402 sugar cookie recipes

Three-layer cookie bars with a buttery shortbread crust, gooey brown sugar pecan filling, and melted chocolate chips on top. Irresistibly rich and totally addictive.

Orange icebox cookies are sliceable shortbread-style rounds with fresh orange zest, brown sugar, and chopped pecans. Make ahead dough rolls and chills until baking.

Chocolate chip pecan squares with a chewy brown sugar base, double layer of melted milk chocolate, and crunchy toasted pecans. Easy bar cookies baked in one pan.

Irish cream balls combine crushed vanilla wafers, toasted pecans, cocoa, and Irish cream liqueur into no-bake boozy bites rolled in powdered sugar. The grown-up holiday cookie tray staple.

Buttery almond cookies with brown sugar, cream of tartar tang, and chopped almonds throughout. Dough requires chilling before shaping into balls and baking.

Hazelnut spiral cookies with a buttery shortbread-style dough rolled around toasted ground hazelnuts, sugar, and warm spices. Slice-and-bake elegance.

Deep-fried fruit cookies with a jelly center, spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, then dusted in powdered sugar. Crispy outside, jammy inside.

Nutkins are light, crispy pecan meringue cookies made with just 4 ingredients: egg whites, powdered sugar, pecans, and vanilla. Naturally gluten-free.

Kourabiedes are traditional Greek butter cookies with ground almonds and brandy, dusted heavily in powdered sugar. Fragile, sandy, and meant for celebrations.

Middle Eastern fried pastries filled with spiced almond-cinnamon filling and dipped in sugar syrup. Crispy finger-shaped cookies that freeze beautifully.

Norwegian cookies (biscotti-style) with chocolate chips and a cinnamon sugar topping. Dough baked in long rolls, then sliced diagonally into crisp strips. One batch makes four 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.

Peppermint candy cookies with a buttery walnut shortbread shell hiding a pink cream cheese filling inside. Rolled in crushed peppermint and powdered sugar after baking.

Peanut butter cookies rolled in sugar with a chocolate piece pressed into the center mid-bake. Chewy, nutty, and studded with melty chocolate.

German springerle, the classic embossed anise cookie made with eggs, sugar, flour, and crushed anise seed. Patterned with a springerle roller and dried overnight to lock in the design before baking.

Buttery shortbread cookies shaped like tiny strawberries, rolled in red and green sugar crystals with almond "stems." A whimsical baking project kids will love.