These Christmas recipes are the most popular and beloved holiday cookies of all time. Maybe you’re having your first-holiday party, hosting your family’s annual Christmas event, looking for a recipe to bring to an office party, or simply looking to stay busy with the kids while they are out of school on winter break. You’ll find classic Christmas cookie recipes and ones with a new twist. From several thumbprint recipes to plenty of shortbread recipes, new gingerbread cookie recipes and more.
Christmas is full of tradition. First, comes the Christmas tree and decorations. Next, come the DIY holiday crafts and holiday baking. Joyful cards are mailed to family and friends, church activities fill up our calendar. There is shopping, wrapping, and gifting presents for our annual Christmas parties celebrated at school, the office, and in our homes.
These Turtle Thumbprint Cookies are delightfully delicious. A modern twist on popular turtle candies, these cookies use ingredients that are steeped in decades of holiday tradition. Each bite gets better and better. That’s because the first bite tastes like chocolate pecans. Next comes the caramel sauce and it sure is delicious. Make a plate to share with friends this season.
Master these iconic Peanut Butter Cup Cookies. EVERY cookie box needs to feature these peanut butter cookies stuffed with mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. These cookies bring out the child in everyone. Serving them on a cookie tray? Separate the variety of flavors by placing each cookie in a paper cupcake liner.
Easy 10-ingredientItalian Christmas Cookies. These fun sprinkle loaded cookies will rival your classic sugar cookie cutouts without the hassle of the rolled dough recipe that’s been passed down from generation to generation. These drop cookies are soft, fluffy, and have a classic sugar cookie flavor that’s perfect with homemade icing and colorful sprinkles.
Don’t skip these fun Chocolate Crinkle Cookies. These fudgy chocolate cookies with powdered sugar crinkle tops taste like your favorite brownie recipe. Even better, spike the crinkle cookie dough with extracts and baking flavors like peppermint, maple, or mint. You don’t have to be a chocolate lover to enjoy these cookies.
Add citrus lemon flavor to your cookie platter. You’re guests and family will LOVE you for it! Even the most seasoned Christmas cookie connoisseur needs a refreshing cookie to change up the palate. Plus, these Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies have rave reviews from other holiday bakers like you!
One Gingerbread cookie recipe is not enough. Add these Gingerbread Thumbprint Cookies recipe to your Christmas cookie box. The classic molasses cookies are spiced with traditional gingerbread flavors but take much less time than rolled gingerbread cookie dough. You won’t miss out on the beloved gingerbread men cookie flavor by opting to make these much quicker cookie bites treats instead because these thumb print cookies feature the same traditional ingredients like molasses, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Plus, the filled centers are loaded with white chocolate gingerbread filling. No rolling the cookie dough. No using cookie cutters. They are popular for a reason!
Simple Christmas recipes do exist. Keep Christmas baking easy with these Christmas Pretzel Hugs Cookies. Pretzels and Hershey kisses are all you’ll need to make this budget savvy bite size holiday dessert recipe. Top them with festive Christmas M&M’s to make them pop with festive colors. Even better, get the kids involved with this easy DIY Christmas craft for little ones.
It’s not Christmas without these Peanut Butter Blossoms Cookies. An updated version to vintage recipe your mother and grandmother made. This peanut butter cookie recipe with Hersey kisses candy uses real butter and bakes up chewy every time. You won’t be able to stop eating at just one. Go ahead and make a batch for the party, then make a batch for yourself!
Everyone likes chocolate dipped shortbread cookies but everyone will love you for making these Twix Cookies instead. Elevate your favorite cookie recipes during the holiday season by filling them with caramel or other special baking ingredients. Your guests will be begging you for this shortbread cookie recipe with caramel and chocolate.
These Strawberry Thumbprint Cookies will always be a well-liked holiday approved dessert. Thumb print cookies are in demand and popular because there is an endless amount of filling variations and flavor combinations that truly make this a timeless cookie classic. A basic dough recipe that can be filled with different flavor jams, jelly, and fruit preserves. For a twist, drizzle in chocolate or caramel sauce.
Shortbread cookies are a must in your holiday cookie repertoire. Jazz them up with candied cherries and chocolate chips and you’ll get the most amazing Chocolate Chip Maraschino Cherry Shortbread Cookies. A family recipe for several decades, these adored refrigerator cookies are always the FIRST cookie gone from the platter year after year. I always have to make more than one batch because everyone loves to sneak extras home.
Perhaps the most iconic Christmas cookie is this Pecan Snowball recipe. Every Christmas party dessert table features dozens of these round shortbread cookies dusted in powdered sugar. They are so popular that dozens of countries around the world call them by names that include Pecan Shortbread Balls, Mexican Wedding Cookies, Russian Tea Cookies, Swedish Heirloom Cookies, Snowdrop Cookies, and English Tea Biscuits.
These Avalanche Cookies have been a fool-proof Christmas cookie tradition for decades. Each year, we mix up a few batches. A NO BAKE cookie cluster recipe that will have you making it year-round. Each bite is loaded with melted white chocolate, peanut butter, peanuts, and rice Krispie cereal.
You WANT these Hot Chocolate Cookies with mini marshmallows at your annual holiday party. Heck, they are so GOOD that you’ll want to save half of them just for yourself. Each bite is divine and heavenly because they are richly dense fudge cookies filled with peppermint spiked fudgy chocolate. Yep, I said it, the center filling texture is nearly identical to fudge with a mild peppermint flavor and chocolate jimmies. For dessert gazers, this is the holy grail.
I can’t tell you how many times hosts have thanked me for bringing a different cookie flavor. That’s right, we’ve all looked at cookie platters and sampled a few bites of cookies before vowing that we’re done with them for the season. This year, intrigue those around you. Bake a batch of these Lemon Sugar Cookies. Lemon desserts are a thing. Especially during the party packed celebration season.
Basic Christmas Cookie Ingredients
- Christmas cookie recipes come in a variety of shapes, flavors, texture, and color. A lot of holiday cookies will use ingredients like butter, sugar, flour, and perhaps a leavening agent like baking soda or baking powder.
- USE REAL BUTTER: Christmas IS the time to use real butter in your recipes. Sure, grandma said to use margarine in her mother’s shortbread cookie recipe and now you do, too. Thing is, butter was very expensive back in the day. Using real butter really only happened during Christmas. If there is ever a time to use, use it for holiday cooking and baking. Plus, you’ll notice the difference in cookie texture and flavor, especially in cookies without a lot of added flavor because these recipes heavily rely on good butter flavor like these classic Snickerdoodles.
- SUGARS: Sweeteners add a lot of flavors to baked goods and each sweetener called for in a recipe has a different use. Using sugar like brown sugar, granulated sugar, sanding sugar, molasses, dark brown sugar, powdered sugar, honey, and maple syrup/sugar can have drastically different effects on baking. For example, using brown sugar may result in more cookie dough spreading due to more moisture from the molasses. Different sugars will result in different textures, browning, spreading, firming, and taste. Stock up on these classic pantry items during the baking season.
- FLOUR: Unless specified in the recipe, stick with all-purpose flour. If substituting a different flour than what’s called for, know that it may fail. This is because each flour has a different protein structure that unless you know what you’re doing, it comes down to a science. In addition, be sure to correctly measure flour. Not doing so WILL result in cookies that are dry or cookies that spread or are gooey and “not cooked”. To correctly measure flour, gently scoop it up with a spoon or a smaller measuring cup then gently sprinkle it into the measuring cup without pressing it down. If you have a food scale, simply weigh it.
