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 1142 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.

  5. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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.

  10. 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.

  13. 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.

  15. 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.