422 christmas cookie recipes

Holiday gingersnaps with crackled sugar tops, deep molasses warmth, and a full tablespoon of ground ginger for serious snap. Chilled dough rolls into tidy balls that bake up crisp at the edges and chewy in the center.

Lemony springerle, traditional German embossed cookies stamped from a wooden mold and air-dried overnight before baking. Lemon zest brightens the classic anise.

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.

Light, chewy coconut macaroons made meringue-style from whipped egg whites and grated coconut, sweetened sugar-free and scented with almond. Naturally gluten-free, and lovely topped with a glace cherry.

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.

Kolachki: tender, flaky Eastern European cream cheese cookies wrapped around a sweet ground walnut filling and rolled in sugar. A buttery, melt-in-your-mouth holiday tradition.

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.

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.

Green-and-white peppermint pinwheel cookies, sliced from a swirled frozen log. A classic Christmas icebox cookie with spiraled layers of vanilla and mint dough.

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.

Big-batch Christmas hermit cookies loaded with raisins, currants, chopped nuts, and orange zest, spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. A chewy, old-fashioned holiday drop cookie that makes 10 dozen.

Almond crescent cookies with toasted ground almonds and a tender shortbread base, finished with a chocolate drizzle or powdered sugar dusting. A Christmas cookie tin classic that holds for a week or more.

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.

Delicate butter cookies studded with ground pistachios, shaped into little fingers, and dusted with powdered sugar for melt-in-your-mouth holiday treats.