59 Christmas Cookies for the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

’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.
Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Tiffany Schleigh1/59Cuccidati
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.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne2/59Classic 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).
Photograph by Elliott Jerome Brown Jr., Prop Styling by Emma Ringness, Food Styling by Mieko Takahashi3/59Classic 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.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne4/59Gourmet’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.
Photography by Elliott Jerome Brown Jr., Prop Styling by Alexandra Massillon, Food Styling by Luciana Lamboy5/59Chewy 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.
Photo by Elizabeth Coetzee, Food styling by Kaitlin Wayne6/59Italian 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.
Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton, Prop Styling by Marina Bevilacqua7/59Hot Chocolate Cookies
A swirl of marshmallow fluff and a whisper of cinnamon makes these cocoa cookies taste just like a mug of hot chocolate mix.
Photo by Linda Xiao8/59Ube 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.
Photo by Elizabeth Coetzee, Food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich9/59Any 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.
Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton, Prop Styling by Marina Bevilacqua10/59Masala Tea Creme Pies
Black tea and cinnamon flavor the cookies, while fresh ginger and cardamom powder imbue the filling with boatloads of flavor.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Diana Yen11/59Watercolor 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.
Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton, Prop Styling by Marina Bevilacqua12/59Key Lime Pie Thumbprint Cookies
With a graham cracker and brown sugar dough and a flipped ratio of “crust”-to-filling, these Key lime pie–inspired bites will brighten any holiday season.
Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Tiffany Schleigh13/59Italian 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.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Eliza Mozer14/59Molasses 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.
Photo by Elizabeth Coetzee, Food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich15/59Anything 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.
Photo by Elizabeth Coetzee, Food styling by Mira Evnine16/59Linzer 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.
Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Erika Joyce17/59No-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.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by M. Pearl Jones18/59Grated Shortbread Bars With Rose Jam
These delicate jam-filled bar cookies are made with dough that you freeze and then grate into the pan. They have a delightful light and crumbly texture.
Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton, Prop Styling by Marina Bevilacqua19/59Cranberry-Wine Swirl Cookies
Cranberries come out to play at Christmas courtesy of these wine-soaked pinwheels.
Photo by Dane Tashima20/59Peanut Butter and Ginger Cookies (PB&Gs)
A nutty, spicy lovechild of chewy molasses cookies and crowd-pleasing peanut butter cookies, these get a kick from both ground ginger and candied ginger chunks.
Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton, Prop Styling by Marina Bevilacqua21/59Cheddar Caramel Slices
Like that Chicago-style popcorn everyone sends around this time of year, but baked into a cookie bar. You’re welcome.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne22/59Spritz 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.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell23/59Double 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.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Judy Kim24/59Diamond 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.
Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton, Prop Styling by Marina Bevilacqua25/59Peppermint Black-and-White Cookies
Classic black and white cookies boast dual personalities. These add a third dimension with a hint of peppermint extract and a crushed candy garnish.
Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Tiffany Schleigh26/59Butter 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.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne27/59Chewy 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.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Samantha Seneviratne and Jason Schreiber28/59Lebkuchen
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.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Judy Kim29/59Mid-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.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Michelle Gatton30/59Molasses 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.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Eliza Mozer31/59Rugelach
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.
Photography by Joe Lingeman, Food Styling by Jesse Szewczyk, Prop Styling by Maggie DiMarco32/59Five-Spice Crackle Cookies
Who needs golden rings when you have (sing it with us) FIIIIVE SPICE COOKIES! Typically comprised of star anise, fennel seeds, cloves, cinnamon, and peppercorns, five-spice powder produces a perfectly, if atypically, spiced holiday cookie.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Diana Yen33/59Ombre Christmas Tree Cookies
Shake on layers of sanding sugar in various shades of green while the icing is still wet to create a gradient from dark to light. Gold dragees or oversized, embossed sprinkles make for simple tree toppers that elevate your decorating skills.
Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Zoe Denenberg & Mira Evnine34/59Peppermint 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.
Photo by Elizabeth Coetzee, Food Styling by Erika Joyce35/59Chocolate 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.
Photography by Joe Lingeman, Food Styling by Jesse Szewczyk, Prop Styling by Maggie DiMarco36/59Peppermint 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.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Katherine Sacks37/59Classic 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.
Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Emilie Fosnocht38/59Tutti-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.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Samantha Seneviratne & Jason Schreiber39/59Peanut 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.
Photography by Joe Lingeman, Food Styling by Jesse Szewczyk, Prop Styling by Maggie DiMarco40/59Pomegranate-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.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Michelle Gatton41/59White 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.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne42/59Coconut 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.
France Ruffenach43/59Kolacky
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.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich44/59Brown 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.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Ali Nardi45/59Triple-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.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Astrid Chastka, Food Styling by Anna Hampton46/59Cinnamon–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.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Samantha Seneviratne & Jason Schreiber47/59Goat Butter Shortbread
Goat’s milk butter is mildly tangy, complementing the whole wheat flour and wheat germ in these cookies.
Joy Wilson48/59Melty 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.
Photograph by Laura Murray, food styling by Sue Li49/59Brown 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.
Photo by Davide Luciano50/59Coffee 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.
Photo by Peden + Munk51/59Soft Gingerbread Tiles With Rum Butter Glaze
Cookie stamps give these tender “tiles” their signature embossed look, while a rum-butter glaze brings a festive antique finish. In a pinch? You can make these as regular cookies using round cookie cutters or by cutting them into squares with a knife.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson52/59No-Bake Pistachio–White Chocolate Cookies
A duo of nut butter and white chocolate give these cookies their crunchy and chewy texture; oats, pistachios, and cranberries add heft and pops of sweetness. (More of our best no-bake desserts, this way →)
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Anna Hampton53/59Flourless 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.
Photo by Romulo Yanes54/59Pignoli 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.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Ali Nardi55/59Chocolate, 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.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Ali Nardi56/59Pistachio 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.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Michelle Gatton57/59Pistachio-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.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Katherine Sacks58/59Stollenkonfekt
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.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Rhoda Boone59/593-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.








