Recipe Roundup

53 Christmas Cookies for the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Get into the holiday spirit with peppermint meringues, jammy linzer sandwiches, fruitcake bar cookies, and more.
Seven redandwhite striped peppermint meringues on a marble countertop.
Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Zoe Denenberg & Mira Evnine

’Tis the season for baking batch after batch of Christmas cookies: Think snowflake-shaped sugar cookies, jolly gingerbread people, jammy linzer bites, and more. Whether you’re organizing a cookie exchange or setting out a platter for Santa, you’re sure to find something special in our collection of all-time favorite Christmas cookie recipes.

We’ve got heirloom-status recipes, like buttery spritz cookies, as well as new creative hits, like peppermint bark cookies. Plus, there are plenty of new-school spins on old-fashioned favorites, like fruitcake-inspired cookies and coffee-spiked molasses wonders. No holiday spread is complete without peanut butter blossoms; our less traditional version calls for crunchy peanut butter and creamy chocolate ganache in lieu of the usual chocolate kiss.

Whether you’re a traditionalist or someone who likes to bake outside the (cookie) box, these Christmas cookie recipes won’t disappoint. The magic of the season starts now.

  • Cookies filled with fig raisins almond walnuts and liqueur topped with icing and rainbow sprinkles.
    Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Tiffany Schleigh
    1/53

    Cuccidati

    Stuffed with a nutty fig and raisin filling, this classic Italian Christmas cookie tastes like the best-ever version of store-bought Fig Newtons. Make them your own by swapping in your favorite dried fruit—apricots, oranges, or mixed berries are all fair game.

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  • An assortment of decorated sugar cookies in star and snowflake shapes.
    Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne
    2/53

    Classic Sugar Cookies

    Every household needs a dependable sugar cookie recipe during the holidays, and this Gourmet classic has been a reader favorite for almost 20 years. The crispy cut-outs can be any shape you’d like (psst, here are some of our favorite cookie cutters and other decorating supplies).

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  • An assortment of jamfilled thumbprint cookies on a baking sheet dusted with powdered sugar around the edges.
    Photograph by Elliott Jerome Brown Jr., Prop Styling by Emma Ringness, Food Styling by Mieko Takahashi
    3/53

    Classic Thumbprint Cookies

    Is it really the holiday season without these colorful confections? Raspberry, apricot, and other fruit jams typically dot the centers of these sugar-dusted thumbprint cookies, but feel free to get creative with chocolate ganache, lemon curd, or even homemade dulce de leche.

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  • A platter with gingerbread Christmas cookies in assorted shapes including gingerbread men snowmen candy canes and trees.
    Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne
    4/53

    Gourmet’s Best Gingerbread Cookies

    This traditional roll-out dough is perfect for making gingerbread people, snowmen, candy canes, or any shapes you like. Decorate with a simple royal icing (food coloring optional) and all the sprinkles, M&M’s, or marshmallows your heart desires.

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  • Lemon Cookies on a blue surface with white glaze on top of the cookies.
    Photography by Elliott Jerome Brown Jr., Prop Styling by Alexandra Massillon, Food Styling by Luciana Lamboy
    5/53

    Chewy Glazed Lemon Cookies

    Brighten someone’s holiday with these citrusy cookies. The beauty is in the imperfection, so have fun getting the gang in on drizzling the lemon glaze all over.

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  • Sprinkle cookies maraschino cherry cookies and chocolatedipped sandwich cookies on a baking sheet.
    Photo by Elizabeth Coetzee, Food styling by Kaitlin Wayne
    6/53

    Italian Butter Cookies

    Seek out high-quality almond extract. Lesser ones may have a cloying or bitter quality, and though you use a very small amount, it has a big impact on the cookies’ flavor.

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  • Ube milk crinkle cookies from cookbook Sugarcane
    Photo by Linda Xiao
    7/53

    Ube Milk Crinkles

    These vibrant violet cookies use ube halaya (think of it like sweetened Filipino yam purée). The result is a fudgy cookie that tastes somewhat of vanilla and pistachio with a thin veneer of white chocolate.

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  • A variety of matcha coffee and tea shortbread cookies on a plate.
    Photo by Elizabeth Coetzee, Food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
    8/53

    Any Tea or Coffee Shortbread Cookies

    Have a favorite hot holiday beverage? Here’s your chance to bake it into a treat. Ground tea leaves or coffee beans flavor these shortbread cookies, which make the perfect gift for…well, any tea or coffee lover in your life.

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  • Watercolor christmas ornament cookies next to an pine branch.
    Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Diana Yen
    9/53

    Watercolor Christmas Ornament Cookies

    If you find more fun in cookie decorating than in baking, this easy Christmas cookie recipe is for you. Use a simple watercolor painting technique to brush and splatter sugar cookies with unique patterns that will stand out on any holiday dessert table.

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  • Almond paste cookies with chocolate and red and green food coloring on a serving platter.
    Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Tiffany Schleigh
    10/53

    Italian Rainbow Cookies

    These jammy chocolate cookies are a staple in pretty much every Italian-American household—and they make an excellent cookie swap contribution. Making these vividly striped cookies is a bit of a project, but our illustrated recipe will guide you every step of the way.

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  • Grid of soft molasses cookies as seen from overhead atop marble surface.
    Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Eliza Mozer
    11/53

    Molasses Cookies

    Published in Gourmet in 1995, this holiday recipe has been a favorite among readers for three decades. Vegetable shortening keeps the cookies chewy and tender for days, and a trio of ground spices (ginger, cloves, and cinnamon) enhances the rich molasses flavor.

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  • A mix of white and dark chocolate dipped biscotti on a plate with espresso.
    Photo by Elizabeth Coetzee, Food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
    12/53

    Anything Goes Biscotti

    We’ll warn you: Once you realize how easy it is to customize your biscotti using this one simple recipe, you won’t want to stop trying out combinations.

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  • Round and heartshaped linzer cookies with apricot and raspberry jam topped with powdered sugar.
    Photo by Elizabeth Coetzee, Food styling by Mira Evnine
    13/53

    Linzer Cookies

    These sandwich cookies are based on Austria’s beloved linzer torte. An ample dusting of powdered sugar and red raspberry jam filling makes them perfect for any Christmas cookie platter.

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  • Cookies made from chocolate almonds instant espresso dried cherries and oats on a baking sheet.
    Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Erika Joyce
    14/53

    No-Bake Chocolate Oat Cookies

    These are not your average oatmeal drops. They contain sliced almonds, dried cherries, espresso powder, and almond butter. Lots of chocolate? Yes, that’s still there.

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  • Seven redandwhite striped peppermint meringues on a marble countertop.
    Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Zoe Denenberg & Mira Evnine
    17/53

    Peppermint Meringue Cookies

    Making these stunning striped meringues is easier than you think—the trick is lining a pastry bag with thin stripes of red food coloring for a mesmerizing candy cane effect. If you dipped the bottoms in melted chocolate, no one would be upset.

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  • Spritz Butter Cookies on parchment.
    Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne
    18/53

    Spritz Cookies

    Spritz cookies are notoriously finicky, but this spritz dough is easy to work with thanks to a little cornstarch. The resulting cookies are light, crisp, and perfect for sharing as holiday gifts or putting on a Christmas cookie plate.

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  • Photo of unsweetened chocolate cookies one of our favorite chocolate desserts.
    Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
    19/53

    Double Chocolate Rye Cookies

    These cookies are perfect for anyone who insists they don’t have a sweet tooth. Dark chocolate chunks and bits of unsweetened chocolate contrast with earthy rye flour. With their rich flavor and chewy texture, these cookies are perfect for dunking into a glass of milk.

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  • Photo of diamondshaped gingercardamom Christmas cookies with blue lemon icing.
    Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Judy Kim
    20/53

    Diamond Cardamom Sparkle Cookies

    The floral qualities of black pepper shine when paired with freshly ground cardamom in these holiday cookies, adding punchy flavor to the speckled dough.

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  • Butter cookies in a metal tin.
    Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Tiffany Schleigh
    21/53

    Butter Cookies

    Sometimes, there’s just no need to mess with a classic. These quintessential holiday treats will remind you of that tin of Danish butter cookies you loved as a child. Just try not to eat them all in one sitting.

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  • Chewy Flourless Pistachio Cookies on a platter.
    Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne
    22/53

    Chewy Flourless Pistachio Cookies

    These gluten-free pistachio cookies get their crisp-yet-chewy texture from egg whites. For the best flavor and most vibrant green color, use a combination of both raw and toasted pistachios.

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  • Lebkuchen on a white plate.
    Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Samantha Seneviratne and Jason Schreiber
    23/53

    Lebkuchen

    Take “make-ahead” to the extreme with these German “honey bars.” These chewy, blondie-like cookies are at their best when aged in two stages: the dough for at least 24 hours and the baked bars for about 2 weeks—that is, if you can wait that long.

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  • Photo of the front of Judy Kim's Gingerbread House with a bike in the garage.
    Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Judy Kim
    24/53

    Mid-Century Modern Cookie House

    Is it ambitious? Heck yes, but the payoff is so worth it. This upgrade on the traditional gingerbread cookie house is the ultimate edible holiday centerpiece, complete with twinkly lights, shimmery doors, ceiling beams, and wallpaper.

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  • A baking pan with six molasses sandwich cookies on it.
    Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Michelle Gatton
    25/53

    Molasses Sandwich Cookies With Coffee Cream

    Adding ground coffee to both the cookie dough and the filling deepens the flavor of these new-and-improved molasses cookies. These aesthetic beauties will be some of the best Christmas cookies of the bunch.

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  • Stack of rugelach on a plate in front of a blue wall.
    Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Eliza Mozer
    26/53

    Rugelach

    Loaded with cinnamon, nuts, and your favorite fruit jam, flaky, buttery rugelach is a staple of the season. Cream cheese is the secret ingredient that makes the cookie dough tender and tangy.

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  • A couple of chocolate chip brownie cookies on the table.
    Photo by Elizabeth Coetzee, Food Styling by Erika Joyce
    29/53

    Chocolate Brownie Cookies

    Reminiscent of a meringue, with a soft, chewy, fudgy center and a crisp exterior, these small cookies have an elegance that brownies lack. Perfect for holiday baking.

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  • Peppermint bark cookies
    Photography by Joe Lingeman, Food Styling by Jesse Szewczyk, Prop Styling by Maggie DiMarco
    30/53

    Peppermint Bark Cookies

    Candy canes are one of the sweetest symbols of the holiday season, but they’re not exactly everyone’s favorite treat to snack on. These chocolate-peppermint cookies are a chocolate lover’s dream, with a homemade peppermint bark topping that’s festive as can be.

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  • 9 snickerdoodles on a rose gold cooling rack.
    Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Katherine Sacks
    31/53

    Classic Snickerdoodle Cookies

    These holiday cookies get their tangy flavor from cream of tartar and their richness from an all-butter cookie dough. Roll the cookie dough in copious amounts of cinnamon-sugar before baking for a glittery, spiced finish, and serve with eggnog to fully lean into the holiday season.

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  • Cookies dusted with yellow pink raspberry and purple fruit sugar and filled with strawberry raspberry blueberry and...
    Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Emilie Fosnocht
    32/53

    Tutti-Frutti Thumbprint Cookies

    Add a pop of color to your cookie tin with these multihued treats. Toss these shortbread-like cookies in a mixture of freeze-dried fruit pulverized with granulated sugar for both color and fruity flavor.

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  • Photo of peanut butter blossom cookies with chocolate ganache in the center.
    Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Samantha Seneviratne & Jason Schreiber
    33/53

    Peanut Butter Blossoms, but Better

    Peanut butter blossoms are some of our favorite cookies to bake year-round, but they’re all but an obligation in December. Update the classic peanut butter cookie by filling the centers with a glossy, truffle-like dark chocolate ganache instead of a hard candy kiss.

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  • Pomegranateglazed shortbread wedges on a blue background
    Photography by Joe Lingeman, Food Styling by Jesse Szewczyk, Prop Styling by Maggie DiMarco
    34/53

    Pomegranate-Glazed Shortbread Wedges

    With their jewel-like appearance and red-pink hue, pomegranates are a prize during the holiday season. Here, they add sweet-tart flavor and vibrant color to easy shortbread wedge cookies.

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  • Cranberry Orange White Chocolate Bars on cutting board topped with icing and sprinkles
    Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Michelle Gatton
    35/53

    White Chocolate Fruitcake Bars

    Take the best parts of fruitcake—orange zest and dried fruit—and add them to easy-to-serve bar cookies, then blanket them with a layer of white chocolate. It’s a fun and modern twist on an old-fashioned dessert.

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  • Gourmet's Coconut Macaroons on a serving plate.
    Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne
    36/53

    Coconut Macaroons

    Love coconut cake, but don’t have the time to bake one over the holidays? These five-ingredient bites are chock full of coconut and come together in under an hour. You can deck them out for the holiday by dipping the bottoms in melted chocolate or dusting them with powdered sugar to create the effect of snow-covered mountains.

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  • Image may contain Confectionery Food Sweets Bread Dish Meal and Dessert
    France Ruffenach
    37/53

    Kolacky

    Sometimes spelled kolache or kolace, variations of these Central European cookies are often made with a yeast dough or even ice cream; this version calls for cream cheese. To save time, use store-bought filling.

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  • Chocolate chip cookies on a serving platter.
    Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
    38/53

    Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

    We’d be remiss not to include a classic chocolate chip cookie recipe in this round-up, and this one—which includes brown butter for extra toastiness—is our particular favorite.

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  • Tripleginger cream sandwiches on a two plates with a bowl of ornaments on the side.
    Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Ali Nardi
    39/53

    Triple-Ginger Cream Sandwiches

    These sparkly holiday cookies take classic gingerbread and turn the volume way up. Here, we sandwich cream filling between crispy gingersnaps. Use three kinds of ginger—freshly ground, candied, and finely grated ginger root—for delightfully intense flavor.

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  • A largeformat cinnamonchocolate chunk cookie in a white skillet with 3 scoops of ice cream on top.
    Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Astrid Chastka, Food Styling by Anna Hampton
    40/53

    Cinnamon–Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookie

    The holidays are the perfect time to take things over the top, and that’s exactly what this oversized cinnamon-spiced chocolate chunk cookie does. It’s the perfect dessert to serve for Christmas dinner—especially when paired with vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of cinnamon butterscotch.

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  • Photo of square Goat Butter Cookies on a serving platter.
    Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Samantha Seneviratne & Jason Schreiber
    41/53

    Goat Butter Shortbread

    Goat’s milk butter is mildly tangy, complementing the whole wheat flour and wheat germ in these cookies.

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  • Overhead shot of melty chocolatetruffle cookies dusted with powdered sugar.
    Joy Wilson
    42/53

    Melty Chocolate-Truffle Cookies

    Think of this Christmas dessert as hot chocolate in cookie form. We recommend slightly underbaking these morsels for a delightfully molten effect. The generous dusting of powdered sugar transforms them into chocolaty little snowball cookies that practically melt in your mouth.

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  • Brown butter and pistachio sable cookies
    Photograph by Laura Murray, food styling by Sue Li
    43/53

    Brown Butter and Pistachio Sablés

    These cookies are a staple for cookbook author and recipe developer Molly Baz’s family during the holiday season—once you bake a batch, you’ll see why. The nutty brown butter and richly nutty pistachios pair oh so well together.

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  • A stack of coffee malteds against a red background.
    Photo by Davide Luciano
    44/53

    Coffee Malteds

    Freshly ground espresso beans (or instant coffee or espresso) and unflavored malt powder are what give these holiday cookies the comforting, warm flavor that’ll make you want to eat them beside a roaring fire.

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  • Almond cookies with cardamom orange zest and pistachios on gold platters against a dark background.
    Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Anna Hampton
    47/53

    Flourless Almond Cookies With Cardamom, Orange Zest, and Pistachios

    Spiced with cardamom and orange zest, these delicate cookies are drizzled with dark chocolate, which takes the flavor to a whole new level.

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  • Pine nuttopped cookies piled into a ridged white ceramic cup.
    Photo by Romulo Yanes
    48/53

    Pignoli Cookies

    These pine-nut-studded Italian cookies get their crisp exterior and chewy interior from a mixture of egg whites and almond paste. They’re naturally gluten-free and dairy-free too.

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  • Image may contain Food Confectionery Sweets Coffee Cup and Cup
    Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Ali Nardi
    49/53

    Chocolate, Cinnamon, and Hazelnut Thumbprints

    This holiday cookie recipe calls for toasting the hazelnuts, which gives them a deeply sweet, roasty flavor. They’re then added to both the cookie dough and the dark chocolate ganache filling.

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  • Pistachio cardamom butter cookies on a tray.
    Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Ali Nardi
    50/53

    Pistachio Cardamom Butter Cookies

    White chocolate gives a creamy, sweet finish to these deliciously spiced slice-and-bake cookies. Chopped pistachios add a pop of green and provide crunchy contrast to the melted chocolate.

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  • A wire rack of pistachiorose shortbread squares.
    Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Michelle Gatton
    51/53

    Pistachio-Rose Shortbread Squares

    A coating of crushed, freeze-dried raspberries and pink sanding sugar adds vibrant color, sparkle, and crunch to these pistachio-studded cookies. They’re a festive twist on a Christmas classic.

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  • A plate of mini stollen.
    Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Katherine Sacks
    52/53

    Stollenkonfekt

    Making stollen (the classic German Christmas cake) is not for the faint of heart. Luckily, it takes a fraction of the time to prepare miniature stollenkonfekt—and they’re quite cute.

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  • Egg white recipes don't get better than these golden brown cookies. They're a perfect example of what to do with egg whites
    Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Rhoda Boone
    53/53

    3-Ingredient Hazelnut Cookies

    Baking Christmas cookies doesn’t need to be complicated—this recipe calls for just 3 ingredients. The star? Hazelnuts, which add structure and warm, nutty flavor.

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Kelly Vaughan is a freelance food writer, editor, and recipe developer based in Connecticut. Most recently, she was the recipe editor of TODAY.com where she managed digital recipe development and sponsored food franchises. She was previously a staff editor and writer at Food52 and Martha Stewart Living. Her writing has ... Read More
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The Epicurious editorial team develops original recipes, and publishes stories about cooking better, faster, and more creatively, sustainably, and affordably. See our full masthead, here. ... Read More
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