586 holiday cookie recipes

Christmas crackers are sweet honey-wheat holiday cookies stamped with cookie cutters and sprinkled with sugar. Makes 45 crispy-edged rectangles for gifting or dipping.

Classic rolled sugar cookie cutouts with a tender butter-and-cream dough, sprinkled with red and green colored sugar before baking. Holiday cookie-tin staple.

Lemon coriander crescent cookies: buttery, powder-dusted shortbread scented with ground coriander and bright lemon zest. An unexpected spice pairing for the holiday cookie tin.

Honey spice ball cookies rolled in oats with cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, and a tablespoon of honey. Crackle-topped holiday cookies ready in 30 minutes.

Spiced drop cookies loaded with raisins, candied fruit, dates, and walnuts, topped with a vanilla icing. A fruitcake-style cookie perfect for holiday gift giving.

Chocolate diamond cookies with unsweetened chocolate, pecans, and vanilla. A fudgy, brownie-like holiday cookie baked in one pan and cut into festive diamond shapes.

Chocolate cookies shaped like pine cones with melted chocolate and overlapping toasted almond slices. A show-stopping holiday cookie project that looks like woodland art.

Merry sugar cookies studded with rainbow chocolate morsels inside and pressed on top. A colorful holiday cookie with a buttery, crisp edge and soft center.

Thumbprint snowball cookies with walnuts, cinnamon, and lemon zest in the dough, filled with raspberry jam and dusted with powdered sugar. A festive holiday cookie.

Holiday hermit cookies with raisins, candied fruit, walnuts, and oats spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. A chewy, old-fashioned drop cookie perfect for Christmas baking.

Gingerbread cut-out cookies with molasses, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves, plus a homemade egg white decorating frosting. A classic holiday cookie for decorating with kids.

Pistachio and white chocolate cookies with brown sugar, butter-flavored shortening, and toasted pistachios. Chewy or crisp by choice, the classic holiday cookie tin upgrade.

Chewy oatmeal cookie dough shaped into snowmen and decorated for the holidays. A fun winter baking project for kids that makes four big cookie snowmen.

Peppermint pinwheel cookies with mint extract, rolled into red and white (or green) spirals and sliced. A festive holiday cookie that's all about the swirl.

Traditional Sicilian fig cookies stuffed with ground figs, dates, raisins, walnuts, and orange, then iced and topped with colored sugar. Makes 10 dozen for the holiday cookie tray.

Spiced pizzelles flavor the classic Italian wafer cookie with warm nutmeg and floral cardamom. Crisp, lacy, and lightly spiced, perfect for stacking on a holiday cookie tray or sandwiching with mascarpone.