Best Christmas Cookie Recipes

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A list of the best Christmas Cookie Recipes – find all the best Christmas cookies to bake and enjoy this holiday season in one place! Plus tips and tricks on how to store, wrap, and prepare Christmas cookies to make the ultimate Christmas Cookie trays!

a plate of best christmas cookie recipes - cut out sugar cookies


We take cookies seriously in our house, especially around Christmas time. So I decided it was time that I compiled our list of the best Christmas Cookie Recipes to help you decide what to bake this holiday season!

Baking Christmas Cookies with my kids is my absolute favorite holiday tradition. My mom baked with my sister and I as far back as I can remember, and over the years I’ve worked hard to perfect our favorite Christmas cookie recipes. So here’s a list of the best Christmas Cookie recipes, all in one place, plus some tips and tricks on preparing and packaging Christmas cookies!

 
Best Christmas Cookie recipes - stocking, tree and star cookies

Christmas Baking Essentials

Best Christmas Cookies - gingerbread man

Check out these classic Best Christmas Cookie Recipes! The ones we return to year after year because it just doesn’t feel like Christmas without them!

Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

The Best Cut Out Sugar Cookie Recipe! They are soft, chewy and hold their shape perfectly! Plus an easy sugar cookie frosting that tastes great and hardens with a beautiful shine.

Best Christmas Cookie Recipes - cut out sugar cookies

Peanut Butter Blossoms

The best Peanut Butter Blossoms cookie recipe! A soft peanut butter cookie is coated in sugar and topped with a chocolate kiss!

Best Christmas Cookies - peanut butter blossoms

Snickerdoodles

These snickerdoodle cookies have crispy edges, chewy centers, and a rich cinnamon flavor. They’re easy to make with no chilling or strange ingredients! This is a classic Christmas cookie recipe passed down from my grandma that I have been baking since I was a little girl.

Best Christmas Cookies - snickerdoodles

Pecan Snowball Cookies

Pecan Snowball Cookies are easy to make with 6 ingredients. They are buttery, nutty, and melt-in your mouth delicious. These butterball cookies are an old family recipe, and a must-make Christmas cookie!

Best Christmas Cookies - pecan snowball cookies

Soft Gingerbread Cookies

These Soft Gingerbread Cookies have crispy edges with soft and chewy centers and are perfectly spiced!  They are so easy to make – no rolling or cutting-out necessary to enjoy this rich & nostalgic gingerbread recipe!

Best Christmas Cookies - soft gingerbread cookies

Millionaire Shortbread Bars

These are to die for and always a favorite amongst the rest of the Christmas cookies.

Millionaire Shortbread Recipe

Chocolate Kiss Cookies

A rich chocolate cookie is rolled in sugar (or sprinkles) and topped with a chocolate kiss. These Hersey kiss cookies are Christmas cookies for chocolate lovers!

Best Christmas Cookie Recipes - chocolate kiss cookies

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are chewy & fudgy with a rich chocolate flavor.

Best Christmas Cookies - chocolate crinkle cookies

Best Oatmeal Cookies

These are, hands down, the most delicious oatmeal cookies you’ll ever bake or eat! The perfect addition to your Christmas cookie tray!

Best Christmas Cookies - oatmeal cookies

Best EVER Chocolate Chip Cookies

With almost 10,000, five-star reviews, these classic Chocolate Chip Cookies need to be on your Christmas cookie tray this year!

Best Christmas Cookies - chocolate chip cookies

Gingerbread Man Cookies

Make these gingerbread man cookies that are delicious as they are cute!

Best Christmas Cookies - gingerbread man cookies

Easy to make and extra festive with red & green M & Ms, these m and m cookie bars are a great treat to make when you’re short on time.

M&M Cookie Bars

Butter Cookies

I created this recipe for the best butter cookies as a copycat of my favorite bakery from my hometown. They’re buttery, sweet and irresistibly delicious!

Best Christmas Cookies - butter cookies

Thumbprint Cookies

These jam-filled, shortbread thumbprint cookies are festive and delicious!

Best Christmas Cookies - thumbprint cookies

Soft Peanut Butter Cookies

I spent many years creating these peanut butter cookies that are better than your local bakery! With tons of peanut butter flavor, they’re the perfect Christmas cookies for peanut butter lovers.

Best Christmas Cookies - soft peanut butter cookies

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

These oatmeal raisin cookies are soft and chewy and full of plump sweet raisins! The perfect addition to any Christmas cookies tray!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

Festive and delicious, with red and white mix-ins, these white chocolate cranberry cookies are a must-make during the holidays.

Best Christmas Cookies - white chocolate cranberry cookies

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Level up your Christmas cookies and make these Brown Butter chocolate chip cookies. They are rich with notes of caramel from the browned butter and topped with the chef’s kiss of flaky sea salt!

Best Christmas Cookies - brown butter chocolate chip cookies

Shortbread Cookies

These classic, buttery shortbread cookies are perfect for the holidays. Dip them in chocolate and add some sprinkles to make them festive!

Chocolate Snowball Cookies

These chocolate snowballs are rich and chocolatey treats perfect for everyone!

Best Christmas Cookies - chocolate snowball cookies

White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Buttery, sweet and loaded with festive white chocolate chips – these white chocolate chip cookies are among the first to disappear on any platter of Christmas cookies!

Best Christmas Cookies - white chocolate chip cookies

Double Chocolate Cookies

One of my top 10 favorite cookies, these chocolate cookies actually use three kids of chocolate. Topped with flaky sea salt, they are a cookie even grown ups will go crazy over!

Best Christmas Cookies - double chocolate cookies

Easier than rolling and cutting but just as delicious, dress these sugar cookie bars up with some holiday sprinkles, or dye the vanilla buttercream frosting red or green (or a swirl of both)!

Best Christmas Cookies - sugar cookie bars

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

A chocolate peppermint cookie dough is loaded with chopped peppermint bark for an irresistible & festive Christmas treat!

Best Christmas Cookies - chocolate peppermint cookies

Caramel Cookies

Insanely delicious – these salted caramel chocolate chip cookies are beloved by all who try them. And they’re easy to make- no chilling required.

Best Christmas Cookies - caramel cookies

Monster Cookies

There’s nothing scary about these delicious monster cookies – named for the monster amount of delicious ingredients like M&Ms, peanut butter, oatmeal and chocolate chips. Use red and green candies to give them a Christmas flare.

Best Christmas Cookies - monster cookies

Again – skip the rolling and baking multiple batches and make these irresistibly gooey chocolate chip cookie bars! Add some holiday sprinkles and make Christmas cookie bars!

Best Christmas Cookies - chocolate chip cookie bars

Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

Another Christmas cookie for chocolate lovers – a chocolate shortbread cookie is rolled in sugar and filled with chocolate ganache. There’s nothing not to love about these chocolate thumbprints.

Best Christmas Cookies - chocolate thumbprint cookies

Coffee Cookies

Have a coffee lover in your life? These espresso cookies are a must-make, gooey & chocolaty with a big espresso flavor!

Best Christmas Cookies - coffee cookies

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

These classic macadamia cookies are even more delicious than your favorite bakery – and a must-make to add to your list of Christmas cookie recipes!

Best Christmas Cookie Recipes - white chocolate macadamia nut cookies

No-Bake Christmas Cookies & Treats

Sometimes you need to run to a party and just don’t have enough time to bake Christmas cookies. These no-bake Christmas cookies, balls and bars are great holiday treat recipes to make when you’re short on time.

BEST No Bake Cookies (Ever)

These chocolate peanut butter delights are easy to make and are truly the best of the best.

Best Christmas Cookie Recipes - no bake cookies

Scotcheroos

So nostalgic and so easy, these scotcheroos are made without corn syrup and taste amazing.

Best Christmas Cookie Recipes - scotcheroos

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

These are on the top of every one of my family members’ must-make Christmas cookies list. They are so delicious and taste like a Reeses cup but better.

Best Christmas Cookie Recipes - chocolate peanut butter bars

Peppermint Bark

Better than store bought, this homemade peppermint bark is easy to make and doesn’t require any baking!

Best Christmas Cookie Recipes - Peppermint Bark

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

These peanut butter balls taste like a Reese’s cup but in ball form. So easy and delicious!

Best Christmas Cookie Recipes - chocolate peanut butter balls

Oreo Balls

Made with only 4 ingredients, these Oreo Balls are so easy to make festive using holiday Oreos and sprinkles!

Best Christmas Cookie Recipes - oreo balls

Reindeer Food

Are you sensing a theme with these no bake treats? They’re mostly chocolate & peanut butter. Can you blame me? It’s only the best combination?! Anyway – you have to try this Christmas Puppy Chow. Give it as gifts with our free printable label.

Best Christmas Cookie Recipes - reindeer food

Classic Puppy Chow (Muddy Buddies)

If you want to go the classic route – you cannot go wrong with my perfected method and recipe for the best puppy chow ever.

Best Christmas Cookie Recipes - puppy chow
Best Puppy Chow Recipe

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Bars

These are my go-to when I need to make Christmas cookies fast.

Best Christmas Cookie Recipes - chocolate oat bars

Honorable Mention Christmas Treats

Christmas cookies usually steal the show, but here are some honorable mentions in the category of “Christmas treats” that aren’t cookies.

Homemade Almond Toffee

Buttery with nutty crunch in every bite – almond toffee is a must-make for sure.

Best Christmas Cookie Recipes -  toffee

Homemade Caramel

Perfect for gift-giving, these homemade caramels are soft, flavorful and delicious!

Best Christmas Cookie Recipes - 
 Homemade Caramel

Homemade Chocolate Fudge

Just like grandma used to make, this old-fashioned chocolate fudge is a delicious holiday treat.

Best Christmas Cookie Recipes - chocolate fudge

Candied Pecans

I make these year round, but especially at Christmas time. They are delicious treats to give as gifts. Also try candied almonds and candied walnuts.

Best Christmas Cookie Recipes -  candied pecans

Peppermint Brownies

Christmas brownies need to be a thing as much as Christmas cookies! 🙂 These are fudgy and loaded with peppermint bark! Wash it down with a glass of peppermint hot chocolate too!

Best Christmas Cookie Recipes - peppermint brownies

Homemade Eggnog

What’s Christmas without eggnog? This homemade eggnog recipe is the absolute best, and a great drink to enjoy with all your favorite Christams cookies!

Best Christmas Cookie Recipes -  eggnog

Tips & Tricks for Holiday Baking

After decades of baking dozens and dozens of cookies every Christmas, here are some of my tips to help you get organized and have successful, low-stress baking days!

  1. Choose recipes from trusted sources. Choose Christmas cookie recipes that you have tried before or those that come from bakers or resources you trust.
  2. Make a list and check it twice! Once you’ve gathered the Christmas cookie recipes you will be baking, make a shopping list of the ingredients required for your baking endeavor. Don’t forget to include the amounts of each – how much butter? how much flour? etc.
  3. Read recipes thoroughly. In order to plan well, it’s important to know the steps in the recipes you choose. Which Christmas cookie recipes require chilling? Take lots of hands-on prep or work? Do you roll the dough into balls or flatten it into round discs? etc. This helps with the next step, which is to make a plan!
  4. Make a plan. Create a game plan and choose the order in which you’ll prepare and bake the Christmas cookies. I often take two days to do our Christmas baking. On the first day we make all the dough that needs to be chilled (like snowball cookies, sugar cookies, etc.), and on the second we bake it all off and decorate.
  5. Expect mistakes. I’ll never forget the Christmas I preheated the oven to bake dough that had been chilled overnight – unaware that the cookies we baked and decorated the day before were stored inside – all of which got completely ruined. Doesn’t turn out that some of the most memorable moments are the mistakes we laugh off and about for years to come? For this reason, always buy extra ingredients, just in case!

Freezing Dough & Cookies

If you would like to start preparing farther in advance than one day, you can. The dough for almost every cookie recipe on this list can be made, rolled into balls, and frozen in an airtight container to be baked off later.

Gradually let the dough thaw in the refrigerator or on the counter before baking – never ever microwave frozen cookie dough!

Best Christmas Cookie Recipes - dough in a bag to be frozen

What is your favorite?

There are so many options when it comes to holiday baking! What is your favorite Christmas cookie?! My all-time favorites are Peanut Butter Blossoms!

Best Christmas Cookie Recipes - peanut butter blossoms

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