586 holiday cookie recipes

Fattigmann (Norwegian poor man's cookies): crisp, cardamom-scented diamond pastries fried until pale gold and dusted with powdered sugar. A holiday tradition from Scandinavian baking.

Cherry pinwheel slices with a flaky sour cream pastry rolled around cherry pie filling, coconut, and pecans, dusted with powdered sugar. An elegant holiday cookie.

Russian tea cakes with a buttery shortbread base, a thumbprint of jam or chopped walnuts, and a snowfall of powdered sugar. Holiday cookie tin classic.

Mother's Christmas cheese cakes: cream cheese pastry tartlets with two fillings, one pecan-brown sugar and one coconut-vanilla. A classic holiday cookie tin stalwart.

Pecan butter balls made with chopped pecans, butter, and vanilla, baked until sandy and tender. A classic Southern cookie for holiday tins and gift boxes.

Almond paste macaroons studded with coconut and walnuts, piped into rosettes and crowned with candied cherries. Chewy, fragrant Italian-style cookies for the holiday tin.

Soft molasses sugar cookies with cinnamon, cloves, and ginger, rolled in sugar with a thumbprint filled with extra crunch. Crisp edges, chewy centers, warm holiday spice.

Anise almond biscotti are twice-baked Italian cookies with toasted almonds and warm anise seeds. Crisp, dunkable holiday treats that keep up to 4 weeks. Makes about 2 dozen.

Kiss cookies tuck a whole chocolate kiss inside a buttery walnut shortbread, baked until just set and rolled in powdered sugar. Crack one open and the melty chocolate middle is the payoff. An easy holiday cookie that keeps for days.

Gingerbread bears: classic rolled and cut gingerbread cookies with ginger, cinnamon, cloves, molasses, and a lemon zest brightener. Chill the dough, roll thin, decorate as bears for the holidays.

Cookie press shortbread with brown sugar, butter, cornstarch, and powdered sugar for an ultra-tender crumb. Baked low until barely golden. A big-batch holiday recipe.

Old-world Czech kolachky yeast dough rolled in powdered sugar, filled with jam or cheese, and baked into delicate folded pastries. The classic Slavic holiday cookie.

Finnish pecan balls (Finnish snowballs) made with butter, cake flour, and toasted pecans, rolled twice in powdered sugar for a melt-in-your-mouth holiday cookie.

Linzertorte fingers with a buttery ground almond pastry layered with raspberry jam and topped with sliced almonds. An Austrian-inspired bar cookie for elegant holiday baking.

Holiday ice cream cake: a triple-layer freezer cake with three flavors of ice cream stacked between chopped candy bars, Oreo cookies, and homemade chocolate ganache.

Chocolate crinkle cookies with a frozen marshmallow surprise hidden inside, rolled in sugar and baked until they just crack. Fudgy, gooey, and fun for holiday baking.