45 Festive Cookie Recipes to Kickstart Your Holiday Cheer

Hello and welcome to this thing we’re doing where we help you figure out what you’re gonna put in your mouth this week. Some of these are recipes we’ve tried, some of these are recipes we’re looking forward to trying, all of them are fucking delicious. Tell us what you want to put in your piehole or suggest your own recipes, and we’ll talk about which things we made, which things we loved, and which things have changed us irreversibly as people. Last week, we gave you ways to eat more goat cheese.

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I’m gonna be honest with you: I am kind of a grinch. I’m not crazy about Christmas or the overall holiday season! It weirds me out that holiday songs play 24/7 for a solid month! I am not very good at being cheerful! I don’t even really like sweets or candy! I am tentatively open to cookies, however. I will forever hold these cherry kiss cookies in my heart, and I like that holiday cookie-making can be a group activity; I have fond memories of my brother and I breaking the limbs off sugar cookies of Christmases past in a childish and morbid celebration of the holiday season. So bring on your cookies and overly intense cupcakes and Yule logs, people. I can deal. Let’s do this.


1. Hanukkah Jelly Cookies


2. Chocolate-Dipped Hazelnut Cocoa Nib Sandies


3. Peppermint Candy Cane Cookies


4. Hazelnut Thumbprint Cookies with Dark Chocolate


5. Caramel Crisp Cookies


6. Walnut Spiced Rum Balls


7. Holiday Chocolate Dipped Shortbread


8. Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Sticks


9. Speculoos Cookies


10. Apple Pie Cookies


11. Superfood Gingerbread Cookies


12. Gingerbread Cookie Sandwiches with Eggnog Cream


13. Holiday Cut-Out Cookies with Easy Icing


14. Chocolate Covered Coconut Macaroons


15. Cherry Pistachio Biscotti


16. Cranberry Pistachio Tea Cookies


17. Shortbread Bites


18. Mexican Chocolate Crinkles


19. Sea Salt Nutella Thumbprint Cookies


20. Gingerdoodle Cookies


21. Spiced Ginger Chocolate Chunk Cookies


22. Dutch Holiday Cookies


23. Spiral Christmas Sugar Cookies


24. Pecan Florentines for Hanukkah


25. White Chocolate Dipped Gingersnaps


26. Cocoa Molasses Cookies


27. Licorice Wreaths


28. Gluten-Free Soft Sugar Cookies


29. Chewy Coconut Chocolate Pinwheels


30. Dorie Greenspan’s Rugelach


31. Chocolate Shortbread Cookies


32. Salted Bourbon Chocolate Chunk Cookies


33. Glazed Eggnog Shortbread Cookies


34. Brown Sugar Pecan Cookies


35. Peppermint Chocolate Crackles


36. Reindeer and Snowman Oreo Cookie Balls


37. Peanut Butter Blossoms


38. Chocolate Cherry Meltaway Thumbprint Cookies


39. Melted Snowmen Oreo Balls


40. Gluten-Free Coconut Delight Cookies


41. White Chocolate Almond Rugelach


42.PB&J Thumbprint Cookies


43. Crushed Candy Cane Chocolate Chip Cookies


44. Maple Glazed Apple Crisp Cookies


45. Chocolate Dipped Toffee Biscotti

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Rachel

Originally from Boston, MA, Rachel now lives in the Midwest. Topics dear to her heart include bisexuality, The X-Files and tacos. Her favorite Ciara video is probably "Ride," but if you're only going to watch one, she recommends "Like A Boy." You can follow her on twitter and instagram.

Rachel has written 1141 articles for us.

23 Comments

  1. these look delicious and also hard.

    if somebody makes me some cookies I will bring peppermint hot chocolate and booze to your house and knit and listen to you talk about your crush for as long as you want. I AM LAZY AND I LOVE COOKIES.

    • I never have anyone to bake for and love peppermint hot chocolate and booze. We should probably be best friends.

      Also have you ever had the hot chocolate with the candy cane pieces in it? Your hot chocolate experience will never be the same

  2. As a bitter Jew who doesn’t celebrate Christmas and thinks Chanukah should only be celebrated with latkes and filled donuts, I want all of these delicious treats in my mouth/tummy space. I’m a shitty baker, but I’m a really good cook. If anyone wants to make some of these for me, I’ll make latkes or essentially any vegetarian food of your choice. I can also provide a dog to snuggle. Deal?

    #single

  3. Rachel, you are the fucking best. I wish I could hug you as thanks for bringing the recipe for Salted Bourbon Chocolate Chunk Cookies into my life.

  4. WELP I know what I’m spending my xmas/new years mini-vacation doing. Indulging my houseboi fantasies by cooking and baking all day, everyday. While drinking! I’m excited. This list is exciting. Everyone come over.

  5. You guys always know exactly what I want….exactly what I NEED. There’s like at least 5 recipes I really wanna try. The question is whether school work will give me the time to bake or not.

  6. These look amazing! I can’t wait until I get over being sick and I can start baking cookies!!!! Personally I was already going to start with the tried and true recipe “stick Hershey’s hugs on round pretzels, bake them together, and top them with red and green m&ms so they are Christmas cookies.” I’ve never made it myself but my aunt does and for some reason that’s always the best kind she has to offer.

  7. Oh God I just made the rum balls except with vegan butter and with maple-finished Crown Royal, and I think I found the one thing I need to eat and be with for the rest of my life.

  8. I need to make xmas food for vegans, is there a vegan cookie guide somewhere on here? or does anyone know how to substitute butter and eggs with vegan things? weirdly it’s the straight folks and not us lesbians that are the vegans in this situation.

  9. Rachel you saved Christmas!
    I have no money but I’m at my mom’s house! I give me entire family cookies omg!

Comments are closed.