170 holiday cookie recipes

French lace cookies bake corn syrup, shortening, brown sugar, flour, and pecans into thin, delicate, caramel-toffee disks. Optional chocolate drizzle. Five ingredients, holiday tray classic.

Buttery pecan shortbread cookie balls dipped in vanilla frosting and rolled in tinted coconut. Melt-in-your-mouth tender, baked low and slow, and perfect for holiday cookie exchanges. Makes 48.

Old-fashioned coconut meringue kisses with shredded coconut, vanilla, almond extract, and a cherry half on top. A naturally gluten-free holiday cookie with a crisp exterior and chewy center.

Orange sugar-crusted meltaway cookies with chocolate chips and chopped nuts, dipped in fresh orange juice and rolled in sugar to form a delicate citrus-sugar shell. A bright, buttery shortbread-style holiday cookie.

Surprise-center butter cookies with 4 hidden fillings: Andes mints, cherries, chocolate chips, and pecans. Each batch gets its own color-coded icing. A fun holiday baking project.

Butter almond classic cookies are tender almond crescents: a buttery shortbread scented with almond extract, studded with chopped almonds, and rolled in powdered sugar. The melt-in-your-mouth cookie every holiday tin needs.

Irish cream balls combine crushed vanilla wafers, toasted pecans, cocoa, and Irish cream liqueur into no-bake boozy bites rolled in powdered sugar. The grown-up holiday cookie tray staple.

Spiced spritz cookies with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice pressed into festive shapes. Egg-white based for a crisp, light texture with warm holiday spice flavor.

Traditional Sicilian fruit-filled pastries stuffed with figs, dates, chocolate chips, nuts, and warm spices, glazed with a lemon icing. A holiday cookie tray showstopper.

Peanut butter bonbons are no-bake candy balls of chunky peanut butter and powdered sugar dipped in chocolate and rolled in chopped nuts. Six ingredients, no oven, no baking. Holiday cookie tray favorite.

Buttery German almond crescents dusted with powdered sugar, made with ground almonds and double extracts for a melt-in-your-mouth holiday cookie.

Haselnussmakronen, traditional German hazelnut macaroons: a cocoa meringue folded with crushed hazelnuts and lemon zest, baked low into chewy, flourless cookies. A naturally gluten-free holiday treat.

No-bake chocolate orange truffle balls rolled from crushed chocolate wafers, pecans, fresh orange juice, zest, and honey. Five ingredients, no oven, holiday cookie tray ready.

Light, crispy meringue cookies studded with colorful M&Ms. Only 4 ingredients and they practically float off the baking sheet. Great for holidays and parties.

No-bake snow balls made with peanut butter, crisp rice cereal, and chopped nuts, rolled in powdered sugar and coconut. Holiday-ready cookie tray candy ready in 20 minutes.

Holiday almond wreath cookies piped from a star tip and decorated with red and green candied cherries. Buttery almond shortbread in a festive Christmas-tin shape.