Looking for the best Christmas cookie recipes—and maybe something new for this season? Our sugar cookies, chocolate cookies, butter cookies and more will add a little sparkle, a little dazzle and lots of memories to your holiday. Try Chocolate-Dipped Espresso Stars, Sugar Cookies with Watercolor Icing, Vanilla Bean Sables, Peanut Butter Temptations and Lingonberry Cookies…just to name a few.
Chocolate-Dipped Espresso Stars
EE Berger/Courtesy of Chronicle
These buttery cookies are a staff favorite at Zingerman’s Bakehouse in Ann Arbor and look beautiful on a holiday cookie plate. The recipe comes from the cookbook Zingerman’s Bakehouse Celebrate Every Day (Chronicle, $30).
Vanilla Bean Sables
Vanilla Bean Sables.
Carson Downing
Simple. Elegant. Buttery. These vanilla bean cookies are the perfect slice-and-bake treat, and you can make them four ways—plus they make a beautiful food gift.
Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies with Watercolor Icing
Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies with Watercolor Icing.
Marty Baldwin
These crisp, airy cookies taste like old-fashioned bakery cookies—but they’re decorated in a totally modern way that’s fun and so kid-friendly. The “canvas” is royal icing, and the “paint” is just food coloring! It’s surprisingly easy to decorate dazzling cookies.
Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprint Cookies
Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprint Cookies.
Stephanie Simmons
These easy, nostalgic-tasting cookies are a favorite of Stephanie Simmons, the Wisconsin blogger behind Blue Bowl Recipes and author of the cookbook, The One-Bowl Baker. Use your favorite preserves—Stephanie likes raspberry. They’re one of our favorite Midwest cookies.
Sandbakkels
Sandbakkels.
Blaine Moats
Sandbakkels means “sand tarts” because the cookies (which, flipped over, can double as tiny shells to hold cream and fruit) have such a fine, crisp texture. Find these Norwegian treats in Shauna Sever’s book Midwest Made: Big, Bold Baking from the Heartland.
Old-Fashioned Cutout Sugar Cookies
Sugar Cookies Like You Remember.
Nutmeg lends unmistakable holiday flavor to these puffy, old-fashioned cutout cookies. They do spread a bit, so don’t use this recipe for delicate shapes. It’s best-suited for circles, bells and the like.
Valencia Chocolate-Orange Delights
Valencia Delights.
Kritsada
Orange and chocolate: a holiday cookie match that will tempt every Santa to take seconds. This family-favorite recipe comes from Jill Drury in Milwaukee, who created these cookies with her grandmother.
Pepparkakor
Carson Downing
Kim Van Patten says these Swedish spice cookies are popular at Christmas. Heart shapes are traditional to encourage kindness and sweetness. It certainly is nice that her Iowa State Fair blue-ribbon winners are mixed up in one saucepan!
Peanut Butter Temptations
Calling all peanut butter dessert fans! These cookies offer double-the-PB compared to the classic peanut blossom cookie with a chocolate kiss on top. And they couldn’t be easier.
Mindy Segal’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
These to-die-for cookies use special chocolate and two kinds of salt, and they call for an overnight chill—and you can absolutely taste the difference. Because of the expense and time involved, we don’t recommend them for any old weekend, but they are incredible for a gift or other special occasion. The recipe comes from Chicago chef Mindy Segal’s cookbook Cookie Love.
Oaxacan Mexican Chocolate Cookies
Oaxacan Mexican Chocolate Cookies.
Andy Lyons
The recipe for these ultra-rich, cinnamon-laced cookies, a truly decadent chocolate dessert, comes from the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago.
Caramel Heavenlies
Caramel Heavenlies.
Kritsada
Graham crackers form the base for this bar cookie with layers of marshmallows, brown sugar, almonds and coconut, one of our favorite holiday desserts. The recipe comes from Georgine Simmonds of Genesee, Michigan.
Lebkuchen
Lebkuchen.
Blaine Moats
The secret to perfect lebkuchen is in the resting phase after glazing. An apple wedge in the storage container provides moisture that softens the cookies. This German classic—spicy, but softer and more dense than gingerbread—is from Shauna Sever’s book Midwest Made: Big, Bold Baking from the Heartland.
Fanciful Raspberry Ribbon Cookies
Fanciful Raspberry Ribbons.
These festive “bake-and-slice” cookies look stunning on a tray of holiday desserts.
Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheels
These cookies with holiday peppermint flair are easier than they look. Make one batch of dough, divide it in half, and blend cocoa into one portion and crushed candy canes and peppermint extract into the other.
Crispy Gingerbread
Crispy Gingerbread.
Blaine Moats
This festively spiced gingerbread recipe (with a hint of orange zest) makes thin, crunchy cookies that work well for gingerbread houses, edible place cards and ornaments.
Holiday Seven-Layer Bars
Holiday Seven-Layer Bars.
Chocolate, nuts, coconut and more fill our easy-to-make bar cookies. Mixed dried fruit bits and candy-coated milk chocolate pieces are among the layers that make this bar cookie distinctive.
Polvorones
Polvorones.
Blaine Moats
Polvorones are Mexico’s crispy, airy answer to shortbread (you may know them as Mexican wedding cookies). Food writer Shauna Sever coats them in cinnamon sugar for a churro-like effect.
Pistachio Cranberry Icebox Cookies
Pistachio-Cranberry Icebox Cookies.
These cookies from the Inn at Cedar Falls in Logan, Ohio, make a colorful treat anytime of year.
Lingonberry Cookies
Lingonberry Cookies.
Blaine Moats
A “window” on the top of these cookies shows off the jam inside, but if you’re feeling lazy, just sandwich the preserves between two solid cookies. They’ll taste just as good.
Lemon Sugar Cookies
Lemon Sugar Cookies.
Carson Downing
The light lemon flavor gives these sparkling sugar cookies a little special twist. Judy Kiburz Harrison’s recipe won best-in-class at the Iowa State Fair.
Tosca Diamonds
These cookies are extremely rich, so cut them into small bars. We love the indulgent flourish of the caramel sauce, but the cookies are delicious without it.
Apricot and Orange Blossom Kolacky Cookies
Apricot and Orange Blossom Kolacky.
Blaine Moats
This tender pastry cookie, a cousin to Jewish rugelach, has Polish origins. In her book Midwest Made: Big, Bold Baking from the Heartland, Shauna Sever’s apricot filling nods to Hungary.
Triple Peanut Butter Streusel Bars
Triple Peanut Butter Streusel Bars.
Dry-roasted peanuts, peanut butter-flavored pieces and peanut butter bring triple flavor to this make-ahead bar cookie.
Anisette Buttons
Anisette Buttons.
Blaine Moats
“Anisettes feel so Italian because it’s about abundance,” says Chicago food writer Shauna Sever, of these deliciously soft, cakey cookies with a licorice flavor. “Small bites, but a huge yield.”
White-Chocolate Cherry Shortbread
Dip these cherry-studded cookies in melted white chocolate, then roll in nonpareils and edible glitter for extra color.
Cranberry Date Puffs
These addictive, puff pastry-wrapped cookies have a sweet, nutty filling and are delicious when they’re still slightly warm. If you have a food processor, they’re a cinch to make.