If you're looking for Christmas cookie recipes that'll guarantee you a spot on the nice list, look no further. We have over 30 of Santa's favorite Christmas classics here and ready for the baking. Any of these Ultimate Christmas Cookie Recipes is guaranteed to add more joy and fun to your Christmas season!
We've gathered all our holiday cookie favorites, including the classics like sugar cookies and Snickerdoodles, seasonal favorites like reindeer cookies, and some NEW favorites--thumbprints and painted sugar cookies. This cookie roundup has all your Christmas cookie desires in one place!
The Ultimate Christmas Cookie List
Christmastime was (and still is) my most favorite season of the year. Tis the season for eating and Christmas snacking! In my bakery days, I learned which holiday cookie recipes top the lists year after year as the most loved and most popular, and I'm ready to spill it all.
These tried-and-true ultimate Christmas cookie recipes are the best-sellers from when I ran my cookie business, and I know you will see why. They speak to tradition, ease, fun, and comfort--all of the things that make the holiday season super special!
1. Painted Cookies
No piping skills necessary for these beauts! This painted Christmas cookie recipe takes the traditional simplicity of a sugar cookie and transforms it into the Christmas masterpiece of your choosing.
2. Strawberry Thumbprints
This delicious butter thumbprint cookie recipe features a melt-in-your-mouth buttery cookie filled with strawberry jam and is topped with a sprinkle of sparkling sugar. One of my best-selling cookies when I ran my at-home bakery, it's no wonder they are at the top of this ultimate Christmas cookie list!
3. Royally Iced Sugar Cookies
For these royally iced sugar cookies, I changed things up just a tad from the traditional sugar cookie recipe, but don't worry! It's still as scrumptious! I cut the sugar by just a little and added almond extract in addition to vanilla. This change-up gives a more pronounced flavor without it being overwhelmingly sweet.
4. Christmas Cookies with Icing
A recipe for the best Christmas sugar cookies with icing is now at your fingertips! These homemade sugar cookies feature an easy buttercream frosting. Plus, we teach you how to ice tree and wreath cookies to look like grass--super festive and fun!
5. Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies
One of our most favorite cookie flavor combos is chocolate and peanut butter. So, when those two gems come together in the form of a thumbprint cookie topped with a Hershey Kiss, it will top the charts for your new favorite Christmas cookie!
6. Double Chocolate Chip Drop Cookies
For someone who has been baking for a few decades (I started at my mama's side!), these double chocolate chip drop cookies are by far one of my favorite ultimate Christmas cookie recipes to make. You don't have to be a pro baker to nail drop cookies. It's super easy! We've got all the steps you need to achieve a soft, chewy, fluffy cookie.
7. Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
If you've got 15 minutes and a deep love for all things peanut butter, you'll love our peanut butter cookie recipe. It was my grandmother's favorite make-from-scratch recipe, and it can be your new favorite, too. They are thick, soft, and practically melt in your mouth!
8. Snickerdoodles
This is the best cinnamon-sugar cookie recipe you'll find out there. We cracked the code on delivering chewy, super soft cookies every single time. Your holiday season just got more cinnamonny and sparkly!
9. Peppermint Brownies
Get ready for a classic brownie recipe to get a delicious winter makeover with these peppermint brownies! You get a moist brownie layer with a big chocolate flavor and creamy, peppermint patty-like filling; all topped off with a fudgy chocolate ganache and festive peppermint candies on top. What a way to ring in Christmas!
10. Chocolate Crinkles
Calling all chocolate lovers! This is the Christmas cookie for you! These homemade chocolate crinkle cookies with chocolate chips are coated with powdered sugar and are perfect for the holidays--soft, chewy, and easy to make for any Christmas gathering.
11. Ginger Molasses Cookies
Here is your Christmas cookie for all homemade holiday treats and gifts: a warm, spicy ginger molasses cookie. My grandmother always had these out for me anytime I visited. This cookie is a nostalgic childhood memory and was one of my best sellers at my at-home bakery.
12. Cowboy Cookies
If you're looking for a cookie with all the bells and whistles, the cowboy cookie is loaded with chocolate chips, coconut, pecans, and old-fashioned oats. It's a hearty addition to any Christmas cookie swap!
13. Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate
Peanut butter cookies dipped in chocolate not only make for a decadent, delicious homemade gift but an aesthetically pleasing one at that, which is why it's here on our ultimate Christmas cookie list!
14. Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies
An ultimate Christmas cookie recipe that leaves no mess and comes together in less than 10 minutes? Yes, please! No-bake peanut butter cookies are a quick and easy dessert full of salty-sweet deliciousness that anyone would love to receive this Christmas.
15. Peppermint Bark Brownies
Scrumptious, adorable peppermint bark brownies are the perfect Christmas treat! They mimic peppermint bark but have all the chocolatey brownie-ness--it's the best of both peppermint and chocolate worlds wrapped up in one bite!
16. Almond Biscotti Cookies
If the perfect homemade Christmas gift for the coffee lover exists, I think it is an almond biscotti cookie. Bringing big crunch and big flavor, it will for sure be beloved by that cookie and coffee lover in your life!
17. Mexican Wedding Cookies
Mexican wedding cookies are salty, sweet, and blend in with any snowy Christmas decor! A buttery cookie speckled with finely chopped nuts that comes generously coated in powdered sugar is a holiday cookie everyone loves.
18. Coconut Macaroons
Coconut macaroons dipped in chocolate are fan favorites around here--especially around Christmastime. They feel decadent but are oh-so-simple with a golden brown outside and a chewy, coconutty inside.
19. Cinnamon Cookies
Cinnamon and nutmeg are staples for Christmastime, so our cinnamon cookies fit in perfectly! Like a Snickerdoodle in taste, they pack a bigger punch in flavor and spice, making them an ideal homemade Christmas treat.
20. Red Velvet Cookies
A brilliant, festive crimson, these red velvet cookies are a festive match for the holiday season. You get a thick, soft, cake-like cookie with a light cocoa flavor and a hint of cream cheese in the batter. They are the gifts that keep on giving.
21. Haystack Cookies
Chow mein isn't just for Chinese food! Dress them up for these fun and tasty haystack cookies! Your choice of chocolate or butterscotch elevates this peanut-buttery Christmas treat to a level perfect for any festive gathering or gift.
22. Texas Sheet Cake Cookies
If you love a Texas sheet cake, buckle up this Christmas for Texas sheet cake cookies! Everything you adore about that deeply chocolate, seriously fudgy cake is perfect in handheld form for holiday gatherings.
23. Andes Mint Cookies
Those addictively chocolate mints wrapped in shiny green packaging just upgraded to one of the best Christmas cookies out there: Andes mint cookies! It's not just a double dose of chocolate but triple. You're welcome, chocolate lovers!
24. Red Velvet Brownies
Red velvet brownies for Christmastime just makes sense, (peep our red velvet cookies, too!). The beautiful (and delicious), moist red brownie crumb topped with decadent cream cheese frosting never disappoints.
25. Thumbprint Cookies
A classically beautiful and elegant cookie, thumbprints are perfect for any and every occasion, especially the holidays. This easy shortbread base comes together in 10 minutes and bakes up super buttery; you won't want to have just one.
26. Italian Wedding Cookies
Italian wedding cookies make any Christmas dessert table even more beautiful. An elegantly delicious combo of vanilla and almond in buttery cookie form is coated with a generous helping of powdered sugar to make these cookies your guests' new favorite this holiday season.
27. Amaretti Cookies
These sparkling amaretti cookies are as festive as they are tasty. With only five ingredients and less than 15 minutes of prep time, this cookie recipe is one to save all year long.
28. Gingerbread Cookies
A cookie that smiles back at you is definitely one that deserves a spot on the ultimate Christmas cookie recipe guide. Gingerbread cookies are not only precious (who doesn't love a smiley gingerbread man?) but will fill your belly with warmth and spice this holiday season. Baking with kids or gift-giving just got a whole lot happier!
29. Pinwheel Cookies
An old-fashioned holiday classic might appear challenging to pull off, but rest assured--the waiting is the hardest part of this recipe. With just one sugar cookie base, two flavors emerge to bring these fun pinwheel cookies to life!
30. Almond Joy Cookies
The Almond Joy candy bar meets Almond Joy cookies! All of the savory and sweet flavors of the beloved chocolate-coconut bar take on a whole new life in cookie form. An ooey-gooey center loaded with coconut, chocolate, and almonds is topped off with melty chocolate and an almond on top! They are an easy choice for your Christmas cookie swap.
31. Reindeer Cookies
Arguably the cutest Christmas dessert out there, reindeer cookies are fun to look at and make! Does the shape look familiar to you, though? Fun fact: the reindeer shape is just our gingerbread cookie turned upside down! How easy will it be to make reindeer and gingerbread men cookies for your upcoming party?!
Leave a Reply