28 traditional cookie recipes

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.

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.

This recipe is a tradition in my husband's Swedish family. It makes enough cookies to feed the Swedish Army.

Rosettes are delicate Scandinavian fried cookies shaped on a decorative iron, crisp like a wafer and dusted with powdered sugar. A Christmas tradition in Nordic and Midwestern kitchens.

Shrewsbury cakes, a traditional English rolled cookie with ginger, citrus rind, and caraway seeds. Crisp, lightly spiced, and chilled overnight before baking.

Mandelbrot almond bread with layered cinnamon, twice-baked into crisp toasted slices. A traditional Jewish biscotti-style cookie that's dense, crunchy, and dairy-free.

Bachelor buttons: traditional English shortbread-style cookies made with butter, flour, sugar, and a hint of nutmeg. Tender, pale, walnut-sized teatime classics.

Traditional Italian egg cookies made with just three ingredients: eggs, sugar, and flour. Light, airy, and gently sweet with golden edges. A nonna-approved classic.

Traditional Swiss Basel Leckerli: honey-spice cookie bars with cinnamon, cloves, candied peels, kirsch, and almonds under a crackly sugar glaze. Makes 50 to 60 bars that keep for weeks.

Old-fashioned currant jelly uses just two ingredients: fresh currants and sugar. Traditional cook-and-strain method without commercial pectin. Bright tart-sweet jelly for toast, lamb, or thumbprint cookies.

Ossi di Morti (Bones of the Dead) Italian cookies flavored with cinnamon and clove oil, baked hard and meant to be dunked in coffee or tea. A traditional Italian All Souls Day treat.

Grandma's strawberry freezer jam with mashed berries, sugar, and pectin. A no-cook style jam with bright fresh-fruit flavor that traditional cooked jams can't match.