146 soft cookie recipes

Soft French buttercream cookies made with powdered sugar, cream of tartar, and vanilla. Tint the dough with food coloring and top with colored sugar for holidays or parties.

Honey pumpkin cookies sweetened with honey instead of sugar. Soft, cake-style drop cookies with raisins, pecans, cinnamon, and nutmeg. No refined sugar.

Traditional German lebkuchen cookies with honey, molasses, almonds, candied fruit, and five warm spices. Soft, chewy spice cookies brushed with lemon glaze for a classic Christmas treat.

Soft pumpkin walnut cookies topped with maple frosting. Made with real pumpkin puree, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and crunchy walnuts for a cakey fall cookie.

Soft rolled molasses cookies with gentle ginger and cinnamon, topped with a simple egg white icing. Kid-friendly spice level and great for cookie cutters.

Soft orange oatmeal cookies with fresh orange zest, orange juice, nutmeg, and quick oats. A citrusy Southern-style drop cookie with a chewy, golden edge.

Italian chocolate cookies with cocoa, cinnamon, cold coffee, and grape jelly in the dough. An old-world recipe with no eggs that makes a huge batch of soft, cakey cookies.

Blueberry cookies with fresh blueberries, brown sugar, cinnamon, and lemon zest, topped with a citrus powdered sugar frosting. Soft, cakey drop cookies.

Soft drop cookies made with mashed cooked carrots and finished with a warm orange glaze. The vintage Depression-era cookie that still makes sense today.

No-bake peanut butter oatmeal cookies with chopped peanuts. A stovetop candy-cookie hybrid cooked to soft ball stage then dropped onto waxed paper to set. No oven needed.

No-bake oatmeal cookies made with strawberry gelatin, coconut, and chopped nuts. Cooked to soft-ball stage on the stovetop and dropped onto waxed paper to set. Quick, chewy, and fruity.

Old-fashioned white drop cookies with nutmeg and vanilla. A big-batch recipe using shortening for soft, cakey cookies that stay tender for days.

Old-fashioned sour cream cookies with nutmeg, rolled and cut into rounds with a sugar-sprinkled top. Soft, tender, and lightly spiced with a big-batch yield of 60 cookies.

Pumpkin raisin cookies with canned pumpkin, cinnamon, and raisins, topped with a simple butter-vanilla frosting. Soft, cakey fall cookies that stay moist for days.

Old-fashioned hermit cookies spiced with molasses, coffee, and five warm spices. Soft, chewy, and loaded with raisins, bake them as drop cookies or cut into bars.

Carob chip cookies made with mashed banana, oats, and no added sugar. A naturally sweetened drop cookie with a soft, chewy texture ready in 20 minutes.