25+ Christmas Cookie Recipes

Over 25 Christmas Cookies you will definitely want to make this year. From sugar, to gingerbread, rugelach and more!

‘Tis the season for all things cookies friend! I love a good cookie any time of year, but there’s something about the holidays that has me in full cookie baking mode. Don the apron. Put the holiday tunes on. Maybe a hot cup of cocoa as you mix up these cookie recipes.

Oh yes. It’s my favorite time of year.

So I rounded up some of my favorite cookie recipes from the ye old blog, and the world wide web for you. 

And keep reading until the end for some cookie troubleshooting help and a FREE holiday cookie baking guide!

Christmas Cookie Recipes

Sprinkle Sugar Cookies

These sugar cookies are soft, covered in sprinkles, and require no chilling time!

Which means it cookies in your mouth sooner!

Candy Cane Kiss Cookies

Take those sprinkle sugar cookies one step further and top it with a candy cane kiss for an

extra festive touch!

Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

Bust out your rolling pin and have fun making these buttery cut out sugar cookies that hold their shape! Perfect for decorating!

Chocolate M&M Cookies

A decadent chocolate cookie studded with pecans and M&M’s – these will disappear fast. 

Raspberry Almond Thumbprints

These buttery shortbread cookies get a little dollop of raspberry jam right in the middle before baking. Finish off with a sweet vanilla icing drizzled over for a Christmas cookie that everyone will devour. 

Lemon Thumbprint Cookies

A melt in your mouth thumbprint cookie with tangy lemon curd center. Make the lemon curd in your microwave and they come together in a cinch!

Peanut Butter Blossoms

A classic peanut butter chocolate kiss cookie for your Christmas cookie platter! These peanut butter cookies get a Hershey’s chocolate kiss pressed into the center after they are baked. These cookies, also known as peanut butter blossoms, are ready in about 30 minutes or less!

Peanut Butter Cookies

Perfectly, soft chewy old fashioned peanut butter cookies – lots of peanut butter flavor and the classic criss cross pattern on top! I have two secrets for achieving the perfect peanut butter cookie recipe…and there’s no chilling required so they are ready in 30 minutes or less.

Peppermint Meringue Cookies

Looking for a cookie that doesn’t kill the diet but also encompasses the holiday season? These chewy and airy pink peppermint meringue cookies are easy to make and a perfect gluten free cookie to add to your holiday cookie platter. 

Classic No Bake Cookies

This classic No Bake Cookies recipe is a nostalgic childhood favorite! Made with peanut butter, chocolate, and oats, these chewy cookies come together in just a few minutes, no oven required.  They’re a quick and easy treat for any time of year but I love making them during the holidays.

Flourless Chocolate Walnut Cookies

These flourless chocolate walnut cookies are light in calories and big on flavor! Like a gooey, crispy walnut brownie in cookie form. And they are made without flour, so they’re gluten free. And no butter, so they’re also dairy free too!

Flourless Chocolate Crinkles

A cookie with no flour, no butter, and about a 100 calories each. Sound like catching a unicorn? Believe me it’s not! Fudgy and rich, you won’t miss the flour or butter in these chocolate flourless cookies!

Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Nothing says the holidays like a red velvet dessert. And these red velvet cookies are a cinch to make. And pairs so well with white chocolate. 

Grandma’s Russian Tea Cakes

This is the closest recipe I could find that mimics my grandmother’s recipe. It’s a favorite cookie from my childhood. Rolled in powdered sugar and toasted pecans!

Gingerbread Man Cookies

Is there anything more adorable? I placed a snowflake in the middle but you can keep them simple or have fun decorating them!

Raspberry Walnut Rugelach

This was my other 2nd favorite cookie. It’s a rolled cream cheese dough that puffs up, and a sweet raspberry jam and walnut filling. 

Peanut Butter M&M Cookies

You can use festive green and red M&M’s, or after baking plop a kiss down into the center and turn these into peanut butter cookie blossoms. 

Chocolate Rolo Cookies

Not sure if these are “holiday” or not. But with a hidden surprise of caramel in the center of these cookies. No one will care!

M&M Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Grab a bag of those red and green M&M’s to whip up a batch of these soft and chewy oatmeal Christmas cookies!

M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies

Skip the oatmeal and keep it traditional with these chocolate chip cookies and M&M’s!

White Chocolate Funfetti Cookies

Swap out the rainbow sprinkles and use holiday colors instead and you have a festive funfetti Christmas cookie.

Brown Butter Soft Pumpkin Cookies

Brown butter adds so much flavor to these wonderfully spiced pumpkin cookies!

Red Velvet Snowball Cookies

These little red snowball cookies are festive and fun and packed with mini chocolate chips!

Apple Cider Cookies

While this beverage is in season grab a jug and make these soft cookies studded with fresh apples and topped with an apple cider glaze!

Chocolate Peppermint Kiss Cookies

These flourless chocolate cookies are gooey and soft, and have a candy cane kiss stuck in the middle!

White Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookie

Make a classic peanut butter cookie and then dip half of it in white chocolate and decorate with sprinkles!

Snickerdoodles

A classic for the holidays! A sugar cookie style cookie rolled in cinnamon and sugar is everyone’s favorite! Snickerdoodles are always top of my Christmas cookie baking list.

Ginger Molasses Cookies

Perfectly soft and chewy and full of warm flavors and spices for the season! This Christmas cookie is a classic and a must make.

Christmas Cookie Troubleshooting

If you are having trouble mastering perfect Christmas cookies this holiday season. I have a few tutorials you may find helpful. And be sure to sign up for my Bake Your Best Cookies Ever- Free Email Series

• What Does Butter Do In Cookies?
• 8 Reasons Your Cookies Spread Too Much
• Which Flour Is Best For Cookies?
• How To Store Cookies
• How To Freeze Cookie Dough

Free Holiday Cookie Baking Guide

This cookie baking guide includes a:

• pantry inventory checklist
• recommended baking ingredients and tools list
• grocery store list
• cookie baking menu plan

Happy cookie baking!

No-Chill Sugar Cookies

A soft tender no-chill sugar cookie made with cream cheese and rolled in sprinkles before baking!

5 from 10 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Cookies

Prep Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Author: Heather Perine

Ingredients

• ▢ 3 cups (360 grams) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 3/4 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 cup (226 grams, 2 sticks) unsalted butter
• ▢ 1 1/4 cups (248 grams) granulated white sugar
• ▢ 1/4 cup (57 grams) cream cheese softened
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 large egg room temperature
• ▢ 3/4 cup sprinkles for rolling in optional

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375°F/190^oC. Line two cookies with parchment.
•  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and cream cheese (if you’re using it) until light and fluffy- about 2 to 3 minutes.
•  Beat in the vanilla extract, and the egg; scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
• Add the flour mixture, and mix at low to medium speed until the mixture is evenly moistened.
• Place the 3/4 cup of sprinkles in a large plastic bag, or in a shallow pan. Scoop the dough by tablespoonfuls into the sprinkles, rolling them in the pan or gently shaking them in the bag to coat them with the sprinkles.
• Place on the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2″ between them. Using a flat-bottomed glass, or the palm of your hand flatten the cookies to about 1/4″ thick.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes — 10 minutes for softer cookies, 12 minutes for crunchier. The edges of the cookies will just barely begin to brown.
• Remove from the oven and cool on the pan for 5 minutes, before transferring to a rack to finish cooling completely.

Notes

• Make sure to not overmeasure your flour. You want to scoop the flour with a spoon and level off with a flat edge. For a complete tutorial, read this post. 
• You want to make sure your ingredients are all at room temperature so they incorporate into a nice smooth dough. For your eggs, I place mine in a small bowl of warm water for 10 minutes prior to baking. To soften your butter, I like to cube mine and leave at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. For 3 more ways to soften your butter, you can read this post. 
• Make sure to use a cookie scoop so you get cookies that are all the same size. This way they will bake evenly.
• Rotate the cookies halfway through baking so they bake evenly. Your oven will hot spots so by rotating the cookie sheet will ensure even baking. 
• If using one cookie sheet, then make sure to allow the cookie sheet to cool before baking your second batch.
• If you like a slightly chewier cookie, add 2 tablespoons (1 3/8 ounces) corn syrup to the dough. The cookies will spread out a little more.
• For rollout cookies, include the cream cheese, and make the dough with 3 1/2 cups flour; place the dough in a plastic bag, flatten it into a disk, and chill for 1 hour before rolling it out and cutting. Bake the cookies for 8 minutes, until golden brown at the edges. The recipe will make 6 dozen 2″ cookies.
• Adding cream cheese will yield a puffy, cake-like cookie; for flatter/crunchier cookies, leave it out.

Adapted from King Arthur Flour

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