In this ultimate guide to the best Christmas cookies, I’m sharing everything you need for holiday cookie success—including my most trusted cookie-baking tips, recommended tools, a free printable shopping list, and 75+ top-rated Christmas cookie recipes from my website.
Whether you’re baking a few classics or assembling a full cookie box for gifting, this guide is designed to help you bake Santa-worthy Christmas cookies with confidence.
Welcome to my complete Christmas cookie guide! My team and I have tested, baked, and perfected hundreds of cookie recipes over the years, so there’s plenty of sugar (and wisdom) here to last all season long.
Nobody wants a failed batch of cookies, especially during the holidays. After years of holiday baking, plus an entire chapter devoted to cookies in my New York Times bestselling cookbook Sally’s Baking 101, I’ve learned exactly what works… and what doesn’t.
We update this Christmas cookies recipe page every year so you can rely on it as your go-to holiday baking resource.
What You’ll Find in This Christmas Cookie Guide
- Cookie Success Guides & Baking Tips
- How to Maximize Your Time When Baking Multiple Batches
- 75+ Best Christmas Cookie Recipes, organized by category
- Free Printable Ingredient & Shopping Chart
- Easy Cookie Box & Platter Extras
- More Christmas & Holiday Baking Resources
There’s a lot to cover—so let’s jump in!
How to Bake Several Batches of Christmas Cookies (Without the Stress)
If you’re anything like me, you want to bake at least 5 different kinds of Christmas cookies at once. I host a dedicated Holiday Cookie Baking Day every single year, and after a few early (very stressful!) attempts, I landed on a system that works very well.
Here’s a schedule to maximize your time and oven space:
- Make 1 type of decorated cookie. I prefer my gingerbread cookies, brown sugar cut-out cookies (pictured below), or Christmas sugar cookies. Make the dough the night before, then bake the cookies first thing in the morning so they are ready to decorate. Decorate with my easy cookie icing, royal icing, or cookie decorating buttercream.
- Make a super festive cookie. I suggest my peppermint mocha cookies or Santa’s whiskers cookies. Either dough must chill, so make the dough the night before. The peppermint mocha cookies are one of the most popular cookie recipes on my website.
- Make a bar cookie and bake them as you prepare the next cookie. I suggest my gingerbread cookie bars or M&M cookie bars.
- Make a no-bake recipe as the bar cookies bake. I suggest my chocolate coconut snowballs, Oreo balls, or chocolate peanut butter no bake cookies.
- Bake the cookies from #2. Decorate the cookies from #1 as #2 bakes.
- Finally, make a no-chill cookie recipe such as spritz cookies, shortbread cookies, snickerdoodles, or mini M&M cookies. Continue decorating cookies from #1 as these cookies bake, if needed.
75+ Of My Best Christmas Cookie Recipes
Without further ado, here is my complete list of Christmas cookie recipes. Grab your cookie baking tools and cookie decorating supplies, and let’s get started!
These recipes have been organized into the following categories:
- Classic Christmas Cookies
- Super Festive Christmas Cookies
- Mint/Peppermint Cookies
- Quick Christmas Cookies
- Allergy-Friendly Cookies
- Chocolate Cookies
- White Chocolate Cookies
- Shortbread/Slice & Bake Cookies
- Citrus Cookies
Classic Christmas Cookies
Christmas Sugar Cookies with Easy Icing
My fan-favorite recipe for sugar cookies promises flavorful cookies with soft and thick centers, slightly crisp edges, and flat tops for decorating with your icing of choice.
Spritz Cookies
Using a cookie press, shape this easy buttery cookie dough into intricate shapes and have fun decorating with sprinkles, chocolate, and chocolate chips.
Homemade Butter Cookies
Enjoy these irresistible buttery cookies plain or make lovely designs and dip in chocolate and sprinkles for a festive touch.
Drop-Style Christmas Sugar Cookies
No rolling pin or cookie cutters required for these soft, chewy, and sprinkle-loaded drop style Christmas sugar cookies.
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
These fudgy cookies have been a massive hit with readers, some calling them the “best cookies I’ve ever had” and saying “you need to make a double batch!”
Classic Peanut Butter Blossoms
Homemade peanut butter blossoms are the quintessential Christmas cookie and trademark of any holiday cookie tray.
My Favorite Gingerbread Cookies
Soft in the centers, crisp on the edges, and perfectly spiced, this is my fan-favorite gingerbread cookies recipe.
Seriously Soft Molasses Cookies
These homemade soft molasses cookies with crackly tops stay super chewy for days and are perfectly spiced.
Crisp Molasses Cookies
My recipe for crisp molasses cookies have perfectly crispy edges and literally snap when you break them in half.
Pinwheel Cookies
Enjoy classic chocolate and vanilla pinwheel cookies plain or with a quick dunk in melted chocolate.
Iced Oatmeal Cookies
These iced oatmeal cookies are old-fashioned style with plenty of cozy spice flavor and a light coating of vanilla icing.
Classic Linzer Cookies
These classic Linzer cookies start with a nutty almond- or pistachio-based dough, then bake into tender, lightly spiced rounds sandwiched with sweet jam.
Snowball Cookies
Snowball cookies are some of the easiest Christmas cookies you could make—you need just 5 ingredients and 1 mixing bowl.
Brown Sugar Cut-Out Cookies
These brown sugar cut-out cookies are like a cozy, flavorful cross between classic sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies.
Cinnamon & Spice Palmiers (with Rough Puff Pastry)
These buttery crisp cinnamon & spice palmiers come together with pastry dough, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and orange zest, and if you’re short on time, you can absolutely use store-bought puff pastry.
Super Festive Christmas Cookies
Christmas Cookie Sparkles
Super soft and creamy cream cheese sugar cookies rolled in your sprinkles of choice!
Iced Gingerbread Oatmeal Cookies
These cookies are every bit as chewy, soft, nostalgic, and wholesome as regular oatmeal cookies, but brimming with gingerbread spices and topped with spiced vanilla icing.
Candy Cane Kiss Cookies
Adorably festive candy cane kiss cookies come together with a handful of basic baking ingredients and peppermint Hershey’s Kisses.
Spumoni Cookies
These marbled spumoni cookies bring together pistachio, cherry, and chocolate—all in one eye-catching, chewy, ultra-colorful cookie.
Brown Butter Marshmallow Crispy Cookies
Chewy, gooey, crispy-edged brown butter marshmallow crispy cookies taste like a brown-butter-infused rice krispie treat… in cookie form!
Chocolate Swirled Meringue Cookies (GF)
These chocolate swirled meringue cookies are made from just 5 ingredients with a delightfully crisp outside and a melt-in-your-mouth texture inside.
Cinnamon Brown Sugar Stamped Cookies
Sweetened mostly with brown sugar and spiced with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cardamom, these stamped cookies are just as flavorful as they are pretty!
Almond Butter Sparkle Cookies
These thick almond butter cookies sparkle with a roll in crunchy coarse sugar or festive sanding sugar sprinkles.
Caramel Hazelnut Linzer Cookies
Linzer-style caramel hazelnut sandwich cookies are blissfully buttery with brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, hazelnut and caramel flavors.
Gingerbread Blossoms
Gingerbread blossoms are quick, simple, and packed with festive flavor, plus there’s no cookie dough chilling required.
Pecan Sugar Cookies with Brown Butter Icing
These pecan sugar cookies raise the classic cut-out sugar cookie to new heights, delivering both extra flavor and texture.
Brown Butter Sugar Cookies
Brown butter sugar cookies are easy to make, incredibly flavorful, and ready in just under an hour.
Red Velvet Kiss Cookies
These cocoa-kissed red velvet kiss cookies are a colorful spin on traditional peanut butter blossoms.
Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies
If you like chocolate chip cookies and all-things cake batter flavored, you will love these soft and chewy sprinkle-filled cookies.
Stained Glass Window Cookies
Crushed candy melts as the cookies bake, creating a gorgeous windowpane effect—no extra decorating or icing required.
Spiced Eggnog Oatmeal Cream Pies
Chewy oatmeal cookies flavored with eggnog, cinnamon, and nutmeg are sandwiched together with rich, spiced eggnog buttercream.
Gingerbread House Recipe
In this comprehensive post is a video tutorial, gingerbread house template for the shapes, a full recipe, and all my decorating tips and advice.
Mint/Peppermint Cookies
Andes Mint Chocolate Cookies
These cookies are soft and rich, unapologetically chocolate-y, and crowned with a melty Andes Mint “frosting” swirl.
Chocolate Peppermint Madeleines
Elegant and festive, these chocolate peppermint madeleines are guaranteed to impress, but are surprisingly easy (and fairly quick) to make.
Peppermint Meltaway Cookies
Irresistibly soft, buttery, and sweet, these peppermint meltaway cookies are a festive favorite during the holiday season.
Peppermint Snowball Cookies
Candy cane lovers will adore this festive and flavorful variation on the classic snowball.
Mint Chocolate Checkerboard Cookies
These soft and buttery icebox cookies start from 1 basic cookie dough and are shaped to resemble a fun and playful checkerboard pattern.
Chocolate Peppermint Thumbprints
Besides the unbeatable texture and festive flavor, you’ll also appreciate how adorable these tiny cookies are on any cookie platter!
Peppermint White Chocolate Cookies
My soft and chewy peppermint cookies with white chocolate and candy canes are festive, delicious, and wildly easy to make.
Peppermint Mocha Cookies
These peppermint mocha cookies will be the undisputed star of your holiday cookie tray!
Peppermint Bark Cookies
Like traditional festive peppermint bark but in the form of an irresistibly soft chocolate cookie enrobed in white chocolate.
Quick Christmas Cookies
Allergy-Friendly Christmas Cookies
Almond Flour Sugar Cookies (GF)
Sweet and buttery, with crisp edges and chewy centers, these almond flour sugar cookies are wonderful plain or topped with frosting.
Easy Lace Cookies (GF)
Made from only 6 ingredients, these lace cookies are ready in 30 minutes and they taste like sweet brown butter and caramel.
No-Bake Chocolate Coconut Snowballs (GF)
These no-bake chocolate coconut snowballs are easy to make, freeze wonderfully, and are always a crowd favorite.
Flourless Monster Cookies (GF)
Packed with peanut butter, chewy oats, and oodles of chocolate chips and M&Ms, you’ll never guess these cookies are made without flour.
Coconut Macaroons (GF & DF)
Coconut macaroons are quick and easy (no dough chilling required!), come together with just 5 simple ingredients, and are naturally gluten free and dairy free.
Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies (GF)
This family favorite recipe is super simple and nostalgic, and the cookies are gluten free recipe if using certified gluten free oats.
Flourless Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (GF & DF)
Naturally gluten free almond butter chocolate chip cookies are simple, wholesome, satisfying, and made with only 5 simple ingredients.
Caramel Coconut Macaroon Thumbprints (GF)
This upgraded version of classic macaroons features a decadent pool of salted caramel in the center and a drizzle of chocolate to top it all off.
Almond Butter Coconut Macaroons (GF & DF)
Made from only 6 base ingredients, these naturally gluten free and dairy free almond butter coconut macaroons are soft and moist in the centers with extra chewy edges.
See more allergen-friendly recipes: Gluten Free Recipes, Egg Free Recipes, Nut Free Recipes, Dairy Free Recipes.
Chocolate Christmas Cookies
Piped Chocolate Butter Cookies
These chocolate butter cookies are the cocoa-kissed version of my classic homemade butter cookies.
Soft & Chewy Chocolate Snickerdoodles
These chocolate snickerdoodles take everything nostalgic and comforting about the original and give it a rich, fudgy upgrade.
Stamped Chocolate Espresso Cookies
These stamped chocolate espresso cookies are the whole package: richly flavored, beautifully shaped, and dressed to impress with a glossy espresso glaze that sets.
Big Fat Dark Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
These mega cookies are hearty, flavorful, fantastically soft and thick, and perfect for pairing with a mug of your favorite hot beverage.
Chocolate Raspberry Crinkles
Just like chocolate crinkle cookies, but with the added flavor of real raspberries!
Peanut Butter Fudge Puddles (Cookie Cups)
Peanut butter fudge puddles are delightful 2-bite peanut butter cookie cups baked in a mini muffin pan and filled with a rich chocolate cream.
Marshmallow-Surprise Hot Cocoa Cookies
Topped with a gooey marshmallow smothered in melted chocolate, these cookies are like a marshmallow-filled hot chocolate bomb, in cookie form!
Chocolate Ginger Sparkle Cookies
With their sparkly, crinkly tops and super soft chew, these chocolate ginger sparkle cookies are as delicious to eat as they are beautiful to behold.
Nutella Crinkle Cookies
We’re taking the beloved classic chocolate crinkle cookie and going a little nuts—in the best possible way—with these Nutella crinkle cookies.
Chocolate Frosted Cookies
These chocolate frosted cookies are simple to make but pack tons of soft, chewy, and fudge-like texture that all chocolate lovers can appreciate.
Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies
This award-winning recipe comes together by stuffing the dark chocolate dough with a Rolo caramel candy and topping with a pinch of flaky sea salt.
Chocolate Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies
My chocolate gingerbread sandwich cookies combine gingerbread cookies with thick & creamy chocolate ganache.
Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
A classic chocolate chip cookie is loved and appreciated any time of year, so why not include a batch in your holiday baking?
Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies
These red velvet cake-inspired chocolate chip cookies are fantastic with your favorite type of chocolate chips and add a wonderful pop of color to any cookie platter.
Double Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
These soft-baked thick and chunky double chocolate chip cookies are as indulgent as they look.
White Chocolate Christmas Cookies
Soft White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies
These cookies are all together sweet, tart, soft, chewy, and slightly crispy—and they’re a fan-favorite every holiday season.
Magic 5 Cookies, Holiday Edition
My version of soft-baked white chocolate cranberry and pecan oatmeal cookies has the most unbelievable flavor and tons of contrasting textures.
Maple Cinnamon Star Cookies
Flavorful maple cinnamon star cookies are made from a basic and easy maple-flavored cookie dough and get a dunk in white chocolate for extra glam.
White Chocolate Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti
Deliciously crunchy and crumbly, my white chocolate cranberry pistachio biscotti is perfect for dipping in your holiday hot chocolate, coffee, or tea.
White Chocolate Chip Cherry Oatmeal Cookies
Use my favorite oatmeal cookie base and add dried cherries, white chocolate, and cinnamon to create a version perfect for the holidays.
Gingerbread Latte Cookies
Have your (gingerbread) latte and eat it, too!
Shortbread and Slice & Bake Cookies
Icebox Slice & Bake Cookies (1 Dough, 5 Flavors)
Meet your forever recipe for icebox slice & bake cookies: a versatile, buttery base cookie dough ready for endless flavor adaptations.
Shortbread Cookies Recipe
There’s no chilling necessary for this flavor-adaptable shortbread cookie dough, and the cookies will never over-spread because you’re baking them in round pans.
Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookies
Buttery, tender almond-vanilla shortbread meets raspberry jam—these raspberry almond thumbprint cookies are a classic for a reason.
Cranberry Spice Cookies with Eggnog Icing
These shortbread-like cookies have festive spice flavor, plenty of sweet dried cranberries, and come together quickly with only 30 minutes of chill time.
Almond Crescent Cookies
With their delicate almond flavor, crumbly shortbread texture, and sweet powdered sugar coating, almond crescent cookies are a traditional favorite around the holidays, but can (and should!) be enjoyed year round.
Santa’s Whiskers Cookies
Bejeweled with sweet cherries, these almond flavored cookies are rolled in coconut and baked until golden around the edges.
Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies
These simple 6-ingredient brown sugar shortbread cookies are a sweet, flavorful take on traditional shortbread.
Salted Chocolate Pistachio Shortbread
With just a few simple ingredients, you can turn traditional shortbread into this salty-sweet chocolate pistachio shortbread.
1 Dough Neapolitan Cookies
These are my soft butter cookies flavored with chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry, and shaped in a loaf pan—so simple and so pretty.
Salted Pistachio Chocolate Chunk Slice and Bake Cookies
The combination of dark chocolate and pistachios is totally underrated and one of my favorites to add to my holiday cookie menu.
Cherry Almond Shortbread Cookies
These soft and buttery shortbread cookies flavored with cherry and almond, then finished off with sweet white chocolate.
Pistachio Drop Cookies
My soft and crumbly pistachio cookies are made from REAL pistachios and are topped with brown butter icing, plus the cookie dough is made from 6 easy ingredients and requires just 1 mixing bowl.
Citrus Cookies
Chocolate Orange Sandwich Cookies
These buttery shortbread cookies are soft, tender, fragrant, and simply unforgettable.
Lemon Shortbread Cookies
Zesty, buttery, and tangy-sweet, these cut-out lemon shortbread cookies are a ray of sunshine on a plate!
Orange Chocolate Chip Ricotta Cookies
Super soft and melt-in-your-mouth tender, these cookies are delicately flavored with fresh orange zest, studded with mini chocolate chips, and topped with a simple citrus icing.
Lemon Ginger Cookies
Citrus and spice make a balanced and refreshing duo, a flavor marriage that fits so many seasons of the year!
Cranberry Orange Icebox Cookies
These cranberry orange icebox cookies deliver big flavor from surprisingly simple ingredients.
Lemon Thumbprint Cookies
Enjoy sweet, soft lemon sugar cookie filled with from-scratch lemon curd and drizzled with lemon icing.
Dark Chocolate Orange Biscotti
No more dry or bland biscotti—this dark chocolate orange biscotti has so much flavor and is perfect for dunking.
Lemon Coconut Drop Shortbread Cookies
These easy 2-bite lemon coconut drop shortbread cookies are like snowballs but with glaze instead of a confectioners’ sugar coating.
Very Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Just like their chocolate cousins, these lemon crinkle cookies are soft-baked, coated in confectioners’ sugar, and practically melt in your mouth.
Free Printable: Christmas Cookie Ingredient & Shopping Chart
To make holiday shopping easier, my team and I created a free printable ingredient chart, perfect for cookie baking days.
- Fits 6 cookie recipes
- List each recipe at the top
- Total ingredients by cups, teaspoons, packages, etc.
- Space for extras like candy canes, Hershey Kisses, molasses, sprinkles, and more
(Note: Basic pantry staples like salt, baking soda, and baking powder are not included.)
**Free Baking Ingredients Chart PDF: Sally’s Baking Recipes Ingredients Chart
Here is a photo preview:
Easy Cookie Platter/Box Extras
If you need an additional easy treat to help round out your holiday cookie boxes and platters, here are a few favorites:
Additional Holiday Baking Resources
Final Cookie Baking Success Tips
- Chill the cookie dough. If the cookie dough is particularly sticky, wet, or greasy—chilling is in its best interest. Chilling cookie dough helps prevent spreading.
- Ditch the specified baking time. I never look at recipe times when I bake cookies. I look at the cookies themselves. The cookies are done when the edges are set and lightly browned.
- One batch at a time. You get the best possible results when the oven only concentrates on that 1 batch. If you need to bake more than one batch at a time, rotate the baking sheets from the top rack to bottom rack a couple times through the baking process to encourage even browning.
And while we’re chatting about all things holiday baking, be sure to check out my Holiday Gifts for Bakers guide. Lots of fun ideas in there, either for yourself or other baker friends!
Q: Which Christmas cookies are you making this year? You might also enjoy making a masterpiece yule log, too!
