586 holiday cookie recipes

Frosted pecan cuplets, bite-sized butter cookies rolled in chopped pecans with a tinted buttercream center. A festive thumbprint cookie for holiday cookie trays.

Buttery drop cookies loaded with oats, vanilla milk chips, flaked coconut, and macadamia nuts. Sour cream keeps them soft and chewy. Makes 5 dozen for the holiday cookie swap.

Crisp, lacy Italian pizzelle cookies flavored with anise and lemon, pressed golden on a traditional pizzelle iron. These thin wafer cookies are an Italian-American holiday staple your nonna would approve of.

Buttery almond cookies piped into festive wreaths, decorated with red and green candied cherries. A stunning holiday cookie that tastes as good as it looks.

Bite-sized cream cheese pastry cups filled with walnuts, chocolate, and egg custard, served with rum-spiked whipped cream. These elegant tassies are a holiday cookie tray must-have.

Christmas surprise cookies: brown sugar drop cookies with a hidden jam center and a dusting of sweet coconut on top. A vintage holiday thumbprint for the cookie tin.

Old-fashioned peppernut cookies (pfeffernusse) with anise, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, dark corn syrup, and chopped nuts. Slice-and-bake holiday cookies, makes 4 dozen.

Cinnamon and cloves perfume these twisted Greek sesame cookies with golden crusts and soft centers. Makes 72 cookies perfect for Mediterranean holiday cookie exchanges or gift tins.

Thin, crispy wafer cookies rolled into delicate tubes while warm, then dipped in melted chocolate and crunchy pecans. A show-stopping holiday cookie that bakes in just 6 minutes.

Mocha nut butter balls with instant coffee, cocoa powder, pecans, and butter, rolled in powdered sugar. A melt-in-your-mouth Christmas cookie perfect for holiday tins.

Maria's Ischli cookies are Austrian sandwich cookies with ground hazelnuts or almonds, filled with raspberry jam and topped with chocolate icing. A classic European holiday cookie.

Fortune Christmas Cookies, tiny marble-sized dough balls baked into bite-sized holiday treats. A simple, quick-baking variation of the Mysticandy cookie dough for the Christmas tin.

Oatmeal cranberry nut cookies loaded with rolled oats, whole berry cranberry sauce, toasted almonds, molasses, and warm spice. A soft, chewy holiday cookie that uses up leftover cranberry sauce.

Russian tea cakes (also called Mexican wedding cookies): buttery nut-studded shortbread balls rolled twice in powdered sugar. A classic holiday cookie tin staple in 30 minutes.

Buttery English toffee ball cookies studded with crushed chocolate-covered toffee bars and vanilla pudding mix, rolled in powdered sugar. Melt-in-your-mouth holiday cookie tin favorites.

Fancy spritz cookies are tender, buttery pressed cookies enriched with ground almonds and almond extract for a marzipan-like flavor. Shape them with a cookie press into pretty holiday wreaths and stars.