586 holiday cookie recipes

Checkerboard cookies with alternating chocolate and vanilla dough squares in a striking grid pattern. An impressive slice-and-bake cookie for holiday cookie tins and special occasions.

Pfeffernuesse German pepper cookies with molasses, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and black pepper, rolled in powdered sugar. Small, spicy, and deeply aromatic holiday cookies from the old country.

Mexican mocha balls: shortbread-style chocolate-coffee cookies with chopped walnuts and maraschino cherries, rolled in extra-fine sugar. Perfect for the holiday cookie tray.

Reva's molasses sugar cookies: chewy, crackle-topped molasses cookies rolled in sugar before baking. Spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. The old-fashioned holiday cookie your grandma kept in a tin.

Old-fashioned molasses cookies with candied citron, chopped nuts, cloves, and cinnamon. Rolled thin, cut out, and baked crisp. A heritage holiday cookie.

Chocolate hazelnut raspberry thumbprints: chocolate-cocoa cookies rolled with ground toasted hazelnuts, indented and filled with raspberry jam. Three dozen elegant holiday cookies.

Soft, spiced drop cookies loaded with fruity mincemeat filling. A holiday cookie jar staple that makes 3 dozen in 30 minutes. Old-fashioned flavor your grandmother would recognize.

Fa-la-la-la's are festive spritz-style cookies pressed into holiday shapes from a buttery shortening dough flavored with vanilla and almond extract. Christmas cookie classic.

Gingerbread cookies in a gingerbread bowl: edible holiday centerpiece of spiced gingerbread shaped into a fluted bowl and filled with matching cut-out cookies. A holiday gift-giving showstopper.

Traditional German Spekulatius Christmas cookies spiced with cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves, made with ground almonds and butter. Thin, crisp, and warmly spiced, these are a holiday cookie tin essential.

Buttery thumbprint cookies with nutmeg filled with a piped rum-flavored buttercream star. A holiday cookie tin classic with a boozy twist and elegant presentation.

Lily cookies: cream cheese pastry rounds folded around a jelly center and dusted with powdered sugar. Old-school holiday cookies shaped like opening lilies.

Tender sour cream pastry rolled with apricot jam, walnuts, and raisins into elegant strudel cookies. These make-ahead sweets are perfect for holiday cookie trays.

Traditional Italian fig cookies (cucidati) with a sweet filling of dried figs, raisins, walnuts, and cinnamon wrapped in a buttery dough. A classic holiday cookie from Italian-American bakeries.

Orange blossom spritz cookies made with butter, orange zest, and vanilla, pressed into decorative shapes and baked until firm. A classic holiday cookie press recipe.

Snowball cookies made with butter, ground nuts, vanilla, and flour, then rolled in powdered sugar while warm. A classic melt-in-your-mouth holiday cookie.