The 85 Best Christmas Cookies to Make This Holiday Season (All Cookie Swap and Santa Approved)

• Time Commitment: 50 minutes
• Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, make ahead, crowd-pleaser

Cookie texture meets brownie flavor in these festive sandwich cookies. Jam is traditional, but we’ve swapped it for a vibrant pink peppermint ganache.

• Time Commitment: 25 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly

Oh hi, 25-minute frosted and decorated cookies. (Royal icing could never.)

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, <10 ingredients, crowd-pleaser

Vegetables in a cookie? You better believe it. Here, the sweet potato lends moisture and color for a soft, bright cookie that’s better than any marshmallow-topped casserole.

• Time Commitment: 3 hours, 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: make ahead, beginner-friendly, crowd-pleaser

Icebox cookies are a holiday savior because you can make the dough ahead of time and bake the cookies whenever a craving strikes.

• Time Commitment: 40 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly

It’s a cookie within a cookie! They’re like our favorite store-bought sammies, only a little classier and a lot tastier.

• Time Commitment: 45 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly

If a soft molasses cookie and a good old chocolate chip number had a very delicious baby, it would be one of these treats.

• Time Commitment: 2 hours, 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, crowd-pleaser

The time you would’ve spent frosting is spent weaving instead—and the result is a hundred times more sophisticated.

• Time Commitment: 3 hours, 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: make ahead, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly

Here’s an ingenious way to make good use of all those candy canes. (C’mon, no one ever finishes a whole one.)

• Time Commitment: 3 hours
• Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, crowd-pleaser

Here’s a nifty baking trick: Gently simmer a can of sweetened condensed milk and it’ll turn into homemade dulce de leche like magic.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 50 minutes
• Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, crowd-pleaser

So you have to make the pecan brittle bark ahead of the cookies. We promise the results are worth the effort.

• Time Commitment: 3 hours, 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly, make ahead

These come together with seven ingredients. We repeat: seven ingredients.

• Time Commitment: 2 hours, 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, crowd-pleaser

The buttery, almost salty cookies are the perfect foil to the tart filling. Take a batch to Aunt Jackie’s house and you’ll win major brownie (er, cookie?) points.

• Time Commitment: 2 hours
• Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, crowd-pleaser

Food dye who? These adorable Christmas cookies are colored with matcha powder for a seasonably appropriate hue and a toasty flavor.

• Time Commitment: 42 minutes
• Why We Love It: gluten free, crowd-pleaser, <10 ingredients

No one will know that they’re gluten free, even when they go in for round two.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: no cook, make ahead, kid-friendly, crowd-pleaser

Are they a cookie or a candy? Who cares? They’re delicious, and you can totally start with store-bought.

• Time Commitment: 3 hours, 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, kid-friendly, make ahead, crowd-pleaser, <10 ingredients

Vanilla isn’t boring, it’s underrated. One cookie and you’ll understand.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: make ahead, special occasion-worthy, crowd-pleaser, <10 ingredients

Is it really the holidays if you aren’t swimming in a sea of snowflake and reindeer cutouts?

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly

These will be a hit with your Gen Z cousin who’s all over the latest trends. (Or she’ll scoff and say tie dye is *so* last year, but whatever.)

• Time Commitment: 3 hours, 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, make ahead, crowd-pleaser

Last-minute cookie swap? We’ve got your back. This dough can be made up to three months in advance.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 5 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly

No, Ina Garten isn’t coming to your Secret Santa party, but her cookie recipe will suffice.

• Time Commitment: 3 hours, 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: make ahead, crowd-pleaser, <10 ingredients

You had us at three little words: pure maple syrup.

• Time Commitment: 3 hours
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy

Chewy, spicy cookies are filled with molten caramel…and the results are glorious. You’ll want a few napkins for these babies.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, crowd-pleaser

Go ahead, eat a few cookies for breakfast. (’Tis the season, right?)

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly

Pie? Way too much work. These cookies offer the best of both dessert worlds (and leave you more time to watch A Christmas Story).

• Time Commitment: 50 minutes
• Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, crowd-pleaser

They look like little works of art, but don’t let that stop you from eating one, or a few.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, crowd-pleaser

Caffeine and sugar? This has afternoon snack written all over it.

• Time Commitment: 2 hours, 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, gluten free, crowd-pleaser

We love a good ol’ jar of Nutella, but bonus points if you make your own.

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly, crowd-pleaser

Everyone needs a 30-minute cookie on their Christmas list. Especially when it involves chocolate and marshmallows.

• Time Commitment: 25 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, <10 ingredients, kid-friendly

The bigger the cookie, the closer to Santa—or so they say.

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, beginner-friendly, crowd-pleaser

Sugar cookies and macaroons happen to make a fantastic pair.

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, crowd-pleaser

We’ve never met a person who can say no to cheesecake. Just saying.

• Time Commitment: 35 minutes
• Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, crowd-pleaser

Psst: Those bagged cookies have been on the grocery store shelf since last Christmas. You can do better.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 5 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy

Honey, we shrunk the Oreos. And good thing, too. Now you can eat them by the handful.

• Time Commitment: 26 minutes
• Why We Love It: gluten free, dairy free, <30 minutes

You wouldn’t know it, but these babies are gluten free and dairy optional.

• Time Commitment: 40 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, special occasion–worthy, crowd-pleaser

Forget the little lad: There’s a big man up north who loves this flavor combination.

• Time Commitment: 40 minutes
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, crowd-pleaser

These cookies have a secret: They’re packed with crushed freeze-dried raspberries for a sweet-tart punch of flavor.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 5 minutes
• Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, kid-friendly, crowd-pleaser

They’re. So. Cute! (And you can fill them with any flavor you please.)

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, gluten free, dairy free

A cookie that’s kinda good for you? Be still our sugar-loving heart. These are flourless, not to mention dairy and egg free.

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, beginner-friendly, crowd-pleaser

Just because the leaves have fallen doesn’t mean pumpkin season is over, people.

• Time Commitment: 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly, <15 minutes

We get it: You have a thousand presents to wrap. But we bet you can still craft a batch of these cookies.

• Time Commitment: 40 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, <10 ingredients, gluten free

Meet your new favorite holiday cookie: They’re sweet but not cloying, play nice with chocolate and are easy to pack into cookie boxes.

• Time Commitment: 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: gluten free, <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly, <30 minutes

The Christmas season is a marathon, not a sprint. These 20-minute, three-ingredient beauties will get you through the busiest parts.

• Time Commitment: 40 minutes
• Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, crowd-pleaser

No, it’s not Valentine’s Day. The heart shape is because we love Christmas, duh!

• Time Commitment: 45 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly

Hot tip: If you bite down the middle, you get a bit of every flavor.

• Time Commitment: 35 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy

How’d you like to spend Christmas on a tropical island? Well, these cuties are the next best thing.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 5 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, crowd-pleaser

If there’s a time to take things OTT, it’s the holidays. Pair these cookies with a scoop of vanilla ice cream if you’re really committed.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 5 minutes
• Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, crowd-pleaser, <10 ingredients

But if you want to keep things simple, we don’t blame you. These six-ingredient cookies are unexpectedly sophisticated.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, one bowl, <10 ingredients

The eggnog icing is optional, but we know you have an open carton lingering in your fridge.

• Time Commitment: 40 minutes (+ chilling time)
• Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, crowd-pleaser, make ahead

Let it snow…cookies, that is.

• Time Commitment: 38 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly, kid-friendly, <10 ingredients

Polvorones, Russian tea cakes, snowball cookies: Call ’em what you want, just don’t inhale as you take a bite.

• Time Commitment: 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, beginner-friendly, crowd-pleaser

These cookies are flavored with vanilla, but you can swap in anise if you want to be traditional.

• Time Commitment: 35 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, crowd-pleaser

You can’t go wrong with a Santa-approved classic.

• Time Commitment: 32 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly

They’re soft, rich and lightly spiced. Would pairing them with a glass of eggnog be overkill?

• Time Commitment: 25 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, crowd-pleaser

The snappier, the better. (As an added bonus, these are easily made gluten free.)

• Time Commitment: 40 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly

We can’t explain it, but these are a Christmas classic.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, crowd-pleaser

Everyone knows the best Christmas cookies are covered in confectioners’ sugar.

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, special occasion–worthy, crowd-pleaser

Deck the halls with sugar, butter and frosting.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 25 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy

These are—dare we say?—better than the real thing.

• Time Commitment: 25 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly

Snappy, crunchy cookies aren’t for everyone. For those of you who prefer pillowier treats, these soft, spiced cookies are just like what Grandma use to make.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion-worthy

If you don’t already have a stiff cocktail at the holiday party, grab one of these guys.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy

You’ll need a cookie press to make these classic Christmas cookies, but look how pretty they turn out.

• Time Commitment: 22 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, crowd-pleaser, <30 minutes

Unlike Frosty, these won’t melt on you.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly

They’re made with actual hot cocoa mix for the full effect.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly

It’s two treats in one, and what could be bad about that?

• Time Commitment: 26 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, crowd-pleaser

A sweet-salty number is just what your cookie plate needs to be complete.

• Time Commitment: 2 hours
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, special occasion–worthy

Red and green are givens, but we have a soft spot for this millennial-loved color.

• Time Commitment: 2 hours, 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, gluten free, <10 ingredients

Who’s the winner of the cookie swap? You are.

• Time Commitment: 45 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly

It’s buttery and tender like a shortbread but studded with chocolate chips and baked like a bar. Basically, it has everything.

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: gluten free, vegan, crowd-pleaser

What makes them magical? Well, they’re free of nuts, gluten, grains and refined sugar, and they’re vegan (not to mention delicious.)

• Time Commitment: 25 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy

Christmas tree sprinkles on everything, we say.

• Time Commitment: 23 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, kid-friendly, crowd-pleaser

The sour cream ensures these cut-out cookies are ultra-tender and just a little tangy.

• Time Commitment: 25 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, crowd-pleaser

Psst: They’re spiked with rum. Need we say more?

• Time Commitment: 35 minutes
• Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, crowd-pleaser

Replace the usual shortbread base with store-bought gingersnaps, and suddenly you have a party-ready version of the grocery fave.

• Time Commitment: 38 minutes
• Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, crowd-pleaser

The cookie dough is flavored with vanilla and orange for a tart twist.

• Time Commitment: 55 minutes
• Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, kid-friendly, crowd-pleaser

Cookie butter, meet snickerdoodle cookies. (Now meet our mouth.)

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, kid-friendly, <30 minutes

Go ahead and leave them out with a note for Santa, but save us one from the batch.

• Time Commitment: 45 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy

Brown butter, toasty pecans, boozy bourbon: These are a few of our favorite things.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 5 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy

They look so fancy, but they’re actually super easy to pipe and bake.

• Time Commitment: 45 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, special occasion–worthy

They’re almost too cute to eat…but we’re not about to hold back.

• Time Commitment: 55 minutes
• Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, crowd-pleaser

Merry Christmas to all, but especially to these spicy, chocolatey cookies that take less than an hour to make.

• Time Commitment: 55 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy, make ahead

Since the holidays are busy even without a baking project, you can (and should!) make the curd a couple days ahead of time and refrigerate it until you’re ready to bake.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 2 minutes
• Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, beginner-friendly, <10 ingredients

Not only are these cookies delicious, but according to the Contessa, the house smells amazing when you make them.

• Time Commitment: 2 hours, 30 minutes (includes chilling)
• Why We Love It: make ahead, special occasion–worthy, crowd-pleaser

These chewy-yet-crisp jewels are vying for the top spot at your cookie exchange, and with their sweet-tart fruit flavor, they just might win.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, kid-friendly

If you’ve ever been torn between baking cookies or brownies, this is the decadent mashup of your dreams.

• Time Commitment: 45 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly, one bowl

These babies are meant to be eaten in multiples (or better yet, by the handful). And since our motto is “more cookies, fewer dishes,” we made sure that the dough can be made using a single bowl.