My Best Christmas Cookie Recipes (75 Ideas)

Christmas Sugar Cookies with Easy Icing

My fan-favorite recipe for sugar cookies promises flavorful cookies with soft and thick centers, slightly crisp edges, and flat tops for decorating with your icing of choice.

Spritz Cookies

Using a cookie press, shape this easy buttery cookie dough into intricate shapes and have fun decorating with sprinkles, chocolate, and chocolate chips.

Homemade Butter Cookies

Enjoy these irresistible buttery cookies plain or make lovely designs and dip in chocolate and sprinkles for a festive touch.

Drop-Style Christmas Sugar Cookies

No rolling pin or cookie cutters required for these soft, chewy, and sprinkle-loaded drop style Christmas sugar cookies.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

These fudgy cookies have been a massive hit with readers, some calling them the “best cookies I’ve ever had” and saying “you need to make a double batch!”

Classic Peanut Butter Blossoms

Homemade peanut butter blossoms are the quintessential Christmas cookie and trademark of any holiday cookie tray.

My Favorite Gingerbread Cookies

Soft in the centers, crisp on the edges, and perfectly spiced, this is my fan-favorite gingerbread cookies recipe.

Seriously Soft Molasses Cookies

These homemade soft molasses cookies with crackly tops stay super chewy for days and are perfectly spiced.

Crisp Molasses Cookies

My recipe for crisp molasses cookies have perfectly crispy edges and literally snap when you break them in half.

Pinwheel Cookies

Enjoy classic chocolate and vanilla pinwheel cookies plain or with a quick dunk in melted chocolate.

Iced Oatmeal Cookies

These iced oatmeal cookies are old-fashioned style with plenty of cozy spice flavor and a light coating of vanilla icing.

Classic Linzer Cookies

These classic Linzer cookies start with a nutty almond- or pistachio-based dough, then bake into tender, lightly spiced rounds sandwiched with sweet jam.

Snowball Cookies

Snowball cookies are some of the easiest Christmas cookies you could make—you need just 5 ingredients and 1 mixing bowl.

Brown Sugar Cut-Out Cookies

These brown sugar cut-out cookies are like a cozy, flavorful cross between classic sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies.

Cinnamon & Spice Palmiers (with Rough Puff Pastry)

These buttery crisp cinnamon & spice palmiers come together with pastry dough, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and orange zest, and if you’re short on time, you can absolutely use store-bought puff pastry.

Christmas Cookie Sparkles

Super soft and creamy cream cheese sugar cookies rolled in your sprinkles of choice!

Iced Gingerbread Oatmeal Cookies

These cookies are every bit as chewy, soft, nostalgic, and wholesome as regular oatmeal cookies, but brimming with gingerbread spices and topped with spiced vanilla icing.

Candy Cane Kiss Cookies

Adorably festive candy cane kiss cookies come together with a handful of basic baking ingredients and peppermint Hershey’s Kisses.

Spumoni Cookies

These marbled spumoni cookies bring together pistachio, cherry, and chocolate—all in one eye-catching, chewy, ultra-colorful cookie.

Brown Butter Marshmallow Crispy Cookies

Chewy, gooey, crispy-edged brown butter marshmallow crispy cookies taste like a brown-butter-infused rice krispie treat… in cookie form!

Chocolate Swirled Meringue Cookies (GF)

These chocolate swirled meringue cookies are made from just 5 ingredients with a delightfully crisp outside and a melt-in-your-mouth texture inside.

Cinnamon Brown Sugar Stamped Cookies

Sweetened mostly with brown sugar and spiced with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cardamom, these stamped cookies are just as flavorful as they are pretty!

Almond Butter Sparkle Cookies

These thick almond butter cookies sparkle with a roll in crunchy coarse sugar or festive sanding sugar sprinkles.

Caramel Hazelnut Linzer Cookies

Linzer-style caramel hazelnut sandwich cookies are blissfully buttery with brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, hazelnut and caramel flavors.

Gingerbread Blossoms

Gingerbread blossoms are quick, simple, and packed with festive flavor, plus there’s no cookie dough chilling required.

Pecan Sugar Cookies with Brown Butter Icing

These pecan sugar cookies raise the classic cut-out sugar cookie to new heights, delivering both extra flavor and texture.

Brown Butter Sugar Cookies

Brown butter sugar cookies are easy to make, incredibly flavorful, and ready in just under an hour.

Red Velvet Kiss Cookies

These cocoa-kissed red velvet kiss cookies are a colorful spin on traditional peanut butter blossoms.

Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you like chocolate chip cookies and all-things cake batter flavored, you will love these soft and chewy sprinkle-filled cookies.

Stained Glass Window Cookies

Crushed candy melts as the cookies bake, creating a gorgeous windowpane effect—no extra decorating or icing required.

Spiced Eggnog Oatmeal Cream Pies

Chewy oatmeal cookies flavored with eggnog, cinnamon, and nutmeg are sandwiched together with rich, spiced eggnog buttercream.

Gingerbread House Recipe

In this comprehensive post is a video tutorial, gingerbread house template for the shapes, a full recipe, and all my decorating tips and advice.

Andes Mint Chocolate Cookies

These cookies are soft and rich, unapologetically chocolate-y, and crowned with a melty Andes Mint “frosting” swirl.

Chocolate Peppermint Madeleines

Elegant and festive, these chocolate peppermint madeleines are guaranteed to impress, but are surprisingly easy (and fairly quick) to make.

Peppermint Meltaway Cookies

Irresistibly soft, buttery, and sweet, these peppermint meltaway cookies are a festive favorite during the holiday season.

Peppermint Snowball Cookies

Candy cane lovers will adore this festive and flavorful variation on the classic snowball.

Mint Chocolate Checkerboard Cookies

These soft and buttery icebox cookies start from 1 basic cookie dough and are shaped to resemble a fun and playful checkerboard pattern.

Chocolate Peppermint Thumbprints

Besides the unbeatable texture and festive flavor, you’ll also appreciate how adorable these tiny cookies are on any cookie platter!

Peppermint White Chocolate Cookies

My soft and chewy peppermint cookies with white chocolate and candy canes are festive, delicious, and wildly easy to make.

Peppermint Mocha Cookies

These peppermint mocha cookies will be the undisputed star of your holiday cookie tray!

Peppermint Bark Cookies

Like traditional festive peppermint bark but in the form of an irresistibly soft chocolate cookie enrobed in white chocolate.

Gingerbread Cookie Bars

These soft and chewy gingerbread cookie bars are so easy to make—no dough chilling, no dough rolling, and no cookie cutters required.

This recipe is also in my cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.

Christmas Cookies in a Jar & Free Printable

Equipped with recipes for Christmas M&M Cookies and Chocolate Peppermint Cookies, along with printable stickers and tags, this post has everything you need to give the homemade gift of the season.

Soft-Baked M&M Cookie Bars

Another easy no-chill cookie bar recipe made festive with holiday-colored M&Ms!

Soft & Thick Snickerdoodles

Soft-baked snickerdoodles are a holiday classic, and with no chill-time needed, my recipe takes about 30 minutes from start to finish.

Peanut Butter Cookie Sandwiches

These chewy peanut butter cookie sandwiches taste just like the Nutter Butter cookies we all know and love, and the dough doesn’t require any chilling.

Mini M&M Cookies

Adorably tiny and perfectly popable mini M&M cookies are a hit with adults and kids alike.

Peanut Butter Cup Surprise Monster Cookies

These are peanut butter monster cookies with a special present inside—a Reese’s peanut butter cup!

Sweet Vanilla Bean Biscotti

This biscotti recipe is pure vanilla and white chocolate goodness, and they taste exceptional dunked into a cup of hot coffee or tea.

Ultimate Magic Cookie Bars

These soft-baked graham cracker cookie bars are a texture-lover’s dream!

Almond Flour Sugar Cookies (GF)

Sweet and buttery, with crisp edges and chewy centers, these almond flour sugar cookies are wonderful plain or topped with frosting.

Easy Lace Cookies (GF)

Made from only 6 ingredients, these lace cookies are ready in 30 minutes and they taste like sweet brown butter and caramel.

No-Bake Chocolate Coconut Snowballs (GF)

These no-bake chocolate coconut snowballs are easy to make, freeze wonderfully, and are always a crowd favorite.

Flourless Monster Cookies (GF)

Packed with peanut butter, chewy oats, and oodles of chocolate chips and M&Ms, you’ll never guess these cookies are made without flour.

Coconut Macaroons (GF & DF)

Coconut macaroons are quick and easy (no dough chilling required!), come together with just 5 simple ingredients, and are naturally gluten free and dairy free.

Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies (GF)

This family favorite recipe is super simple and nostalgic, and the cookies are gluten free recipe if using certified gluten free oats.

Flourless Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (GF & DF)

Naturally gluten free almond butter chocolate chip cookies are simple, wholesome, satisfying, and made with only 5 simple ingredients.

Caramel Coconut Macaroon Thumbprints (GF)

This upgraded version of classic macaroons features a decadent pool of salted caramel in the center and a drizzle of chocolate to top it all off.

Almond Butter Coconut Macaroons (GF & DF)

Made from only 6 base ingredients, these naturally gluten free and dairy free almond butter coconut macaroons are soft and moist in the centers with extra chewy edges.

Piped Chocolate Butter Cookies

These chocolate butter cookies are the cocoa-kissed version of my classic homemade butter cookies.

Soft & Chewy Chocolate Snickerdoodles

These chocolate snickerdoodles take everything nostalgic and comforting about the original and give it a rich, fudgy upgrade.

Stamped Chocolate Espresso Cookies

These stamped chocolate espresso cookies are the whole package: richly flavored, beautifully shaped, and dressed to impress with a glossy espresso glaze that sets.

Big Fat Dark Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

These mega cookies are hearty, flavorful, fantastically soft and thick, and perfect for pairing with a mug of your favorite hot beverage.

Chocolate Raspberry Crinkles

Just like chocolate crinkle cookies, but with the added flavor of real raspberries!

Peanut Butter Fudge Puddles (Cookie Cups)

Peanut butter fudge puddles are delightful 2-bite peanut butter cookie cups baked in a mini muffin pan and filled with a rich chocolate cream.

Marshmallow-Surprise Hot Cocoa Cookies

Topped with a gooey marshmallow smothered in melted chocolate, these cookies are like a marshmallow-filled hot chocolate bomb, in cookie form!

Chocolate Ginger Sparkle Cookies

With their sparkly, crinkly tops and super soft chew, these chocolate ginger sparkle cookies are as delicious to eat as they are beautiful to behold.

Nutella Crinkle Cookies

We’re taking the beloved classic chocolate crinkle cookie and going a little nuts—in the best possible way—with these Nutella crinkle cookies.

Chocolate Frosted Cookies

These chocolate frosted cookies are simple to make but pack tons of soft, chewy, and fudge-like texture that all chocolate lovers can appreciate.

Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies

This award-winning recipe comes together by stuffing the dark chocolate dough with a Rolo caramel candy and topping with a pinch of flaky sea salt.

Chocolate Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies

My chocolate gingerbread sandwich cookies combine gingerbread cookies with thick & creamy chocolate ganache.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

A classic chocolate chip cookie is loved and appreciated any time of year, so why not include a batch in your holiday baking?

Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies

These red velvet cake-inspired chocolate chip cookies are fantastic with your favorite type of chocolate chips and add a wonderful pop of color to any cookie platter.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

These soft-baked thick and chunky double chocolate chip cookies are as indulgent as they look.

Soft White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies

These cookies are all together sweet, tart, soft, chewy, and slightly crispy—and they’re a fan-favorite every holiday season.

Magic 5 Cookies, Holiday Edition

My version of soft-baked white chocolate cranberry and pecan oatmeal cookies has the most unbelievable flavor and tons of contrasting textures.

Maple Cinnamon Star Cookies

Flavorful maple cinnamon star cookies are made from a basic and easy maple-flavored cookie dough and get a dunk in white chocolate for extra glam.

White Chocolate Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

Deliciously crunchy and crumbly, my white chocolate cranberry pistachio biscotti is perfect for dipping in your holiday hot chocolate, coffee, or tea.

White Chocolate Chip Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

Use my favorite oatmeal cookie base and add dried cherries, white chocolate, and cinnamon to create a version perfect for the holidays.

Gingerbread Latte Cookies

Have your (gingerbread) latte and eat it, too!

Icebox Slice & Bake Cookies (1 Dough, 5 Flavors)

Meet your forever recipe for icebox slice & bake cookies: a versatile, buttery base cookie dough ready for endless flavor adaptations.

Shortbread Cookies Recipe

There’s no chilling necessary for this flavor-adaptable shortbread cookie dough, and the cookies will never over-spread because you’re baking them in round pans.

Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookies

Buttery, tender almond-vanilla shortbread meets raspberry jam—these raspberry almond thumbprint cookies are a classic for a reason.

Cranberry Spice Cookies with Eggnog Icing

These shortbread-like cookies have festive spice flavor, plenty of sweet dried cranberries, and come together quickly with only 30 minutes of chill time.

Almond Crescent Cookies

With their delicate almond flavor, crumbly shortbread texture, and sweet powdered sugar coating, almond crescent cookies are a traditional favorite around the holidays, but can (and should!) be enjoyed year round.

Santa’s Whiskers Cookies

Bejeweled with sweet cherries, these almond flavored cookies are rolled in coconut and baked until golden around the edges.

Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies

These simple 6-ingredient brown sugar shortbread cookies are a sweet, flavorful take on traditional shortbread.

Salted Chocolate Pistachio Shortbread

With just a few simple ingredients, you can turn traditional shortbread into this salty-sweet chocolate pistachio shortbread.

1 Dough Neapolitan Cookies

These are my soft butter cookies flavored with chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry, and shaped in a loaf pan—so simple and so pretty.

Salted Pistachio Chocolate Chunk Slice and Bake Cookies

The combination of dark chocolate and pistachios is totally underrated and one of my favorites to add to my holiday cookie menu.

Cherry Almond Shortbread Cookies

These soft and buttery shortbread cookies flavored with cherry and almond, then finished off with sweet white chocolate.

Pistachio Drop Cookies

My soft and crumbly pistachio cookies are made from REAL pistachios and are topped with brown butter icing, plus the cookie dough is made from 6 easy ingredients and requires just 1 mixing bowl.

Chocolate Orange Sandwich Cookies

These buttery shortbread cookies are soft, tender, fragrant, and simply unforgettable.

Lemon Shortbread Cookies

Zesty, buttery, and tangy-sweet, these cut-out lemon shortbread cookies are a ray of sunshine on a plate!

Orange Chocolate Chip Ricotta Cookies

Super soft and melt-in-your-mouth tender, these cookies are delicately flavored with fresh orange zest, studded with mini chocolate chips, and topped with a simple citrus icing.

Lemon Ginger Cookies

Citrus and spice make a balanced and refreshing duo, a flavor marriage that fits so many seasons of the year!

Cranberry Orange Icebox Cookies

These cranberry orange icebox cookies deliver big flavor from surprisingly simple ingredients.

Lemon Thumbprint Cookies

Enjoy sweet, soft lemon sugar cookie filled with from-scratch lemon curd and drizzled with lemon icing.

Dark Chocolate Orange Biscotti

No more dry or bland biscotti—this dark chocolate orange biscotti has so much flavor and is perfect for dunking.

Lemon Coconut Drop Shortbread Cookies

These easy 2-bite lemon coconut drop shortbread cookies are like snowballs but with glaze instead of a confectioners’ sugar coating.

Very Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Just like their chocolate cousins, these lemon crinkle cookies are soft-baked, coated in confectioners’ sugar, and practically melt in your mouth.