182 traditional cookie recipes

Basler Brunsli are flourless Swiss chocolate almond cookies spiced with cinnamon and cloves, cut into festive shapes. A traditional Basel Christmas cookie, chewy inside with a crackly crust.

Pfefferkuchen, a German honey spice cake with whole wheat flour, coffee, cinnamon, cloves, and rum, glazed while hot. A traditional Christmas cookie bar that stays soft for weeks.

Biscotti Napoletani: traditional eggless Italian almond biscotti with whole and ground almonds, sweetened with corn syrup. Twice-baked Neapolitan cookies built for dunking in espresso or vin santo.

Beverwyks are old Dutch spiced cookies with cloves, allspice, cinnamon, and chopped raisins rolled and cut into shapes. A traditional holiday cookie from New York's Dutch heritage.

Vienna crescents are flaky yeast-leavened butter cookies filled with sweet pecan meringue and shaped into delicate crescents. A traditional Christmas cookie from Austrian and Hungarian baking.

Italian pizzelles with butter, sugar, eggs, and a hint of anise pressed in a hot pizzelle iron into delicate snowflake-patterned wafer cookies. Traditional Italian holiday cookie.

Halloween dead bones cookies are pillowy almond meringue-style cookies spiced with ground cloves, dusted in powdered sugar to look like ancient ghostly bones. A spooky kid-friendly Halloween treat from old European tradition.

Authentic biscotti di Prato (cantucci): the traditional Tuscan twice-baked almond cookies, made with no butter for a hard, crunchy bite built for dunking in coffee or vin santo.

Heidesand cookies are traditional German sandies made with just three ingredients: browned butter, flour, and vanilla sugar. A crispy, nutty slice-and-bake cookie with deep caramel flavor.

Traditional Sicilian fig cookies stuffed with ground figs, dates, raisins, walnuts, and orange, then iced and topped with colored sugar. Makes 10 dozen for the holiday cookie tray.

Swiss aniseed and lemon chrabeli cookies with their signature half-moon shape and three slashed edges. Crisp, slightly dry cookies that rest overnight before baking for traditional texture.

Apricot tea cookies are buttery thumbprints rolled in chopped almonds and filled with apricot preserves. A traditional European-style cookie with citrus zest and almond extract for elegance.

Italian rainbow cookies (seven layer cookies): three almond paste sponge layers tinted red, green, and yellow, stacked with raspberry jam, and coated in chocolate. A classic holiday bakery tradition.

Traditional German lebkuchen: honey-and-molasses spice cookies studded with citron and nuts, finished with a brushed sugar glaze. A heritage Christmas cookie that gets better as it ages.

German honey spice cookies rolled into bite-sized balls with cinnamon, cloves, allspice, mace, and black pepper, then dipped in a sweet vanilla glaze. A traditional Pfeffernusse-style holiday cookie.

Traditional German springerle cookies with anise and lemon, stamped with intricate designs using a springerle rolling pin. A classic holiday cookie that air-dries overnight for a crisp, white finish.