Best 36 Christmas Cookie Recipes of All Time (2024)

It’s that time of year! Time to start baking all the most delicious treats for the holidays. Check out these Christmas cookie recipes! Get started by finding some great Walmart deals on the ingredients and download the KCL app for all your other holiday shopping needs.

1. White Chocolate Dipped Peppermint Sugar Cookies

The peppermint sugar cookie is so good it can stand alone, but dipping these in white chocolate and covering them in crushed candy canes takes them to a whole new level.

2. The Grinch Cookies

Here’s a perfect cookie for that big holiday party, and we’re confident both kids and adults will devour these. Throw in a red cinnamon heart to top it off.

3. Nutter Butter Rudolph Cookies

Best 36 Christmas Cookie Recipes of All Time (3)

Via The Krazy Coupon Lady

These adorable Rudolph cookies are sure to be a hit with the kids this Christmas!

4. Buttery Jam Thumbprint Cookies

This is one tender and melt-in-your-mouth cookie! They’re also super easy to make and only require a few ingredients.

5. Award Winning Gingerbread Cookies

The orange juice in this recipe makes the molasses flavor pop!

6. Italian Ricotta Cookies

What you get with these Italian ricotta cookies is a soft, moist, cake-like texture with a touch of lemon flavor—but, you can easily substitute almond extract if that’s your thing. Even better: make half of each flavor.

7. Andes Mint Cookies

Calling all mint fanatics! If you’re a fan of mint and chocolate combined, you’re going to love these cookies loaded with chopped Andes mints.

8. Red Velvet Snowflake Cookies

Once baked, these pretty cookies have an antique-looking red crackle to them, that, when paired with the cream-colored icing, really brings an old fashioned feel to Christmas.

9. Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies

To make these reindeer shaped cookies, form the dough into 2-inch balls and pinch the bottom of the ball slightly to form a point. Then, gently flatten with your hand before adding the pretzel antlers and M&M face. These will be a winner with the kids.

10. Lemon Gooey Butter Cookies

These lemon gooey butter cookies are tender with a perfect lemon flavor and are oh-so decadent. Chilling the dough for at least 2 hours or overnight is key.

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11. Candy Cane Kiss Cookies

Looking for a festive cookie? This one’s it—feast your eyes on those holiday colors!

12. Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Add some dark chocolate to your holidays! If the dark chocolate is too intense for the little ones, try adding marshmallow fluff and just enough icing to sweeten things up.

13. Butter Pecan Cookies

These cookies explode with a toasty, nutty, buttery, slightly molasses-y flavor. If you’re feeling adventurous, add some butterscotch chips. It’ll taste like butter pecan ice cream.

14. Slice ‘n’ Bake Christmas Tree Cookies

These soft, sweet, and buttery Christmas tree sugar cookies are easier to make than they look. Plus, your kids are going to love helping you create these tasty treats.

15. The Best Soft & Chewy Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ta-da—the best, softest, and chewiest cookies ever! You get a puffy, golden-brown, and super-soft form—thanks to the use of cornstarch and lots of brown sugar.

16. Frosted Peppermint Brownie Cookies

Seriously, chocolate and peppermint is one of the best combinations ever invented! You’ll get the best of both flavors in these cookies.

17. No-Bake Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Here’s a twist on a peanut butter Rice Krispies treat that can be made in less than 15 minutes. You can even swap in a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup or Rolo for the Kiss.

18. Christmas Maraschino Cherry Shortbread Cookies

Use dry candied cherries for these delicious and festive cookies that also include chocolate chips.

19. Stained Glass Cookies

These cookies make a great afternoon treat, and the kids will love smashing up the candies that will be used for the “glass.” Use a smaller cookie cutter to cut a window in the center of the larger cookie shape, then fill with the crushed candy.

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20. Buckeyes (Peanut Butter Balls)

Add this recipe to your Christmas-treat tray, because who can resist a peanut butter center and chocolate shell?!

21. Christmas Tree Meringue Cookies

These are some of the cutest cookies I’ve ever seen! They’re pretty easy to make too!

22. Raspberry Hazelnut Macaroons

Unlike French macarons, these German cookies are super simple to create.

23. Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies

The secret to making the perfect shortbread cookie is under-baking the cookie, which is what you do with this cranberry orange treat. The orange zest has a zing that perfectly balances out the cranberries’ tartness.

24. Marshmallow Oreo Cookies

This is a case of taking an Oreo—which is already near perfect—and making it better. You’ll need gooey marshmallows and a chopped-up Cookies ‘N Cream candy bar.

25. Delicious Eggnog Cookies

This eggnog dessert is a definite knockout. You’ll bite into a soft, chewy cookie and taste all its eggnoggy deliciousness.

26. Chocolate Mint Thumbprint Cookies

The sugar surrounding this chocolatey cookie provides the most perfect texture! Double your batch from the start—you won’t regret it!

27. Thumbprint Snowman Cookies

This may be the best thumbprint cookie you’ve ever seen. Fill the indentation with icing or try a white chocolate disk and edible markers for the face. Since the base cookie isn’t overly sweet, you can be creative with embellishments.

28. Bakery Style Coconut Macaroons

The coconut lovers out there will not be disappointed with this recipe. Omitting the eggs brings out the cookie’s denseness. Be creative, leaving some plain, and some dipped in semi-sweet or white chocolate.

29. Marble Sugar Cookies

Skip the messy icing and make these fun marble cookies with your little ones instead.

30. Soft Maple Sugar Cookies

We found a sweet sugar cookie that melts in your mouth. To give these soft maple sugar cookies an even more festive feel, try adding some red and green sprinkles after you drizzle on the maple icing.

31. Snowball Christmas Cookies

This Christmas classic, also known as Russian teacakes, comes to you in all its buttery goodness with a gluten-free option. Instead of pecans, try using walnuts, which helps the cookie stay moist.

32. Chocolate Chip Snowball Cookies

Add mini chocolate chips to a favorite Russian tea cake recipe like Crazy for Crust did, and you’ve got yourself one melt-in-your-mouth treat perfect for sharing this holiday.

33. Fudgy Mint Chocolate No-Bake Cookies

It doesn’t get any better (or easier) than a no-bake cookie—except a no-bake cookie covered in chocolate ganache and mint frosting.

34. The Best Snickerdoodles Recipe

This may be the last snickerdoodle recipe you’ll ever need. They’re perfectly chewy, moist, and just basically phenomenal.

35. Grandma’s Shortbread Cookies

Although this recipe calls for a pound of butter, you’ll find yourself eating multiples in one sitting—they’re just that good!

36. Christmas Swirl Sugar Cookies

The best thing about this recipe (other than the swirls, of course) is that if you’re not feeling up to making your own sugar cookie dough, you can use store-bought!

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Best 36 Christmas Cookie Recipes of All Time (37)

Best 36 Christmas Cookie Recipes of All Time (2024)

FAQs

How many days before Christmas should you make cookies? ›

Aim to make them about two weeks in advance if you keep them at room temperature. Making them one week or a few days in advance is even better if you are going for the freshest possible cookies. Remember that you can always make a new batch if you accidentally keep your cookies out for too long and they become stale.

Which cookie has been deemed most popular during Christmas? ›

Sugar Cookie is the preferred choice by 36% of people during Christmas in the United States. Almost 25% of children leave cookies out for Santa during Christmas.

What is the most loved cookie? ›

Chocolate chip cookies

What is the most popular type of cookie? It might just be this one. Ever the crowd-pleaser, the chocolate chip cookie is renowned for its balance of richness and sweetness.

What is the number one holiday cookie? ›

Peanut Butter Blossoms are America's favorite Christmas cookie, based both on total number of pageviews from the U.S. population as a whole, and number of states that ranked it as their top cookie (which is six, by the way).

What is Santa Claus's favorite cookie? ›

Chocolate Chip cookies

Santa himself lists these as his favorites, and he prefers them soft and gooey with lots of chocolate chips. If you decide to leave these out for him, make sure there's a glass of cold milk nearby!

How many cookies do you need per person for Christmas? ›

A good rule to follow is for every guest to bake a half dozen cookies per each attendee. So, if 10 people attend, each guest would bring five dozen cookies to share. We've put together a chart to help you figure out just how many cookies to ask your guests to make.

Can you leave Christmas cookies out overnight? ›

Leaving cookies out overnight poses certain risks, primarily related to food safety and quality. Cookies left out overnight are at risk of microbial contamination, especially if they contain perishable ingredients like eggs or dairy.

Should I refrigerate my Christmas cookies? ›

Information. Bakery or homemade cookies can be stored at room temperature two to three weeks or two months in the refrigerator. Cookies retain their quality when stored in the freezer for eight to 12 months. Moist bars, such as cheesecake and lemon bars, can be refrigerated for seven days.

What's the least popular Christmas cookie? ›

On the naughty list of cookies, Americans gave the lowest win records to anise cookies, which only won 29% of its matchups.

What is the most popular cookie in December? ›

What are the most popular Christmas cookies? Our survey found frosted sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies to be the most popular Christmas cookies in the country. They were the fan favorites in 39 states.

What are cream filled cookies called? ›

A sandwich cookie, also known as a sandwich biscuit, is a type of cookie made from two thin cookies or medium cookies with a filling between them. Many types of fillings are used, such as cream, ganache, buttercream, chocolate, cream cheese, jam, peanut butter, lemon curd, or ice cream.

What is the #1 cookie in the world? ›

Oreo is the best-selling cookie in the world. It is now sold in over 100 countries. Oreo was first produced in 1912 by the National Biscuit Company, now known as Na-Bis-Co.

What is the tastiest cookie? ›

Top 10 Cookie Flavors
  • Chocolate Chip Cookies. Chocolate chip cookies are the quintessential cookie. ...
  • Snickerdoodle. ...
  • Sugar Cookies. ...
  • Peanut Butter Cookies. ...
  • White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies. ...
  • Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. ...
  • Gingerbread Cookies. ...
  • Black & White Cookies.

What is America's favorite homemade cookie? ›

It's no surprise that chocolate chip cookies consistently rank as one of the most beloved treats in the United States.

What is the 2nd most popular cookie? ›

Nabisco Oreo was the second ranked cookie brand of the United States with about 674.2 million U.S. dollars worth of sales in 2017.

What is the tradition of cookies at Christmas? ›

The practice of putting out cookies for Santa began in the 1930s during the Great Depression, when parents were trying to instill a sense of thankfulness in their children. Leaving goodies, perhaps in a sweet cookie jar, continues to be a way of sharing the holiday bounty.

Why are cookies popular on Christmas? ›

"Christmas in many cultures was a time of visiting. It was cold, so you weren't out farming, and you had time to visit. Cookies were made in large amounts and with great care as something to share. And giving gifts didn't mean going out and buying something.

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