411 sugar cookie recipes

Mandel-Halbmonde are German almond crescents: buttery shortbread cookies shaped like half-moons, baked pale, then rolled twice in powdered sugar. The kind of melt-in-your-mouth Christmas cookie every German bakery puts on the holiday plate.

Quick kolachky made with a tender sour cream and yeast dough, rolled thin on powdered sugar, filled and folded into delicate pinched squares. A classic Eastern European cookie finished in a snow of powdered sugar.

Chocolate raspberry Linzer cookies sandwich cinnamon-almond shortbread with melted chocolate and raspberry jam. Powdered-sugar tops with a window peek of berry filling.

Old-fashioned rice krispie date roll cookies made by cooking dates with eggs, sugar and butter into a ball, then mixing with crisp rice cereal and rolling in powdered sugar. A no-bake retro icebox candy.

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

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

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

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

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

Walnut snowball cookies rolled in powdered sugar then drizzled with melted chocolate. Buttery, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread crescents made with just six ingredients.

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.

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.

Pumpkin macaroons made with ground pecans, coconut, pumpkin puree, and maple syrup. Light and chewy egg white cookies sweetened naturally without refined sugar. Baked low and slow.

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

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

Holiday Unbeatables are chewy, no-butter cookies made with egg whites, powdered sugar, walnuts, and candied cherries. Naturally gluten-light with a crisp edge and soft, meringue-like center.