16 Christmas Cookie Recipes You'll Want to Make Every Year By Camryn Alexa Wimberly Camryn Alexa Wimberly Camryn Wimberly is EatingWell's Editorial Fellow. As a food and mental health blogger, Camryn explores how food and cooking can help improve mental health and also be an avenue to connect with one's culture and heritage. EatingWell's Editorial Guidelines Published on December 20, 2024 Close Credit: William Dickey Get ready to whisk, roll and bake your way into the holiday spirit with our Christmas cookie recipes. These sweet treats are so good, they’ll become part of your yearly baking traditions. From flavors like our Cashew-Cardamom Shortbread to our Ginger Molasses Cookies, these cookies are a festive delight for everyone. Love any of these recipes? Tap "Save" to add them to MyRecipes, your new, free recipe box for EatingWell. 01 of 16 Cashew-Cardamom Shortbread Pooja Makhijani These cardamom-spiced shortbread cookies were inspired by the Indian sweet kaju katli, and offer a delicious spiced flavor that pairs perfectly with chai. View Recipe Save 02 of 16 Ginger & Spice Crackles These soft and moist cookies are spiked with ginger, cinnamon and a hint of cloves, 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. View Recipe Save 03 of 16 Lingonberry Linzer Plätzchen (German Lingonberry Linzer Cookies) William Dickey 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. View Recipe Save 04 of 16 Ginger Molasses Cookies Photography / Greg DuPree, Styling / Ruth BlackBurn / Julia Bayless The spelt flour in these ginger molasses cookies offers a chewy texture and a nutty flavor that shines with the ginger with these easy holiday cookies. View Recipe Save 05 of 16 Espresso Walnut Marzipan Cookies William Dickey 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. View Recipe Save 06 of 16 No-Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies Creamy natural peanut butter and chocolate team up in these easy and healthy no-bake cookies! Whip up a batch for after-school snacks, dessert or anytime your sweet tooth comes calling. View Recipe Save 07 of 16 Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies Jacob Fox 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. View Recipe Save 08 of 16 Soft Sugar Cookies Keep things simple with these easy and classic sugar cookies that are perfectly soft. We incorporate mild-tasting white whole-wheat flour for extra fiber and nutrients. View Recipe Save 09 of 16 Italian Hazelnut Cookies These crispy cookies are made with Piedmontese staples—hazelnuts and eggs—and called Brutti Ma Buoni: literally, “Ugly But Good.” But they are really more plain-looking than “ugly,” and pack a powerful, sweet, nutty burst of flavor, making them welcome at any table. View Recipe Save 10 of 16 Oatmeal-Coconut Cookies with Cranberries & White Chocolate Our classic oatmeal cookie gets a flavor twist with coconut, white chocolate chips (which have a more delicate flavor than milk or dark chocolate) and tart dried cranberries. The result is a chewy, sweet treat that’s sure to leave you coming back for more. View Recipe Save 11 of 16 Cranberry-Coconut Oatmeal Cookies Brittany Conerly 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. View Recipe Save 12 of 16 Chocolate-Dipped Cardamom Cookies with Candied Grapefruit William Dickey 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. Candied grapefruit peels add an extra flavor contrast as well as a pretty finish. View Recipe Save 13 of 16 Salted Hazelnut Thumbprint Cookies William Dickey Hazelnuts do double duty in these cookies. 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. View Recipe Save 14 of 16 Cinnamon Icebox Cookies Slice-and-bake icebox cookies are the ultimate make-ahead treat. You can make a batch and bake as many as you like, saving the rest of the dough in the freezer. These simple swirled cookies are rolled in finely chopped pecans. They're mildly sweet—perfect for after dinner or paired with coffee. View Recipe Save 15 of 16 Gingerbread Pine Cones Benjamin Turner “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.” View Recipe Save 16 of 16 Healthy Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies Here’s your new cookie jar staple. This recipe for classic oatmeal–chocolate chip cookies gets a healthy boost with whole-wheat flour and uses less sugar and butter than traditional recipes. Don’t hesitate to make a double batch—they’re so satisfying they’ll be gone fast. View Recipe Save Explore more: Healthy Recipes Holidays Christmas Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit