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Christmas cookie season is the best season. I think we can all agree on that!
And while this time of year always goes by too quickly, a great way to stretch it out is to bake cookies all month long! Bake by yourself, bake together, bake for occasions and gifting and bake just because.
And if you’ve got a million cookie exchange parties on your calendar, I’ve compiled this top ten list of my favorite Christmas cookies just for you.
These are my tried and true, fail safe recipes that are great for all skill levels. Let me know which one is your favorite!
And be sure to scroll to the bottom of the list for my best tips and tricks for decorating and storing your sweet treats.
Vanilla Almond Smash Cookies
Vanilla Almond Smash Cookies are my favorite kind of holiday cookies – they’re easy to make and don’t require decorating.
These buttery cookies have a flaky, crumbly texture with a mildly sweet, nutty flavor and a totally intoxicating vanilla scent. And the powdered sugar coating adds the perfect finishing touch.
These vanilla almond cookies are reminiscent of the beloved Russian tea cakes, also known as almond snowball cookies, with a unique twist. They’re my favorite things to dunk in coffee or tea.
This recipe is also egg-free, so if you’re baking for someone with an allergy you’ll want to bookmark this one. Find the recipe here.
Eggnog Cut Out Cookies
These soft, frosted cookies are a perennial. With an amazing vanilla rum frosting, these cookies are like eggnog that you can chew.
The dough is pliable and easy to roll and cut into shapes – like classic sugar cookies, only better. It’s one of the friendlier doughs to use with cookie cutters, and you will feel proud of how pretty they come out!
You’ll love serving these beauties on your next holiday cookie platter. Find the recipe here.
Cinnamon Chip Cookies
These cinnamon chip cookies are buttery and flaky, almost like shortbread cookies. The dough is made with simple ingredients and is super easy to work with.
There’s also no frosting or fancy decorations. Just a simple dusting of raw sugar and they’re ready to enjoy.
Yep, these easy cinnamon chip cookies are pretty unassuming. But it wouldn’t feel like Christmas without them!
They’re regulars in the annual cookie boxes that I gift to friends and family, beloved because of their simplicity. Click here for the recipe.
Old Fashioned Gingerbread Cookies
Is there any cookie more quintessentially Christmas than the gingerbread cookie? You’ve just got to make them this time of year.
These Old Fashioned Gingerbread Cookies are warmly spiced and bake up buttery and soft. These cookies won’t spread, so your cut-out shapes, whether they be Christmas trees or gingerbread men, will come out perfect every time.
What makes these cookies really special, though, is the vanilla bean frosting. It is downright heavenly. Click here for the recipe.
Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze
The first time I tried a ricotta cookie I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Once you’ve tried one of these pillowy, melt-in-your-mouth cookies, you’ll never be the same.
And if I can add lemon to something, lemon is being added. And so we have lemon ricotta cookies that get a double dose of lemon, both in the cookie and in the sweet lemon glaze.
With a short list of simple ingredients, these classic Italian cookies are one of the easier recipes you’ll make this holiday season.
And decorating is easy – just a quick dip in the glaze and a dash of red and green sprinkles is all it takes.
The dough for these cake-like cookies also freezes beautifully, so you can enjoy freshly baked cookies all winter long. Find the recipe here.
Peppermint Mocha Sandwich Cookies
A Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks is something I’ll get at least once a season, just for the festivity of it.
But what if we made it a cookie? And what if that cookie was sandwiched with a luscious peppermint buttercream?
And then what if we dipped the cookie in chocolate and even more peppermint (in the form of crushed candy canes)?
Oh yeah. It’s a winner. Find the recipe here.
Salted Caramel Chocolate Cookies
Move over chocolate crinkle cookies, there’s a new chocolate queen in town.
These salted caramel chocolate cookies are everything you want them to be – soft, chewy and salty-sweet with a soft caramel center. This comes from the whole Rolo candy that is stuffed inside the dough.
A great recipe for chocolate lovers, these oversized cookies are rich and decadent. Finished with a sprinkle of sea salt, they are destined to be your new favorite cookie!
Chewy Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies
Choosing a favorite Christmas cookie is like choosing a favorite child. But if I had to do it, I suppose I could. The cookie, not the child. And this is the one.
These soft and chewy cookies will stay soft for days. They’re bursting with tart cranberries and sweet white chocolate chips. They just look and feel like the holidays. And they taste like coziness and love!
We never skip this one, even if we have to bake them on Christmas Eve. Click here for the recipe.
Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies
How did a chocolate chip cookie make this favorite Christmas cookie recipes list?
Because I’ve been to a million holiday parties and I’ve seen a million cookie platters. And no matter how dazzling and beautiful the other Christmas cookies look, the chocolate chip cookies are always – always – the first to disappear.
I can float dozens of different cookies in front of my kids, and these will always be their favorite cookies.
A good chocolate chip cookie is like a warm hug, and who doesn’t need one of those during the holiday season?
These soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies are guaranteed to hit the spot. Click here for the recipe.
Snickerdoodle Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
This snickerdoodle recipe will give you giant, soft cookies with that classic cinnamon flavor. Then, they’re topped with an irresistible cream cheese frosting.
Created as a copycat recipe for the famous Crumbl Snickerdoodle cookie, everyone I’ve gifted these cookies to has said that they’re even better than the original. Click here for the recipe.
Decorating Tools to Help you Feel like a Pro
If you’re serious – or even seriously amateur – about cookie decorating this holiday season, stock up on these must-have tools:
1. Disposable piping bags. Yes, you could use a Ziploc bag with the tip cut off, but piping bags work better and they’re inexpensive. When you’re done with one, toss it. No fuss.
2. Decorating tips. At a minimum, have one tip for piping designs and outlines and another for filling in, or “flooding” a cookie. My recommendation is to grab a small beginner set of tips. You’ll have them forever.
3. Colored sprinkles and decorations. Cookie decorations have come a long way from simple red and green sprinkles. There are beautiful edible sugars out there in all the shades and sparkle of the holidays. Get creative!
4. Airtight containers. The best way to store cookies is in a shallow airtight container. There are special containers out there that are just for cookie storage.
5. Vanilla extract. What’s one thing that almost all classic Christmas cookie recipes have in common? Vanilla. You’ll grab for this ingredient more than any other during cookie season, so be sure to have a quality extract in a large size.
6. A good mixer. A stand mixer is an investment, but one that will last a lifetime. Not ready to commit to a stand mixer? A handheld electric mixer will be able to get the job done most of the time.
I hope you have an amazing time trying these Christmas cookie recipes!
And when you decide which one is your favorite, I’d love to hear about it. Be sure to leave a comment below. Happy holidays!
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