136 soft cookie recipes

Soft sour cream drop cookies with apricot preserves baked right into the dough. Brush with warm apricot glaze for a fruity shine. Makes 5 dozen in about 30 minutes.

Traditional Norwegian anise syrup cookies made with honey, dark corn syrup, and star anise, finished with a warm powdered sugar glaze. Soft, fragrant, and sweetly spiced. Makes 4 dozen.

Fudgy cocoa brownie cookies packed with chocolate chips, baked just until set for a soft, chewy center. Brown sugar and cocoa powder deliver intense chocolate flavor in every bite.

Fruit-packed drop cookies with crushed pineapple, dried papaya, golden raisins, coconut, and orange zest. Soft, chewy, and naturally sweet from all that tropical fruit. Ready in 40 minutes.

Peanut butter blossom cookies rolled in sugar and topped with a chocolate kiss while still warm. Soft, chewy centers with a crackly sugar coating and melty chocolate on top.

Ginger molasses cookies rolled in cinnamon sugar with a crackled top. Loaded with ginger, cloves, and cinnamon for bold spice. Underbake for soft centers or bake full for snaps.

Soft, spiced rhubarb drop cookies with warm cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove, plus walnuts, raisins, and a kick of crystallized ginger. A clever way to use up springtime rhubarb stalks.

Soft finger-shaped cookies packed with peanut butter, chopped apples, and brown sugar, rolled in powdered sugar. These tea sticks bake in one pan then cut into 24 dainty pieces.

Soft banana sour cream bars baked in a jelly roll pan with ripe bananas, butter, and vanilla. A tender sheet pan cookie bar that makes a generous batch for sharing.

Filled devil dogs are homemade chocolate sandwich cookies with a fluffy cooked-flour cream filling. A nostalgic copycat of the classic Drake's snack cake, soft, cocoa-rich, and bakery-fresh.

Soft, melt-in-your-mouth sugar cookies made with both butter and oil for extra tenderness. Pressed flat with a sugar-dipped glass and baked golden. Makes 6 to 7 dozen.

Banana Spice Lemon Drops are soft drop cookies with cinnamon and cloves, topped with a bright lemon butter frosting. A 3-dozen batch in 30 minutes with an unexpected banana-citrus flavor contrast.

Praline macaroons from Mississippi: chewy meringue cookies built on whipped egg whites, brown sugar, and toasted pecans, each one crowned with a whole pecan half. Crisp shell, soft center, pure Southern bakery counter.

Intensely fudgy brownie cookies loaded with chocolate chips and cocoa. Brown sugar and a short bake time keep these thick, chewy, and soft in the center. The key: pull them before they look done.

Old-fashioned sugar cookies made with butter and oil for a tender, melt-in-your-mouth crumb. Rolled in sugar and pressed flat, these bake up with soft centers and lightly crisp edges. Makes 3 dozen.

Make-ahead chocolate chip cookie dough that keeps in the fridge for up to 4 weeks. Sour cream keeps them soft and chewy, pecans add crunch, and you can bake a fresh batch whenever the craving hits.