145 soft cookie recipes

Old-fashioned rolled honey cookies with lard, sour cream, and warm spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. A heritage recipe with a soft, cake-like texture and deep honey flavor.

Frosted orange cookies made with mandarin oranges baked into the dough, topped with an orange syrup glaze and fresh orange zest. Soft, fruity, and loaded with raisins and nuts.

Soft orange drop cookies made with a whole ground orange in both the dough and frosting. Bold citrus flavor in every bite with a sweet orange icing on top.

Rich spiced cake with cookie-crisp edges and a moist, chewy center loaded with apples, nuts, and brandy. Stiff dough bakes into bars with crunchy tops and brownie-soft middles.

Giant banana oat cookies studded with chocolate chips, served sundae-style with a scoop of ice cream on top. Soft, chewy, and big enough to use as a dessert plate.

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.

Chocolate chip cookies with a secret in the technique: beat the margarine and sugars until fluffy and pale before anything else joins the bowl. Crisp edges, soft centers, walnut crunch.

Mom's cocoa macaroons: chewy coconut mounds with a soft cocoa note, bound with whipped egg whites instead of condensed milk. A simple seven-ingredient drop cookie that makes four dozen.

Chocolate almond cut-out cookies made with sweetened condensed milk for a soft, fudgy texture. Studded with finely chopped almonds, rolled thin, and optionally drizzled with chocolate glaze. Makes 6 dozen.

Apple oatmeal chewy bars with diced Golden Delicious apple, walnuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon baked in a 13x9 pan. A one-bowl bar cookie that's soft, fruity, and packed with texture.

Wholesome sweet potato cookies made with whole-wheat flour, oats, coconut, wheat germ, and chopped nuts, sweetened with honey and brown sugar. Soft, chewy, and spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. Makes 4 dozen.

Pumpkin cookies sweeten with honey instead of refined sugar, fold in raisins, dates, and chopped nuts, and spice with cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Soft, cake-like, and made with whole wheat pastry flour. Healthy enough for breakfast.

Chewy, loaded drop cookies hiding shredded zucchini inside a brown sugar batter packed with oats, coconut, raisins, nuts, and butterscotch chips. The zucchini keeps them soft and moist while the mix-ins bring all the crunch and sweetness.

Vanilla wafer walnut rum balls combine crushed cookies, ground walnuts, honey, and golden rum into bite-sized no-bake holiday treats rolled in powdered sugar. Five-ingredient Christmas classic.

Lentil fatta salad with soft-cooked lentils, cubed pita bread, scallions, fresh lemon juice, and olive oil. A warm Middle Eastern salad with hearty texture.

Melt-away butter cookies with vanilla and almond extract, pressed with a cookie gun and optionally dipped in chocolate with chopped pecans. Yields 7 dozen.