Get ready to whisk, roll and bake your way into the holiday spirit with our Christmas cookie recipes. These sweets are so good, they’ll become part of your yearly baking traditions. With bold flavors like our Raspberry-Lemon Crinkle Cookies and Ginger Molasses Cookies, these cookies are a festive delight for everyone.
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Lingonberry Linzer Plätzchen (German Lingonberry Linzer Cookies)
These tasty Linzer cookies are inspired by Linzer torte, an Austrian dessert featuring a nutty, jam-filled pastry with a lattice-designed top. Depending on the region and country you’re in, you’ll find these cookies under a variety of names—in Austria, they’re called Linzer Augen, which translates to Linzer “eyes” to reflect their circular design with a round cutout. This version uses lingonberry jam for the filling, a drizzle of white chocolate and a dusting of crushed dried raspberries.
Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cookies
Photographer: Fred Hardy, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster
These cookies get a boost of protein from eggs, peanut butter and spelt flour—a type of wheat flour that’s higher in protein and fiber than all-purpose flour and a little less dense than classic whole-wheat flour. With cocoa powder and chocolate chips too, these cookies deliver the perfect balance of nuttiness and chocolate with a little extra boost of protein.
Raspberry-Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Photographer: Fred Hardy, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Lindsey Lower.
Bright, tangy and festive, these raspberry-lemon crinkle cookies put a fresh twist on a beloved classic. Rolled in a vibrant raspberry–powdered sugar coating, the cookies bake up with a crinkled finish and a pop of berry flavor in every bite. These cookies are guaranteed to stand out on any dessert table.
Lemon-Blueberry Muffin Cookies
Photographer Victor Protasio, Food Stylist Chelsea Zimmer, Prop Stylist Christina Daley
These lemon-blueberry muffin cookies are the dessert you’ve been waiting for. These cookies combine the soft, chewy texture of a cookie with juicy blueberries and the crisp streusel topping of a muffin all wrapped into one. Serve them with a cup of tea or coffee for the perfect pairing, or pack them up for a picnic or on-the-go snack. They’re sure to be a hit with everyone!
Ginger Molasses Cookies
The spelt flour in these ginger molasses cookies offers a chewy texture and a nutty flavor that shines with the ginger in this easy holiday cookie recipe.
Cashew-Cardamom Shortbread
These cardamom-spiced shortbread cookies were inspired by the Indian sweet kaju katli.
Pumpkin–Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Margaret Monroe Dickey, Prop Stylist: Hannah Greenwood.
These pumpkin–chocolate chip oatmeal cookies are a soft, chewy dessert that blends fall flavors with just the right amount of sweetness. Pumpkin puree adds moisture and a lovely orange hue, while warm pumpkin spice enhances the seasonal vibes. Studded with dark chocolate chips, each bite is the perfect balance of sweet and spice.
Zucchini Cookies
Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf, Prop Stylist: Josh Hoggle.
These zucchini cookies are a creative way to add vegetables into dessert! They’re soft, moist and flavored lightly with nutmeg. The shredded zucchini adds texture and helps keep the cookies tender, while chocolate chips add extra flavor. These cookies are perfect for using up your garden zucchini in an unexpected way.
Cranberry-Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
In this installment of Diaspora Dining, Jessica B. Harris’ series on foods of the African diaspora, the author and historian rings in some changes to the Christmas traditions of her own childhood.
Ginger & Spice Crackles
These soft and moist cookies are spiked with ginger, cinnamon and a hint of clove and they crackle on top when they bake. Rolling them in powdered sugar gives them a lightly sweet coating on the outside that looks like a dusting of fresh fallen snow.
Espresso Walnut Marzipan Cookies
Marzipan is typically made with almonds, but here we use walnuts to make the marzipan for these nutty cookies. The espresso flavor is delicate, but adds a nice bitterness to the cookie. If you prefer, you can brew your own espresso and use that instead of instant espresso.
Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies
A generous amount of melted chocolate gives these cookies a fudgy, brownie-like texture, but it also means a very soft dough. Chilling it helps firm the dough up to a scoopable consistency.
Soft Sugar Cookies
These easy and classic cookies incorporate mild-tasting white whole-wheat flour for extra fiber and nutrients.
Chocolate-Dipped Cardamom Cookies with Candied Grapefruit
Inspired by the German cookie Kardamom Plätzchen, we swap rum for rye whiskey, as the spiciness pairs well with the cardamom in these delicate cookies. For the melted chocolate, we recommend that you chop a chocolate bar instead of using chocolate chips—the former has a higher cocoa butter content which means smoother melting. Candied grapefruit peels add an extra flavor contrast as well as a pretty finish.
Salted Hazelnut Thumbprint Cookies
Hazelnuts do double duty in this cookie recipe. Hazelnut flour adds nuttiness to the dough, while chocolate-hazelnut spread is used for the filling. A touch of fresh orange zest and juice adds a sweet note to balance the nut and chocolate flavors.
Gingerbread Pine Cones
“This is a really good, solid gingerbread recipe,” says Duff Goldman. “I was in a baking store and I saw this really cool cookie mold shaped like a pine cone and I knew I had to have it. I thought this would be a perfect gingerbread cookie and if I could make it look like it got snowed on, that would be awesome.”
