Searching for the all-time best Christmas cookies? We've got you covered. From simple family favorites to elaborate gift-worthy treats - there's a cookie for everyone!
Christmas is probably my favorite time of year. I love the decorations, the family get-togethers, and giving people gifts!
I am not an enjoyer of the shopping at all for eleven months of the year but when it comes to Christmas time, I love going out and finding gifts that are going to make my family happy.
One of my favorite things to do is give homemade gifts, which of course for me, means you're getting something from my kitchen! Which normally means cookies 🙂
I love packaging up dozens of cookies in cute little Christmas boxes to give out to the siblings, neighbors and friends. Seriously, is there anything better than opening up a box full of delicious goodies?
So whether you are giving homemade gifts this year or participating in annual Christmas Cookie Exchanges or just need some great cookies to leave out for Santa, we've rounded up 85 of the best cookies out there!
If you thought you had already decided on a cookie recipe for this year, you might want to think again! You're bound to find a new favorite here!!
85 Christmas Cookie Recipes
These Christmas cookies have only 7 ingredients. Layered in a pan. That's how they got the name 7 Layer Cookies.
Almond Crescent Cookies dipped in chocolate are a classic Christmas cookie recipe. Soft, buttery, and full of nutty almond flavor, they will be a favorite on your holiday cookie platter. To make them even more festive, after their dip in dark chocolate (or even white chocolate), give these almond crescents a coating of fun sprinkles, colored sugar, or chocolate chips.
Not only are these Almond Spritz Cookies my favorite to eat, but they are so fun to decorate. Not too sweet and perfectly crisp, these addictive little cookies are sure to be a favorite in your home too!
These Apple Pie Cookies are A-mazing! They truly do taste like an apple pie in a bite size portion.
Black Forest Sandwich Cookies are easy to make and perfect for the holidays. These chocolate sandwich cookies are stuffed with cherry pie filling and cream. It doesn’t get any better than this!
These Brown Sugar Cinnamon Coconut Cookies are spiced coconut cookies that are crispy on the edges and chewy in the middle.
Butterscotch Pudding Triple Chip Cookies is loaded with chocolate chips! Oh so yummy!!
These Candy Cane Blossoms are really so fun to make. They’re so easy and they just look so darn cute.
These Caramel Apple Snickerdoodle Cookies take the usual all American snickerdoodles and bring them up a notch by adding both caramel and apple to the mix.
these Cherry Cordial Blossom Cookies are amazing! The kisses really bring it together. Make sure there are enough cherry chunks in each ball when you roll them so you get all those cherry pieces in each bite!
This is my favorite recipe for Chewy Ginger Cookies. They are soft, chewy, with warm flavors of ginger and molasses, plus they take 10 minutes to prepare!
Chocolate Butterscotch Cookies are thin, rich and oh so delicious! These chocolate cookies with both chocolate chips and butterscotch chips are the perfect recipe for any chocolate lover.
Chocolate chip sugar cookie bars, slathered with creamy peanut butter frosting. This is what sugar cookie bar dreams are made of!
Dipped Oreo Cookies for Christmas! Bright, lovely, and perfect for any holiday gathering or for packaging up for the neighbors!
These Christmas Cookie Pops are very easy. If you are like me and you suck at decorating cookies, you will be really happy with the overall results.
This is a really easy recipe but another favorite cookie flavor that combines cinnamon, toffee and some pecan nuts.
Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake Cookies that taste like they came from a bakery, but they have only a few ingredients and come together super easily!
This Cinnamon Roll Cookies recipe is a sweet, slightly tangy and spicy bite of all the best things a cinnamon roll offers - and because I made them tiny, having a few with that cup of cocoa is totally A-OK!
What a nice surprise to take a bite and find a kiss inside. There’s a little bit of crunch from the cereal and the cookie bits inside the kisses. Let me tell you, these Cookies & Cream Crunch Cookie Bites are totally addictive!
Light, crispy, and bursting with orange and cranberry flavor, these Cranberry Orange Pecan Cookies will be making an appearance on our Christmas dessert table this year.
These delicious Cranberry Yogurt Cookies are awesome! With just the right hint of orange to complement the cranberries, you will not be disappointed.
Cream Cheese Meltaways with Lemon Glaze are little bite-sized cookies that are a light and delicious addition to any holiday cookie platter. The lemon glaze gives just a hint of lemony sweetness to the cream cheesy butter cookies. These cookies ill be an instant favorite!
I’m so happy to bring these Cream Cheese Swirled Red Velvet Cookies to our cookie exchange! I love red velvet, I honestly hate cream cheese but for some reason when it comes to red velvet cake I absolutely love cream cheese frosting. Plus it’s just pretty for the holidays!
These Creme de Menthe Chocolate Pudding Cookies taste very similar to a Thin Mint. Which rocks. I’m thinking these cookies are going to be making their rounds as gifts this year.
Ma’amoul cookies (aka Maamoul) feature a sweet spiced date filling stuffed into a rich, buttery, crisp cookie that’s somewhat similar to shortbread.
A double whammy of ginger, ground and crystallized in these delicious Double Ginger Crackles. They are perfect for a holiday cookies tray or for snacking year round.
What’s better than a single peanut butter cookie? Double Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies stuffed with a peanut butter cup and drizzled with chocolate on top.
These eggnog cookies are soft and full of flavor! They’re perfect for holiday parties, with a delicate eggnog icing that isn’t overly sweet.
This Florentine Lace Cookies recipe is a bit more time-consuming to make. However, these cookies are definitely worth the work. They’re gorgeous. Delicate, thin, and crispy, with a nutty, caramel/butterscotch flavor. And dark chocolate really makes the perfect addition!
Flourless Fluffernutter Cookies are super peanut-buttery, tender, slightly crumbly thumbprint cookies. These peanut butter and marshmallow cookies are a naturally gluten free peanut butter cookie recipe that brings together that sweet and salty, fluffy and nutty combination everyone loves.
These giant ginger cookies are a holiday favorite, made extra large for big cookie lovers!
Soft and chewy in the centers with melty puddles of chocolate and a spirited zing of fresh ginger, these Ginger Molasses Maple Cream Sandwich Cookies are the cookies I most look forward to every year.
Ginger Snap Cookies are at the top of my list for Holiday Cookies; molasses, cinnamon, ginger… Winter in a bite. You add some Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting on top and you'll fall in love!
A Christmas Classic. These gingerbread men are a soft cookie with a mild ginger flavor. From an old family recipe.
Beautiful, stained-glass like shortbready circles, delicious. This sounds like a new kinda holiday cookie
The flavors of Winter will linger a while longer with these homemade Gingerbread Cut Out Cookies.
Peanut Blossoms are a holiday cookie staple around our house, as well as many others. This popular peanut butter cookie topped with a Hershey’s Kiss is not only delicious, but it is such a cute addition to the cookie plate.
A chewy old fashioned molasses cookie iced with white chocolate.
These healthier chocolate chunk molasses gingerbread cookies are chewy, soft and filled with the flavors of the holidays.
I decided to put a spin on the traditional monster cookie for my cookie swap recipients. I kept the oats, but ditched the peanut butter, and then substituted dried cranberries, chopped pistachios, and white chocolate chips for the traditional “monster” ingredients. Tart, chewy, and nutty, these cookies will be an instant hit to your family!
If it's too hot to drink hot chocolate, try out these little beauties! You'll gladly take the cookies any day!
The classic flavors of turtle candy ... chocolate, pecans, and caramel ... in soft and insanely delicious Turtle Cookies.
These Italian Cookies are the perfect bites of sweetness and are the perfect choice for any cookie platter, holiday or otherwise.
The perfect Holiday cookie, Italian wedding cookies are light as air with ground almonds, powdered sugar and lots of butter!
Enjoy a fresh batch of these delectable linzer cookies for dessert! They’re jam-filled almond cookies that are made in just 1 hour.
These extra large, jumbo Snickerdoodle cookies are the ultimate sweet treat. Soft, fluffy, and coated in cinnamon sugar goodness!
Mexican Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies | Delicious spicy chocolate ganache set inside a sweet buttery sugar cookie!
These cookies are dry and crumbly, perfect for enjoying with coffee, tea, or your hot beverage of choice (mulled apple cider works well too).
Orange Chocolate Spice Cookies. The sweet mixture of Orange and Chocolate with the added bonus of delicious spices, and smothered in a glaze.
If you love peanut butter, then these are a must try! This recipe actually made a lot of balls, I had around 6 dozen.
These Peanut Butter Chocolate Mounds are addictive! The chocolate kiss actually bakes inside the cookie and they look like little mountains. They are especially hard to resist when warm.
Peanut Butter Ritz Cookies are our FAVORITE treats for the holidays! Chocolate dipped Ritz crackers stuffed with peanut butter, so easy and delicious!
Peppermint Twist Kiss Cookies are a fun variation of the ever-popular “blossom” cookies with a candy kiss in the middle. These light-tasting peppermint cookies have a red and white swirl that are cute and festive for the holidays or any time!
This shortbread peppermint cookie is perfect for Christmas. While the ones I made here are simple rounds, you can roll out the dough and make it into any shape you like.
Every year I make a fun new rugelach recipe. I have all sorts of different flavors and fillings. And this year, I am channeling all the fall vibes. Pumpkin rugelach is rolled with sweet candied pecans with warm flavors of cinnamon, cardamom and bright orange zest.
These Red Hot Cookies ended up pleasantly surprising me. They had just the right pop of cinnamon from the red hots. The candy did firm back up a little once the cookies cooled down but it never went back to it’s original state. It was just a nice chewy cinnamon piece in the cookies.
Soft, chocolate brownie cookies with a distinct red velvet hue are a treat any time of year!
Red Velvet Cookies are soft, chewy and stuffed with chocolate chips and topped with cream cheese frosting! They freeze great and are perfect for your Christmas cookie trays, a sweet treat for Valentine’s Day or just because!
This old-timey family recipe makes the BEST Chocolate Rum Balls, made extra-tasty with spiced rum. They're a classic Christmas favorite, for sure!
Soft Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate chunks have got to be one of the most perfect cookies! These are a great cookie to make for Christmas this year if you are going to be baking too!
Want to bake your own Biscoff cookies? Also known as Speculaas, Speculoos or Dutch Windmill Cookies, this easy recipe is perfect for the holidays!
With a flavor jolt from browned butter and a touch of cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, these Spiced Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are so good you'll have a new favorite chocolate chip cookie.
Ginger fans will fall in love with the spicy flavor of these crispy, chewy, Three Ginger Gingersnaps.
Toffee Almond Snowball Cookies take the classic Christmas cookie recipe and make it even more irresistible. Your traditional snowball cookies are buttery and tender, but they are not complete until they are double-rolled in powdered sugar. Now add the nutty flavor from almonds and rich toffee bits and you have a flavor combination like you’ve never had before in this old favorite. Santa might be tempted to make a repeat stop at your house when you make this Toffee Almond Snowball Cookie recipe.
The first bite into these turtle cookie cups is pure bliss. Sugar, butter, nuts, caramel, and chocolate burst in your mouth with every bite.
White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies (with Browned Butter)
These White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal cookies are crisp on the edges but soft in the middle. The oats give the cookie texture, the white chocolate adds a bit of sweetness, and the cranberries add a hint of tartness. The brown butter and brown sugar combine together to give the cookie a caramel flavor. All the ingredients combine to form buttery, caramel, cranberry goodness.
Delicious, soft and chewy Molasses Cookies that are rolled in sugar, baked. Dress them up with a drizzle of white chocolate for the perfect finishing touch if you’d like! Your treat platter for the holidays won’t be complete with these traditional Christmas Cookies.
These vegan shortbread cookies are light and buttery, and even make great gifts for foodie friends. They only need 3 simple ingredients and are done in a jiffy!
Chewy chocolatey cookies studded with bits of broken candy canes and chocolate chips.
These muffin-top quinoa cookies are packed with healthy flavor from diced apples, quinoa, and plenty of cinnamon. They taste even better when drizzled with a little bit of honey before serving!
These Christmas Wreath Cookies are bursting with sugar, spice, and everything nice. They are the ultimate edible Christmas gift! Perfect for gifting this holiday season, or just a fun family project for the holidays.
Looking for a delicious soft and jam-filled thumbprint cookie? These Vegan Thumbprint Cookies are so easy to make, taste absolutely delicious, and only require 5 simple ingredients!
These vegan chocolate crinkle cookies are soft, chewy, chocolatey, and delicious! Dusted with powdered sugar, these vegan chocolate cookies will remind you of snow, but be warm as holiday spirit!
Spice Cookies are a simple holiday cookie recipe that is full of flavor and coated with a sweet powdered sugar finish.
These simple Cherry Almond Cookies are the perfect Christmas cookie! Packed with flavor from cherries, almonds, and coconut - and easy to make in 30 minutes.
These easy chocolate dipped icebox cookies are the perfect make-ahead recipe for the holidays. Soft, buttery, dipped in chocolate & decorated with sprinkles.
An ode to Arnott's Mint Slice Biscuits. Makes 24 cookies.
Cream-filled maple leaf cookies showcase the bounty of the country’s many maple farms. If you’ve never had one, now’s the time to enjoy this sandwich cookie filled with maple buttercream frosting. Free of nuts, peanuts and yeast.
These homemade Oreo cookies are incredibly easy to make! A slightly soft chocolate cookie filled with silky smooth mint cream cheese!
These adorable Peppermint Snowball Cookies are so fun to make - and even more fun to eat! Perfect for the holiday season.
These deliciously chocolatey tender brownie cookies are packed with chocolate chunks and sandwiched with peppermint cream.
These Vegan Biscotti are simple to make and packed with flavor from apricots and walnuts. They're perfect for dunking in coffee and make beautiful foodie gifts!
This vegan version of Turtle Cookie Squares, is so good and healthy—and maybe even better than—the original recipe.
These Gingerbread Christmas Tree cookies are bursting with sugar and spice, and sure to brighten up your next Christmas celebration!
These Gingerbread Madeleines are a great addition to the Christmas baking lineup. These fragrant Gingerbread Madeleines fill the kitchen with the most beautiful aroma as they bake. Even better - the batter can be made the night before and refrigerated, then baked on demand. So you can prep them for an easy Christmas morning breakfast.
I hope you've found the Christmas cookies of your holiday dreams here. Be sure to check out these other fun holiday ideas too:
Judy
Hi Jaime, thanks for including Grandma's Molasses Cookies in your line-up! What a great list you've put together. Merry Christmas!
Karen
this is just awesome - maybe I can find some new recipes here!