The holiday season is stuffed like a stocking with festive traditions, spending time with friends and family, and most importantly, good eats. Baking Christmas cookies happens to be all three, lumping spirit, social life, and stomach-filing into one festive affair that you can do anywhere — from the comfort of your own home, at family’s houses, or at college with your friends.
Spending a night baking cookies to nosh on while counting down the days til Christmas or other holidays doesn’t have to be difficult. There are a ton of classic but easy cookie recipes that won’t have you trying out elaborate baking methods for the first time or hunting hard-to-find ingredients. All you’ll need is some time (many cookie recipes have a chilling component) and a few ingredients depending on your cookie of choice (there’s something for everyone here!). Treat this list as your personal cheatsheet for Christmas cookie baking and you’ll be as golden as a perfectly baked cookie.
Peanut butter blossoms
These little peanut butter cookies covered in sugar with a Hershey Kiss pressed into the center are a certified classic Christmas cookie. Peanut butter blossoms are simple to make and sure to please with the classic chocolate and peanut butter combo. If you’re feeling extra festive, you could easily swap out traditional Hershey’s Kisses with holiday versions or Rollos for a caramel-y twist, or roll them in green and red sugar.
Spiced oatmeal cookies
The spiced part is critical here, because spices like cinnamon, cardamom, and allspice bring a warm, holiday twist to an everyday classic. Epicurious’ recipe has been a staple Christmas cookie in my family for years, but there are other recipes out there too. These are a great option for those who aren’t into chocolate, though those adverse to currants or raisins may want to steer their sleigh clear.
Coconut macaroons
Macarons are hard to make, but coconut macaroons, which are basically shredded coconut in cookie form, are ridiculously easy to make. Just a little bit of mixing and baking and then you have toasty snowballs filled with gooey coconut goodness. They also taste great when dipped in chocolate!
Molasses cookies
If you’ve ever had molasses cookies, you know what’s up. If you’ve never had them before, now is the time to make them because they are going to (jingle bell) rock your world and your holiday season. Soft, chewy, melt-in-your mouth — it’s stupid how good these cookies are.
Snickerdoodles
Snickerdoodles are the definition of you can’t go wrong and are one the best cookies to put on Santa’s plate. They’re warm, fluffy cinnamon-and-sugar cookies. What’s not to love? And if you’re impatient, then have no fear because this recipe is a no-chill required winner.
Shortbread
Around Christmas, cute plaid tins full of shortbread start showing up on shelves. But shortbread is fun and easy to make at home and really even more delicious. The buttery, crumbly cookies are delightful on their own or dipped in chocolate. For a particularly festive spin, I recommend crushing up candy canes and sprinkling on top of the wet chocolate.
Chocolate and mint cookies
Peppermint and chocolate is arguably the most festive holiday flavor combination so why not put them into a cookie? If you’re a lover of peppermint mochas or peppermint bark, then these are the chocolate and mint cookies for you. The cookies themselves are just a fudgy chocolate cookie (so if you have a mint hater on your hands, you could leave a few without topping) that you top with melted Andes mints.
Jam thumbprints
If you’re looking for a cookie that’s merry and bright, look no further than jam thumbprints. Think jelly donut x coconut but in a cookie. They’re a lighter, less rich option thanks to the bright jam in the center. There are also coconut-less versions and if you’re not a jam person, you can swap the jam for melted chocolate.
Gingerbread
You might not be able to catch the Gingerbread Man but you can easily bake and eat gingerbread cookies all season long. These are not the hard gingerbread cookies you might expect from a gingerbread house kit, but rather a softer (more edible) ginger-flavored cookie. They’re tasty on their own but also still fun to decorate. Grab yourself some gingerbread man or snowflake or whatever shape you’d like cookie cutters, some store-bought icing (could you make it? Yes. But store-bought is easy and still delicious), and some candies and decorate the night away. It’s a great activity to do with friends or family.
Sugar cookies
It really doesn’t get any simpler than sugar cookies. There are a ton of recipes on the internet and honestly, any of them will probably do. Sugar cookies are nothing fancy, just a plain sweet cookie, but they take very little time and effort to make, will satisfy the sweet tooth, and, like gingerbread cookies, are very customizable. Use different cookie cutters or just do plain circles, and decorate with festive icings and candies for a Christmassy finish.
Apricot and nut cookies
A bonus personal recommendation are Giada’s apricot and nut cookies. They are more of an acquired taste, I get it, but the apricots bring a fruity sharpness to the sweet cookie dough and the nuts add some texture and salty-sweetness. I make them every year (I actually don’t even make the icing, just the cookie) and they generally don’t even last til Christmas.