586 holiday cookie recipes

Melomakarona: traditional Greek Christmas cookies made with olive oil, orange zest, and semolina, soaked in honey syrup and topped with walnuts. Fragrant, syrup-drenched holiday staple.

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.

Old-fashioned Christmas drop cakes with currants, lemon zest, and butter pressed thin and baked crispy. A heritage holiday cookie recipe with a delicate, lace-like texture.

Christmas cream wafers sandwich tinted buttercream between sugar-coated, fork-pricked butter wafers. A retro holiday cookie that comes together with just five ingredients in the dough.

Macadamia butterballs with chopped chocolate chips and macadamia nuts rolled in powdered sugar. A melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookie that makes five dozen for holiday gifting.

Filled butter ring cookies sandwich apricot preserves between two shortbread rounds, the top one cut with a thimble window, dusted with powdered sugar. Linzer-style holiday classic.

No-bake eggnog cheesecake with a chocolate pirouette cookie and graham cracker crust. Cream cheese, French vanilla pudding, rum, and nutmeg set into a chilled holiday showstopper.

Holiday fruit bars: a brown sugar shortbread crust topped with a chewy raisin, candied cherry, and lemon-zest filling. Cookie-tin classic for Christmas and gift trays.

Almond crescent cookies with rolled oats and finely chopped almonds, dusted with powdered sugar while still warm. A heartier, oat-packed twist on classic holiday shortbread crescents.

Brigette's almond crescent cookies bring together buttery shortbread, rolled oats, and finely chopped almonds, finished with a dusting of powdered sugar. A classic passed-down holiday bake.

Traditional German sand tarts rolled paper-thin, cut into diamonds, brushed with egg white, and topped with cinnamon sugar and a pecan half. Crispy, buttery holiday cookies.

Buttery almond cutout cookies shaped like birds with sliced almond feather wings and a sparkly sugar glaze. A whimsical holiday baking project the whole family will love.

Swedish ginger cookies (pepparkakor) made with dark corn syrup, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. A spiced roll-and-cut dough that bakes thin and snappy for the holidays.

Eggnog snickerdoodles rolled in nutmeg sugar, flavored with brandy and rum extracts. A holiday twist on the classic crinkled cookie with warm eggnog spice in every bite.

Orange walnut madeleines: shell-shaped French teacakes with orange zest, cardamom, and chopped walnuts, finished with a dusting of powdered sugar. Elegant holiday cookies to pair with coffee.

Chestnut meringues with chopped marrons glaces folded through crisp, snowy French meringue, dusted with cocoa. A delicate, old-world European cookie for tea trays and holiday gift tins.