411 sugar cookie recipes

French meringue strips with a buttery shortbread base topped with vanilla meringue, cinnamon sugar, and chopped almonds. Elegant bar cookies that yield 8 dozen.

Slice-and-bake butterscotch cookies with brown sugar, cinnamon, and a make-ahead frozen dough. Press into loaf pans, freeze, then slice thin and bake whenever the craving hits.

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

Spiced cherry biscotti studded with candied cherries and almonds, warmed with nutmeg, and dusted with cinnamon-nutmeg sugar. A ruby-flecked holiday coffee cookie.

Grizzlenuckles are no-fuss cookie bars made with sweetened condensed milk, graham cracker crumbs, coconut, and chocolate chips. Mix, bake, dust with powdered sugar, done.

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.

Italian macaroons made from almond paste kneaded with egg whites and sugar, baked into chewy, fragrant amaretti-style cookies. A short rest before baking gives them their crackly top and tender center.

Walnut crescent cookies rolled in powdered sugar, made with ground walnuts, butter, and egg yolks. Delicate, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread that improves with age.

Brown sugar drop cookies made with buttermilk, shortening, and just seven ingredients. Soft, chewy, and caramelly with a one-hour chill and 10-minute bake.

Mini pumpkin pie cookie cups with a cream cheese pastry shell, spiced pumpkin filling with rum and vanilla, and a crunchy pecan-brown sugar topping.

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.

Classic four-ingredient shortbread cookies with just flour, butter, sugar, and salt. Pressed into a sheet pan, pricked with a fork, and baked until set.

Moravian Scotch cakes, a 4-ingredient Pennsylvania Dutch shortbread cookie with caraway seeds, topped with boiled icing and colored sugar. A crisp, buttery heritage recipe.

Old-fashioned gingersnap cookies with molasses, ginger, and cinnamon, rolled in sugar and baked until crinkly. Oil-based for a chewy center with crisp edges.

Old-fashioned honey drop cookies with cinnamon, cloves, and raisins. No refined sugar at all. Soft, chewy, and warmly spiced with a caramel-like sweetness.

Hidden Jewels are brown sugar bar cookies studded with colorful gumdrops and walnuts, lightened with folded egg whites. A retro candy-filled treat kids love.