Christmas Cookie Recipes

🎄 Best Christmas Cookie Recipes

Not sure where to start? These are some of my favorite Christmas cookies to bake every year. There’s a little bit of everything here—from old-fashioned favorites and rich chocolate cookies to pretty holiday classics and beloved Italian treats. Pick a few for your cookie tray, or bake your way through the whole list!

For this section, I’d use 10 recipes. We want it curated enough that “best” actually means something, while intentionally showcasing both proven GWS favorites and the recipes we’ve invested in growing.

Italian Christmas Cookies

Soft, tender, and covered in a sweet vanilla glaze and festive sprinkles, these colorful little cookies are a Christmas tradition for good reason. The oil-based dough keeps them wonderfully moist, even after a few days on the cookie tray.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

These aren’t ordinary chocolate crinkles. Melted chocolate, cocoa, and chocolate chips give them an intensely fudgy, brownie-like center, while powdered sugar creates those beautiful snowy cracks.

Spritz Cookies

Buttery, delicate, and just sweet enough, these classic Christmas cookies are made for the cookie press. They’re beautiful on a holiday tray and surprisingly easy to make once you get pressing.

Molasses Cookies

Deeply spiced with rich molasses flavor, these old-fashioned cookies bake up soft and chewy with those irresistible crackly tops. Exactly the kind of cookie that makes the kitchen smell like Christmas.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Soft peanut butter cookies rolled in sugar and finished with a chocolate kiss—one of those classic Christmas cookies everyone reaches for first.

Italian Wedding Cookies

Buttery, nutty, melt-in-your-mouth cookies tucked under a snowy coating of powdered sugar. They’re simple, old-fashioned, and one of my favorite cookies for Christmas trays and gifting.

Pecan Pie Bars

All the gooey, buttery goodness of pecan pie in an easy-to-serve cookie bar. A buttery shortbread crust and rich pecan filling make these especially good for Christmas cookie trays, parties, and gifting.

Christmas Sugar Cookies

A Christmas baking essential! These festive cutout cookies hold their shape beautifully, giving you the perfect canvas for icing, sprinkles, and all the Christmas decorating you can dream up.

Haystack Cookies

Crunchy, sweet, salty, and ridiculously easy, these no-bake favorites disappear fast. They’re especially handy when you need one more cookie for the tray but don’t want to turn on the oven.

Pfeffernusse

These traditional German Christmas cookies are packed with warm spices and have that distinctive dense, chewy texture and powdered-sugar finish that makes them such a special holiday cookie.

Chocolate Christmas Cookies

Rich chocolate cookies dressed up for Christmas! They’re deeply chocolatey, festive, and easy enough for a busy holiday baking day—a great choice when your cookie tray needs something chocolate.

🧈 Buttery Christmas Cookies

When you want something rich, tender, and wonderfully buttery, start here. From classic Christmas butter cookies to nutty favorites and delicate European cookies, these are the kinds of cookies that practically melt in your mouth.

Christmas Butter Cookies

Rich, tender, and beautifully festive, these classic butter cookies have that unmistakable buttery flavor and delicate texture that make them a Christmas cookie-tray essential.

Butter Pecan Cookies

These cookies are all about the butter and pecans! Toasty pecans give every bite deep, nutty flavor, while the buttery dough bakes up rich and tender.

No-Chill Sugar Cookies

Skip the waiting and get straight to baking! These sugar cookies require no chilling before baking, making them especially handy when the Christmas baking list is long.

Danish Wedding Cookies

Rich, buttery little cookies filled with nuts and covered in powdered sugar. They’re delicate, crumbly, and wonderfully melt-in-your-mouth, with that snowy finish that’s perfect for Christmas.

Sour Cream Cookies

Sour cream gives these old-fashioned cookies an exceptionally soft, tender texture and rich flavor. They’re a lovely change from crisp and chewy Christmas cookies.

Almond Crescent Cookies

Delicate crescent-shaped cookies with rich almond flavor and a tender, buttery texture, finished with powdered sugar for a beautiful snowy look.

🍫 Chocolate Christmas Cookies

Every Christmas cookie tray needs chocolate! These recipes range from deeply chocolatey cookies to chocolate-and-peanut-butter favorites, with plenty of rich, fudgy, and festive options for the chocolate lovers at your holiday table.

Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

Rich chocolate cookies with an irresistible chocolate center, these pretty little thumbprints deliver big chocolate flavor in a bite-size Christmas cookie.

Turtle Thumbprint Cookies

Chocolate thumbprint cookies get the full turtle treatment with gooey caramel and crunchy pecans. They’re rich, decadent, and especially pretty on a holiday cookie tray.

Chocolate Snowball Cookies

Buttery, chocolatey, and covered in a generous coating of powdered sugar, these melt-in-your-mouth cookies look like little snowballs on a Christmas cookie tray.

Triple Chocolate Cookies

For serious chocolate lovers, these cookies layer chocolate three ways for deep, rich chocolate flavor in every bite. They’re an especially decadent addition to a Christmas cookie tray.

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Rich chocolate and cool peppermint make these cookies taste unmistakably like Christmas. They’re deeply chocolatey with that festive peppermint finish that makes them perfect for holiday baking.

Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies loaded with chunks of Oreo cookies give you crisp cookie pieces, melty chocolate, and a soft cookie base all in one bite.

Almond Joy Cookies

Chocolate, coconut, and almonds come together in a cookie inspired by the classic candy bar. They’re rich, chewy, and packed with texture, so there’s something delicious in every bite.

Chocolate Spritz Cookies

Rich cocoa gives classic spritz cookies a chocolate makeover while keeping their delicate, buttery texture. Press them into festive shapes and dress them up for an easy Christmas tray favorite.

Marshmallow Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chips and gooey marshmallows turn these cookies into an extra-indulgent chocolate chip cookie that stands out among the traditional Christmas classics.

❤️ Red Velvet Christmas Treats

That gorgeous red color makes red velvet a natural for Christmas! These rich cocoa treats bring festive color to the dessert table, from snowy crinkle cookies to bite-size cake balls and decadent brownies.

Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies

Soft and fudgy with beautiful crackly powdered-sugar tops, these cookies give you rich cocoa flavor and striking red-and-white Christmas color without any elaborate decorating.

Red Velvet Brownies

Dense, chewy red velvet brownies topped with rich cream cheese frosting bring classic red velvet flavor—and plenty of Christmas color—to the holiday dessert table.

Red Velvet Cake Balls

Moist red velvet cake is rolled into bite-size balls and covered in a sweet candy coating. They’re festive, rich, and easy to serve, making them especially fun for Christmas parties and treat trays.

🇮🇹 Italian Christmas Cookies

Italian cookies are some of my favorites for Christmas baking. From soft glazed cookies covered in sprinkles to chewy almond cookies, fruit-filled classics, and crisp biscotti, this collection has all the wonderful flavors and textures that make an Italian Christmas cookie tray so special.

Italian Christmas Cookies

Soft, tender cookies covered in a sweet vanilla glaze and festive sprinkles. The oil-based dough keeps these cookies wonderfully moist for days, making them especially good for Christmas trays and gifting.

Amaretti Cookies

Bold almond flavor is the star of these classic Italian cookies. They bake up crisp on the outside and wonderfully chewy in the center, with that unmistakable amaretti flavor.

Ricotta Cookies

Ricotta gives these Italian cookies an exceptionally soft, tender, almost cake-like texture. A sweet vanilla glaze finishes them beautifully for Christmas.

Italian Fig Cookies

These traditional Italian cookies wrap tender pastry around a rich filling of dried fruit, nuts, and warm spices. They’re a special old-fashioned Christmas cookie that’s worth the extra effort.

Lemon Ricotta Cookies

Soft ricotta cookies get a bright burst of lemon that cuts through the richness of a Christmas cookie tray. They’re tender, citrusy, and finished with a sweet lemony glaze.

Italian Wedding Cookies

Buttery, nutty, and completely covered in powdered sugar, these little cookies have a delicate, melt-in-your-mouth texture and beautiful snowy finish.

Pignoli Cookies

Chewy almond cookies covered with golden pine nuts, pignoli cookies have intense almond flavor and a wonderfully chewy-crisp texture that makes them unlike anything else on the tray.

Anise Cookies

Soft, old-fashioned Italian cookies with distinctive anise flavor and a lightly sweet glaze. They bring a traditional flavor to the Christmas tray that stands apart from chocolate and butter cookies.

Italian Rainbow Cookies

Colorful almond cake-like layers are sandwiched with jam and coated in chocolate for one of the prettiest cookies on the Christmas tray. Rich almond flavor, fruit, and chocolate make every little bite surprisingly decadent.

Almond Biscotti

Crisp, twice-baked biscotti with plenty of almond flavor are made for dunking into coffee. They also keep beautifully, which makes them an excellent Christmas gifting cookie.

Chocolate Biscotti

Rich chocolate gives classic biscotti a decadent twist while keeping that signature crisp, dunkable texture. They’re sturdy enough for cookie boxes and especially good with holiday coffee.

✨ Easy No-Bake Christmas Treats

When the oven is full—or you just need one more easy treat for the Christmas tray—these no-bake favorites come to the rescue. They’re festive, fun, and easy enough to make during even the busiest week of the holiday season.

Haystack Cookies

Crunchy, sweet, salty, and ridiculously easy, these old-fashioned no-bake favorites come together with just a handful of ingredients. They’re especially handy when you need one more Christmas treat without turning on the oven.

Church Window Cookies

Colorful marshmallows wrapped in rich chocolate and rolled in coconut give these nostalgic no-bake cookies their stained-glass “church window” look. Slice them to reveal all those pretty colors inside.

Butterscotch Haystack Cookies

Crunchy noodles coated in a sweet butterscotch mixture make these little haystacks crisp, creamy, and wonderfully nostalgic. They’re quick to make and look right at home on a Christmas treat tray.

Bourbon Balls

Rich, chocolatey, and warmly flavored with bourbon, these classic no-bake treats are easy to make ahead and perfect for adding a little grown-up indulgence to a Christmas treat tray.

Rum Balls

Rich, chocolatey no-bake treats with a warm splash of rum, these bite-size Christmas favorites are easy to make ahead and get even better as the flavors have time to develop.

Reindeer Noses

Just three ingredients turn into these adorable little Rudolph-inspired treats. Sweet, salty, chocolatey, and ridiculously easy, they’re especially fun to make with kids at Christmas.

Reindeer Nutter Butter Treats

Nutter Butter cookies get transformed into adorable little chocolate-covered reindeer, complete with festive faces. They’re almost too cute to eat—and much easier than they look.

Pretzel Snowmen

Pretzels become adorable little snowmen in this easy Christmas treat. The sweet-and-salty combination and playful snowman design make these especially fun for parties and holiday treat bags.

White Trash

This irresistible sweet-and-salty snack mix combines crunchy cereal and other goodies under a creamy white chocolate coating. Make a big batch for holiday parties, Christmas gifting, or those little treat bags everyone loves.

🎁 Christmas Cookie Bars & Brownies

When you’re baking for a crowd, bars and brownies make Christmas a whole lot easier. From gooey pecan and caramel bars to festive cranberry favorites and Christmas tree brownies, these treats are easy to slice, share, and pile onto a holiday dessert tray.

Cranberry Bliss Bars

Skip the coffee shop line! These copycat Cranberry Bliss Bars combine chewy cranberry-studded bars, creamy frosting, and white chocolate for a treat that tastes like the holidays.

Cranberry Bars

Sweet-tart cranberries make these bars especially good for Christmas, bringing bright fruit flavor and gorgeous holiday color to a dessert tray filled with richer treats.

Pecan Pie Bars

Everything you love about pecan pie in an easy-to-share bar, with a buttery shortbread crust and rich, gooey pecan filling. No pie plates or forks required.

7 Layer Bars

These old-fashioned bars pile on layer after layer of goodness, with chocolate, butterscotch, coconut, and nuts coming together in one rich, chewy bite.

Carmelitas

Buttery oatmeal layers sandwich gooey caramel and melted chocolate in these incredibly rich cookie bars. Cut them small—they pack a lot of deliciousness into every bite.

Christmas Tree Brownies

Rich brownies get transformed into adorable Christmas trees with festive decorations. They’re easy, playful, and guaranteed to bring some Christmas cheer to the dessert table.

Easy Brownie Bark

For everyone who fights over the brownie edges, this thin, crisp brownie bark delivers deep chocolate flavor and lots of that coveted crunchy texture.

Yugoslavian Christmas Cookies

These old-fashioned layered Christmas cookies are a special holiday tradition, with distinctive layers and flavors that make them stand apart from the usual Christmas cookie tray.

⭐ Shortbread Christmas Cookies

Rich, buttery shortbread is made for Christmas baking. From delicate whipped shortbread to pecan, almond, and chocolate variations, these simple cookies are perfect for holiday cookie tins, gifting, and enjoying with a cup of coffee.

Pecan Shortbread Cookies

Buttery shortbread gets even better with plenty of pecans. Rich, toasted nut flavor and a tender, crumbly texture make these especially good for Christmas cookie tins.

Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Deep chocolate flavor meets classic buttery shortbread in these rich cookies. They have a crisp, tender texture and sophisticated chocolate flavor that make them especially nice for holiday gifting.

Whipped Shortbread Cookies

Light and incredibly delicate, these buttery cookies have a soft, melt-in-your-mouth texture that sets them apart from traditional crisp shortbread.

Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies

Classic buttery shortbread studded with chocolate chips gives you melt-in-your-mouth texture with little pockets of chocolate in every bite.

Almond Shortbread Cookies

Delicate almond flavor gives these buttery shortbread cookies something extra, while their tender, crumbly texture keeps them firmly in classic shortbread territory.

🎨 Christmas Cutout & Shaped Cookies

Some Christmas cookies are almost as much fun to make as they are to eat. From classic cutouts and candy cane twists to colorful swirls and festive shapes, these cookies bring plenty of Christmas cheer to the cookie tray.

Christmas Butter Cookies

Rich, tender butter cookies combine wonderful buttery flavor with pretty holiday shapes, making them just as at home in a Christmas cookie tin as they are on the dessert tray.

Christmas Sugar Cookies

These classic cutout cookies hold their shape beautifully, giving you the perfect canvas for Christmas icing, sprinkles, and all the decorating you can dream up.

Biscoff Cookies

These crisp, delicate cutout cookies are filled with warm holiday spices and deep caramel flavor. The dough rolls and cuts beautifully, giving you a wonderfully different alternative to traditional Christmas sugar cookies.

Candy Cane Cookies

Twisted into classic red-and-white candy cane shapes, these festive cookies are instantly recognizable and especially fun to make at Christmas. Their pretty striped design does most of the decorating for you.

Mickey and Minnie Swirl Cookies

Colorful swirls and a playful Disney-inspired design make these cookies especially fun for families and kids during the holidays.

Cinnamon Roll Cookies

Pretty spirals give these cookies their cinnamon-roll look, while buttery dough and warm cinnamon flavor make them taste every bit as good as they look.

Italian Christmas Cookies

Soft, tender cookies dipped in vanilla glaze and showered with festive sprinkles. The oil-based dough keeps them wonderfully moist for days, which makes them especially good for Christmas trays.

🕯️ Old-Fashioned Christmas Cookies

There’s something special about the Christmas cookies that have been baked for generations. These old-fashioned favorites are filled with warm spices, nuts, fruit, and nostalgic flavors—the kinds of cookies that make Christmas baking feel like Christmas baking.

Pfeffernusse

These traditional German Christmas cookies are filled with warm spices and have a wonderfully dense, chewy texture, all tucked beneath a snowy coating of powdered sugar.

Lebkuchen Cookies

These traditional German Christmas cookies are filled with warm spices, nuts, and old-world holiday flavor. Their distinctive texture and deeply spiced flavor make them unlike the typical Christmas cookie.

Soft Gingerbread Cookies

All the warm, spicy flavor you love in gingerbread with a soft, tender, almost cake-like texture. These are especially good when you love gingerbread but prefer a softer cookie.

Chewy Ginger Cookies

These cookies double down on ginger for bold, warming spice and a wonderfully chewy texture. They’re a cozy Christmas cookie with plenty of ginger flavor in every bite.

Cinnamon Sugar Cookies

Simple and nostalgic, these cookies pair a tender cookie with a generous coating of sweet, warming cinnamon sugar. They’re an easygoing old-fashioned favorite among the richer Christmas treats.

Yugoslavian Christmas Cookies

A treasured old-world Christmas cookie with distinctive layers and rich flavors, these are the kind of special holiday cookies you don’t see on every Christmas tray

Molasses Cookies

Deep molasses and warm spices give these cookies their wonderfully old-fashioned flavor. They bake up soft and chewy with beautiful crackly, sugar-coated tops.

Vanillekipferl

These delicate Austrian vanilla crescent cookies are buttery, nutty, and melt-in-your-mouth tender, with their signature crescent shape and a generous coating of vanilla sugar. A beautiful traditional European cookie for Christmas trays.

Italian Fig Cookies

Tender pastry wraps around a rich filling of dried fruit, nuts, and warm spices in these traditional Italian cookies that are especially at home at Christmas.

Danish Wedding Cookies

Buttery, nutty little cookies buried in powdered sugar have a delicate, melt-in-your-mouth texture and snowy finish that have made them a holiday favorite for generations.

Cherry Winks

These retro Christmas cookies combine sweet cherries with a crunchy coating and plenty of old-fashioned charm. Their bright cherry centers also add a pretty pop of Christmas color to the cookie tray.

⭐ Easy Christmas Cookies

Need something festive without an all-day baking project? These easy Christmas cookies deliver plenty of holiday flavor and color with simple techniques, making them perfect for busy December baking, cookie exchanges, and last-minute Christmas trays.

No-Chill Sugar Cookies

Skip the chilling, rolling, and cookie cutters! These soft, buttery sugar cookies go straight from mixing to shaping and baking, making them especially handy when you want homemade Christmas cookies without the extra steps.

M&M Christmas Cookies

Soft, chewy cookies loaded with red and green M&M’s bring instant Christmas color without any decorating. They’re an easy crowd-pleaser that looks festive straight from the oven.

Cranberry Bliss Bars

Skip the coffee shop line! These copycat Cranberry Bliss Bars combine chewy cranberry-studded bars, creamy frosting, and white chocolate for a treat that tastes like the holidays.

White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

Sweet white chocolate and tart cranberries give these cookies a delicious balance of creamy, fruity flavor and beautiful Christmas color. They look festive without frosting or decorating.

Toll House Cookies

You can’t go wrong with a classic! These easy, buttery chocolate chip cookies are crisp around the edges and soft and chewy inside, making them a familiar favorite everyone is happy to find on the Christmas cookie tray.

⭐ Tips for the Perfect Christmas Cookie Tray

The best Christmas cookie trays have a little bit of everything—different flavors, textures, shapes, and colors. A little variety makes the tray look beautiful and gives everyone something they love.

✨ Mix up the textures. Include soft and chewy cookies alongside crisp shortbread, buttery cookies, and crunchy treats.

✨ Balance the flavors. Chocolate, warm spices, nuts, peppermint, fruit, and buttery vanilla cookies keep the tray from feeling too rich or one-note.

✨ Add Christmas color. Sprinkle cookies, powdered sugar cookies, red and green M&M cookies, and shaped cookies instantly make a tray look more festive.

✨ Vary the shapes and sizes. Mix round cookies with bars, thumbprints, crescents, spritz cookies, and shaped treats to make the arrangement more interesting.

✨ Include something easy. A no-bake treat like Haystack Cookies gives you another texture without adding another batch to the oven.

✨ Arrange cookies in groups. Small overlapping clusters look fuller and more inviting than cookies lined up in straight rows. Mini cupcake liners are handy for separating delicate or sticky treats.