455 christmas baking recipes

Santa Claus cookies decorate flat sugar cookies with red sugar caps, miniature marshmallow tassels, currant eyes, cinnamon candy noses, and coconut beards. A festive holiday craft cookie kids can help build from baked rounds.

Chocolate nut torte: a four-layer sponge cake filled with silky cooked chocolate-buttercream frosting and topped with chopped nuts. An old-world holiday torte for special occasions.

Christmas crackers are sweet honey-wheat holiday cookies stamped with cookie cutters and sprinkled with sugar. Makes 45 crispy-edged rectangles for gifting or dipping.

Swedish Christmas crescent cookies: tender almond shortbread shaped into half-moons and finished with cinnamon sugar. The classic Scandinavian holiday cookie that melts on the tongue.

Fry bread with all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, and cornmeal for a hearty, golden crust. Deep-fried until puffy and crisp, served with honey or maple syrup.

Rolled animal cookies made from buttery sugar cookie dough with cream, cut into animal shapes and decorated with colored sugar, chocolate sprinkles, and raisins. Great for Christmas tree ornaments.

Pistachio and white chocolate cookies with brown sugar, butter-flavored shortening, and toasted pistachios. Chewy or crisp by choice, the classic holiday cookie tin upgrade.

Chocolate thumbprint cookies rolled in powdered sugar with a rich chocolate ganache filling. Brown sugar shortbread base with chopped chocolate chips baked into the dough.

George Washington cake is a moist, cinnamon-spiced apple cake baked over a layer of sliced apples, then crowned with tangy cream cheese frosting and a fan of fresh apple slices. A festive Christmas dessert.

Homemade Danish pastry wreath with layers of buttery laminated dough, almond filling, and candied cherries. A holiday baking project that rewards patience with flaky, golden results.

Half moon cookies with a soft, cake-like buttermilk crumb, frosted half white and half chocolate. The classic upstate New York holiday cookie, also known as a black-and-white.

Danish chocolate shortbread cookies shaped into finger-thick ropes, filled with raspberry preserves, and drizzled with melted chocolate. An elegant holiday cookie with a buttery cocoa base.

Rocky road dessert pizza with a brown sugar cookie crust, melted chocolate, puffed marshmallows, and chopped peanuts drizzled with more chocolate. A fun holiday treat.

Maple meltaway shortbread crisps blend butter, cake flour, and chopped pecans with maple flavoring into delicate, snowy cookies. Five ingredients, 7-minute bake, classic Christmas tin staple.

Santa Claus cookies are soft drop cookies with bright lemon zest, baked then frosted and decorated into jolly Santa faces. A Christmas cookie tray classic for kids.

Adorable Christmas tree cakes cut from a sheet cake, frosted with green cream cheese icing, and decorated with candies, sprinkles, and little candy trunks. A fun holiday baking project with kids.