586 holiday cookie recipes

Peppermint meringue kisses with crushed red and green candy canes sprinkled over delicate egg-white peaks. The light-as-air holiday cookie that's naturally gluten-free and fat-free.

Butter-almond cookies shaped and colored into tiny fruit miniatures like strawberries, bananas, pears, and oranges. A showstopper holiday cookie project using simple dough with food coloring and clever shaping techniques.

Buttery pecan shortbread cookie balls dipped in vanilla frosting and rolled in tinted coconut. Melt-in-your-mouth tender, baked low and slow, and perfect for holiday cookie exchanges. Makes 48.

Pfeffernüsse-style German spice cookies with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, mace, and allspice, finished with a drop of brandy before baking. A traditional holiday cookie that keeps for weeks in a tin.

Spiced date drop cookies with chopped dates, toasted walnuts, cinnamon, and cloves baked into a soft, chewy drop cookie. An old-school holiday tin classic that bakes in just 10 minutes.

Peanut butter blossom kisses with sugar-rolled cookies and a chocolate kiss pressed warm into each top. The classic holiday cookie tray standard, soft and chewy with a crackly sugar crust.

Spritz dainties for the cookie press, made with brown sugar instead of white for a deeper butterscotch note. Buttery shaped cookies brushed with egg white wash and decorated for the holidays.

Soft vanilla buttermilk cookies rolled in sparkly red and white sugar for a festive holiday crinkle cookie. Made with melted vanilla baking bar for a rich, melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Traditional New Mexican biscochitos made with lard, egg yolks, anise, and vanilla. Rolled, cut into shapes, and baked until tender. New Mexico's official state cookie and a holiday staple.

Peppernuts cookies with ground raisins, coconut, and nuts in a brown sugar-buttermilk dough, rolled into ropes and cut into bite-sized pieces. A Mennonite holiday tradition.

Classic springerle: traditional German anise cookies embossed with intricate designs, dried overnight, and baked pale, then mellowed for a week into crisp, picture-perfect holiday treats.

Old-fashioned coconut meringue kisses with shredded coconut, vanilla, almond extract, and a cherry half on top. A naturally gluten-free holiday cookie with a crisp exterior and chewy center.

Bachelor's Buttons are old-fashioned drop cookies with a buttery vanilla dough topped with half a cherry before baking. Crisp edges, soft centers, and adorable enough for a cookie tray or holiday tin.

Orange sugar-crusted meltaway cookies with chocolate chips and chopped nuts, dipped in fresh orange juice and rolled in sugar to form a delicate citrus-sugar shell. A bright, buttery shortbread-style holiday cookie.

Cinnamon rugelach made with a tender cream cheese pastry dough, rolled crescent-style around a cinnamon filling and dusted with cinnamon sugar. Flaky, buttery little cookies for the holidays and cookie trays.

Lemon cream and nut cookies, buttery shortbread ovals spread with homemade lemon curd and crowned with toasted almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, prunes, rum-soaked raisins, and candied orange. A jewel-box holiday cookie.