353 holiday cake recipes

Adorable gingerbread teddy bear cookies hand-shaped from spiced dough with cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. A fun holiday baking project for kids and grown-ups, no cookie cutters required.

Peanut butter reindeer cookies use a boxed cookie mix, an egg, and a reindeer cutter for shape, then decorate with chocolate chips, candy-coated chocolates, and sprinkles. Easy holiday baking project for kids.

Award-winning thumbprint cookies with buttery dough rolled in finely chopped nuts, pressed with your thumb, and filled with ruby raspberry jam: elegant holiday baking that won first place.

Stack spiced almond biscotti into a stunning edible tree centerpiece, cemented with orange marmalade icing. A holiday baking project that doubles as a gorgeous table display guests can eat.

Festive cocoa cards are large chocolate-molasses cookies cut into rectangles and decorated with frosting to look like greeting cards. A fun holiday baking project for kids and adults.

Refrigerator cookies pack chopped dates, shredded coconut, and walnuts into a buttery slice-and-bake log rolled in extra nuts. Make-ahead icebox cookies for holiday baking or anytime.

German-style honey spice bars with cinnamon, allspice, cloves, ground almonds, and lemon zest, finished with a rum-almond glaze. These keep for weeks in a sealed container, making them ideal holiday baking.

Buttery sesame seed cookies topped with candied cherry halves for festive color. Simple drop cookie recipe makes 24 treats perfect for holiday baking with kids or last-minute cookie trays.

Soft applesauce spice drop cookies with cold coffee, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, raisins, and nuts. One batch makes 7 dozen with just a 7-minute bake time - a holiday baking staple.

Peanut butter bears: cinnamon-spiced peanut butter cut-out cookies shaped like teddy bears with detailed dough faces. A holiday baking project that's as fun as the cookies are good.

Twisted peppermint candy cane cookies with red and white dough, sprinkled with crushed candy while still warm. A festive holiday baking project that kids and adults both love shaping by hand.

Orange molasses cookies, soft and puffy with cracked tops, spiced with ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and a hit of black pepper, then rolled in orange sugar. Whole wheat flour and oats make them a wholesome holiday bake.

Christmas cookie slices are old-fashioned icebox cookies: vanilla shortbread dough rolled into logs, chilled, sliced thin, and baked into crisp golden rounds. Make ahead and ready to slice for holiday baking.

Shamrock cookies for St. Patrick's Day, a tender mint-scented shortbread tinted green, shaped from three little dough balls plus a stem and dusted with green sugar. A fun holiday baking project.

Molasses ginger snaps with the classic crackled tops that form as the dough balls melt and spread. Warmly spiced with ginger, cinnamon, and cloves, these crisp-edged cookies are a holiday baking staple.

Berlin Bread is a spiced German bar cookie loaded with grated chocolate, almonds, rum, apple preserves, and candied lemon peel. Iced while warm and sliced thin, these fragrant little bars belong on every holiday baking list.