‘Tis the season to indulge in Christmas cookies! From oh-so-merry classic cutout cookies with colorful icing to innovative twists on traditional favorites, our favorite Christmas cookie recipes for 2023 will make your taste buds jingle and your spirits shine bright! Grab a whisk and get ready to mix, roll, and sprinkle your way to cookie heaven. It’s time to bake the halls!
German Pfeffernüsse Cookies (German Spice Cookies)
You’ll love this recipe from Pineapple & Coconut. These traditional German Christmas cookies are similar to gingerbread, but with more honey and pepper (pfeffernüsse translates to pepper nuts). These soft and spicy cookies can be rolled in powdered sugar or dipped in icing.
Foolproof Christmas Cutout Cookies
Our favorite thing about this recipe from Bake at 350 is that this dough requires NO chilling! You can make these cookies ahead too. The dough, baked cookies, and decorated cookies can all be frozen. If you’re looking for soft, but not too soft, cutout cookies that will stand up to decorating – and even shipping – these are the cookies for you.
Church Window Cookies
No bake cookies with chocolate, marshmallow, and coconut? Give me the recipe! These cookies from Food, Folks, and Fun are a playful treat to bring to your holiday table. This recipe contains no flour and no eggs – it’s really more of a candy than a cookie – but it’s a fun, festive delight nonetheless.
Texas Sheet Cake Cookies
Everyone loves Texas sheet cake so why not turn the beloved Lone Star dessert into a scrumptious cookie fit for Santa? These rich chocolate cookies from The Pioneer Woman are covered in a delicious chocolate glaze to finish them off. For a little festive flair, you can add colorful sprinkles to the glaze. You can make and bake these ahead of time and store them (unglazed) for up to 30 days in an airtight container in the freezer. Thaw them out and glaze once they’re at room temperature.
Grinch Cookies
White cake mix and green food coloring bring the magic to these easy Christmas grinch cookies from Mom on Timeout. These cute flavorful cookies will bring out the Christmas spirit in even the grinchiest of grinches this season.
Lime Coconut Snowballs
A little bit Christmas, a little bit Key West – these surprising little sugar bombs from Two Peas & Their Pod are a Christmas cookie must. One of our Goodtaste staffers makes these zesty cookies every year for her family and they’re always a huge hit!
Cornflake Christmas Wreaths
These pretty little Christmas wreaths from Food Network are easy to make so be sure to let the little ones join in on this baking session! Mix up some Cornflakes, butter, vanilla, and marshmallows, add some food coloring and a few decorative ingredients, and bring these festive no-bake wreaths to your cookie table this season.
Eggnog Cookies
These holiday cookies from Preppy Kitchen are loaded with eggnog flavor! Infused with cinnamon and iced with spiced glaze, these will be a standout on your Christmas cookie tray! Add a little rum or bourbon to your eggnog in this recipe for an extra kick of flavor!
Candy Cane Kiss Cookies
A colorful twist on beloved peanut butter blossoms, this minty, seasonal recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction is as festive as it gets! Instead of peanut butter and chocolate, you get sugar cookie and peppermint. Leave a couple of these cookies out for Santa this year. He’ll be glad you did!
Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies
If you’re making Christmas cookies, you better have some molasses cookies on the list. This recipe from Gimme Some Oven is easy and delicious. These ultra soft, chewy, spicy cookies look, feel, and taste like Christmas. You’ll love them!
Cowboy Cookies
While these are technically not Christmas cookies, would a Texas Christmas be complete without cowboy cookies? We don’t think so! This recipe from Sugar Spun Run is straightforward, quick and easy. The cookies are soft, chewy, and have a ton of flavor and texture! Bonus: You can freeze these baked or unbaked.
Neapolitan Holiday Cookies
Neapolitan cookies also go by the name ‘rainbow cookies’ and ‘tricolor cookies.’ No matter what you call them, they’ll be a colorful, delicious addition to your Christmas cookie table. This recipe from Food Network‘s Valerie Bertinelli layers apricot preserves and raspberry jam between three colors of cake. Tips: Be sure to weigh down the assembled cookies overnight before coating with chocolate. Also, score the chocolate while it’s still wet to make it easier to cut into squares when the chocolate hardens.
Soft and Chewy Cardamom Spice Cookies
Bring something a little exotic to your table this season with these cardamom spice cookies from Cook Nourish Bliss. These cookies are similar to snickerdoodles but made with cardamom instead of cinnamon. Important to note: the chill time on these cookies before baking is important!
Jam-Filled Kolaches
If you’re making Christmas cookies in Texas, you better have some kolaches on your list! These traditional butter cookies from Eastern Europe (some say they come from Czechoslovakia; others say Poland) are a must during the holidays. This recipe from The Spruce Eats is a great way to get started if you’ve never made these before. Any type of jam can be used as a filling. Cream cheese or poppy seed fillings are also common.
Hot Chocolate Cookies
In this recipe from The Spruce Eats, the hot cocoa mix is the magic ingredient. You can use store-bought mix or make your own. If you use store-bought cocoa mix, be sure to mix in a couple teaspoons of mini chocolate chips. Melt half a marshmallow over the top of each cookie and enjoy!
Italian Sprinkle Cookies
These iconic Italian cookies are traditionally flavored with anise extract, a licorice extract. That pungent flavor isn’t beloved by all, so this recipe from Lil’ Luna uses almond extract instead (you can use vanilla too). You can bake these cookies, then freeze them without the glaze. Be sure to thaw them before glazing. You can also freeze the dough before they’re baked – just be sure to thaw them before baking.
Santa’s Whiskers Cookies
These slice and bake cookies from Sally’s Baking Addiction are flavored with almond and packed with cherries. They’re rolled in coconut for the grand finale. You can make the dough ahead of time, roll it, and refrigerate for five days before slicing and baking.
Walnut Crescent Christmas Cookies
Walnut crescent cookies are a staple on every Christmas cookie tray – and for good reason. They’re delicious! These buttery shortbread cookies from Amee’s Savory Dish only require six ingredients to make, and that includes the powdered sugar for dusting!
White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
Cranberries and white chocolate go together like peanut butter and jelly – especially at Christmastime! These cookies from My Heavenly Recipes look like homemade showstoppers, but they’re actually super easy to make. After all, they start with a package of snickerdoodle cookie mix (or a package of sugar cookie mix) but we won’t tell!
Christmas Cookie Bars
These easy, kid-friendly cookie bars from Crazy for Crust are bodacious blondies kicked up a notch with M&Ms and sprinkles. Be sure to use M&Ms in holiday colors to bring out that festive vibe. These bars are easy to make, a crowd favorite, and great to bring to a cookie swap! Even better, you can bake them ahead of time and freeze them for up to a month.
Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti
These beautiful cranberry pistachio biscotti from All Recipes are a great way to bring a little sophistication to the party. The green pistachios and red cranberries are all the color you need to set the holiday mood. Serve with a seasonal-flavored espresso and start your own fancy holiday tradition!
Stained Glass Window Cookies
These beautiful stained glass window cookies from Preppy Kitchen are a sight to behold. But don’t be scared – they are much easier to make than they look! Cut a small shape in the center of these sugar cookies, then fill with your favorite crushed hard candy before baking. Let them cool before moving them so the candy can harden again in the cookie. Pro tip: pop any air bubbles in the melted hard candy with a toothpick as soon as these come out of the oven.
Gingerbread Crinkle Cookies
These perfectly chewy beauties from Grandbaby Cakes are loaded with intense flavor! Infused with cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, lemon zest, dark brown sugar, and molasses, these cookies are memorable, alright! Pro tip: If your ginger is more than a year old, pick up a fresh bottle. Ginger loses its “punch” quickly.
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