties  Recipe

We’re not exaggerating when we say these peppermint patties knock York’s out of the water. These are perfect to make with kids because they’re easy and—let’s face it—messy. They make a sweet after-dinner treat, mid-day pick-me-up, or even cookie swap contribution. If you’re not crazy about peppermints, try leftover candy canes, crushed, nuts, sea salt, or sprinkles as toppings. 

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Big Crunchy Sugar Cookies

Photo: Oxmoor House
Big Crunchy Sugar Cookies Recipe
Sparkling sugar cookies are holiday classics. These goodies, which earn their name from a coating of coarse sugar, received our Test Kitchens highest rating.

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Basic Rugelach

Photo: Antonis Achilles; Food Styling: Tina Bell Stamos and Rishon Hanners; Prop Styling: Sarah Elizabeth Cleveland
Basic Rugelach Recipe

These holiday cookies look complicated, but they're super easy to make. Feel free to substitute any dried fruit or nuts in the filling if pecans or chocolate aren't your thing. 

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Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies

Photo: Caroline Arcangeli; Prop Styling: Christina Daley; Food Styling: Sarah Epperson
Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

You’ve probably heard of olive oil cake, and if you’ve ever tasted one, you know how much rich character olive oil can bring to a dessert. And that’s certainly the case for these anything-but-average chocolate chip cookies. With their crispy edges and perfectly gooey center, they’re downright dreamy. Fruity olive oil subtly shines, complementing the melt-in-your mouth chocolaty factor in this distinctly delicious twist on the cookie jar classic. Although it’s tempting to go straight from the bowl to the oven, it’s important that the cookie dough is thoroughly chilled before baking. Not only will this step make scooping the cookies easier, but refrigeration solidifies the oil, which keeps the cookies from spreading too fast and becoming too thin. Being that olive oil is the star ingredient in this chocolate chip cookie recipe, be sure to use a good quality oil. 

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5-Ingredient Sugar Cookies

Photo: Linda Pugliese, Hector Sanchez; Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas, Buffy Hargett Miller
5-Ingredient Sugar Cookies Recipe

When glazing, use a shallow bowl that will accommodate the entire cookie.

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Chewy Chocolate-Molasses Cookies 

Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Margaret Dickey; Prop Styling: Kay Clarke
Chewy Chocolate-Molasses Cookies  Recipe

Forget the holidays, you’re gonna want these cookies all winter long. Chewy nuggets of candied ginger, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate, and warm hints of molasses made this cookie a favorite in our test kitchen. To prevent overmixing the dough, fold in the chocolate—it’ll also produce a tougher cookie. To make these cookies look as good as they taste, reserve a few of the chocolate chunks to place on top of each cookie. That way, they won’t all get hidden in the dark dough. 

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Orange-Spice Madeleines

James Carrier
Orange-Spice Madeleines Recipe
The neighborhood will smell the sweet aroma of almond and orange when you're baking this French cookie recipe. Just be sure you've made enough to share.
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Crunchy Frostbite Cookies

Oxmoor House
Crunchy Frostbite Cookies Recipe

Dip one side of these crispy oatmeal cookies into melted white chocolate for a “frosted” effect.

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Chai Tea Eggnog Cookies

Photo: Jennifer Davick; Styling: Caroline Murphey
Chai Tea Eggnog Cookies Recipe

The chai gives this cookie a kick while the eggnog topping shows a sweet side.

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Fudgy Flourless Chocolate-Pecan Cookies

Photo: Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Mary Clayton Carl; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall
Fudgy Flourless Chocolate-Pecan Cookies Recipe

Believe it or not, these chewy, brownie-like cookies are gluten free. Try not to eat them all in one sitting--our Test Kitchen found them especially hard to resist.

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Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies 

Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Margaret Dickey; Prop Styling: Kay Clarke
Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies  Recipe

We’ve got a triple-threat here: Rich red velvet, gooey, fudgy brownies, and tangy cheesecake unite to form a dessert bar everyone will love. These red velvet cheesecake brownies are decadent without being too sweet, thanks to the cheesecake swirl, and a delicious twist on plain old brownies. They slice super clean, but remain gooey and soft. If you like your brownies fudgy bake them on the lower 30-minute end. For cakier brownies, bake longer, up to 35 minutes. Lining your pan with parchment keeps these from sticking to the pan, making them much easier to slice. 

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Lavender-Rosemary Shortbread Cookies

Photo: Whitney Ott; Food Styling: Mary-Claire Britton; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis
Lavender-Rosemary Shortbread Cookies Recipe

These delicate, crispy shortbread cookies are incredibly impressive given how easy they are to make. With just the right balance of gentle herbaceous, floral flavor and saltiness, these not-too-sweet shortbread cookies are the perfect treat to pair with anything from coffee and tea to lemonade or rosé.

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Snickerdoodles

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner
Snickerdoodles Recipe

One reviewer called these cookies "sinfully delicious," and we must agree. Simply roll sugar cookie dough in cinnamon sugar for a Snickerdoodle delight.

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Walnut Crescents

Photo: Iain Bagwell; Food Styling: Torie Cox; Prop Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine
Walnut Crescents Recipe

These delicate moon-shaped cookies are soft and tender on the inside with a delectable nutty flavor from browned butter and toasted walnuts.

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Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookie

Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookie Recipe

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Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies

Photo: Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas; Food Styling: Torie Cox
Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies Recipe

If you have a neighborhood cookie swap or church social on your calendar this season, these sandwich cookies are sure to be a hit. Cookies and bars are always crowd-pleasers—and make great handmade gifts for friends and family during the holidays. Choose a gingersnap or linzer from this lineup of Christmas treats if you want to include some of the classic holiday cookies on your dessert tray as well.

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Peanut Butter Wreaths 

Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Margaret Dickey; Prop Styling: Kay Clarke
Peanut Butter Wreaths  Recipe

Looking for the ultimate easy cookie? These no-bake peanut butter wreaths should do the trick. The oats and peanut butter add buttery and salty notes, making these almost like a praline. Toasting the oats beforehand really enhances the flavor and prevents the oats from getting soggy. Since these cookies are so easy and make a huge batch, you can get creative with your toppings—try other candies, like chocolate chunks, or fun holiday sprinkles to give these some serious spirit. 

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Mocha-Chocolate Shortbread

Mocha-Chocolate Shortbread Recipe
Chocolate-covered shortbread is the yummy end to a wonderful meal. You're likely to have all of the ingredients for this recipe stocked in the pantry.

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