Recipe Roundup

53 Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes

Rock your holiday cookie swap with simple recipes for buttery shortbreads, no-bake coconut cookies, chocolate thumbprints, and other sweets that will put everyone in the Christmas spirit.

By The Epicurious Editors

December 17, 2018

Christmastree shaped cookies decorated in ombr shades of green with glitter.

Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Diana Yen
1/52
Ombre Christmas Tree Cookies
These glittering treats are easy to make by shaking on layers of sparkling sugar in three shades of green to create a gradient from dark to light. Gold dragees form simple tree toppers.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Katherine Sacks
2/52
Classic Snickerdoodle Cookies
This childhood favorite is even better than you remember.
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Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Erika Joyce
3/52
No-Bake Chocolate Oat Cookies
Chocolate-oat cookies get a glow-up courtesy of dried cherries, chopped almonds, and a dash of espresso powder. A dusting of cocoa finishes them off like….well, not like snow, but it sure makes them pretty.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Diana Yen
4/52
Watercolor Christmas Ornament Cookies
Using a simple watercolor painting technique, it’s easy to brush and splatter these cookies with unique patterns.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Anna Billingskog
5/52
Chocolate-Pistachio Sablés
Logs of slice-and-bakes—like these Chocolate–Pistachio Sablés—store wonderfully in the freezer. And guess what? No need to defrost before slicing and zipping them into the oven.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Diana Yen
6/52
Iced Christmas-Cookie Letters
Spell out holiday cheer on your favorite platter or cookie plate with these wintery snow-capped cookies.
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Photo by Davide Luciano
7/52
Coffee Malteds
Freshly ground espresso beans (although instant espresso or coffee works) and unflavored malt powder gives the cookies a comforting, warm, mildly vanilla taste.
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Photo by Elizabeth Coetzee, Food styling by Mira Evnine
8/52
Linzer Cookies
Use raspberry jam in half and coconut-pandam jam in the remainder for delicious linzers with red and green centers.
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Photo by Leigh Beisch
9/52
Spiced Chocolate Molasses Buttons
This cookie gets a double hit of raw sugars: sticky dark muscovado in the dough and a roll through turbinado sugar that adds crunch and a naturally glittering finish around a puddle of bittersweet chocolate ganache.
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Photo by Peden & Munk
10/52
Chocolate-Nut Rugelach
The slice-and-bake technique used for these cookies is easier to manage than shaping a traditional crescent version—a touch of sanity during holiday baking madness.
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11/52
Spiced and Glazed Molasses Cookies
If you’d like an even more pronounced molasses flavor, use a robust instead of mild molasses. Just don’t use blackstrap in these cookies; not only will it be too strong and bitter, but it will overwhelm the spices.
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Photo by Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott
12/52
Chocolate Blackout Cookies
We love the look of the homemade extra-long sprinkles on these whoopie-pie-type cookies, but they take a steady hand and a wealth of patience to shape. Use any store-bought sprinkle in their place.
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Photo by Tara Donne, food and prop styling by Diana Yen
13/52
All-in-One Sugar Cookie Dough
Using this base sugar cookie dough allows for a lot of permutations, from sparkly decorated cookies to nutty bites.
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Photo by Kelsey McClellan
14/52
Blood Orange and Poppy Polenta Shortbread Cookies
Make these delicate, citrusy, melt-in-your-mouth cookies and just try not to eat all of them in one sitting.
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