Nothing says Christmas quite like the smell of freshly baked cookies filling the kitchen. Whether you’re planning a holiday cookie exchange, making edible gifts for friends and neighbors, or baking with your kids on a snowy afternoon, Christmas cookies are a tradition that never goes out of style.
From timeless favorites like gingerbread and sugar cookies to chocolate-filled delights and whimsical, kid-friendly designs, there’s a cookie for every taste and occasion.
In this guide, you’ll find a festive roundup of Christmas cookie recipes that are easy, delicious, and guaranteed to spread holiday cheer. We’ll cover the classics, introduce a few international favorites, and share tips for decorating, gifting, and making dough ahead of time. Whether you’re a seasoned baker or just starting your holiday traditions, these recipes will inspire you to mix, bake, and share the sweetest memories of the season.
Classic Christmas Cookies Everyone Loves
1: Gingerbread Cookies
These gingerbread cookies are beautifully spiced, rich in molasses, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and warm allspice, and they bake to a perfect balance of crisp edges and soft centers.
They’re ideal for Christmas because they evoke the classic gingerbread smell and feel; they’re also sturdy enough for shaping, decorating, and gifting. The dough chills before rolling (to help shapes hold), making it manageable for baking parties.
Decorate with royal icing or enjoy plain. Their aroma, tradition, and visual charm make them a must-bake every December.
2: Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
These sugar cookies are simple, buttery, and versatile, the ideal blank canvas for holiday creativity. Rolled and cut into Christmas shapes like stars, trees, or snowflakes, they take to royal icing, sprinkles, or colored sugar beautifully. Their mild flavor lets the decorations shine. Because the dough keeps well refrigerated or frozen, it’s perfect for batching ahead and baking over multiple days.
Their simplicity, adaptability, and festive potential make them perfect for cookie swaps, family baking sessions, or gift tins.
3: Shortbread Cookies
These classic shortbread cookies are tender, buttery, and melt-in-your-mouth in texture. They deliver understated elegance without fuss. Their simplicity allows for shapes or light embellishments like a chocolate dip or dusting of sugar.
They’re a great choice for Christmas because they’re sturdy, travel well, and pair perfectly with tea or hot cocoa. No strong flavors compete; shortbread complements spiced, fruity, and rich cookies on a platter. Bake ahead and store in airtight tins; they stay fresh and make your cookie tray look refined.
4: Snickerdoodles
This snickerdoodle recipe yields soft, chewy cookies rolled in cinnamon sugar, with just the right tang from cream of tartar. They’re a warm, nostalgic flavor everyone loves, harkening back to cinnamon-scented holiday baking. The double roll in cinnamon-sugar ensures each bite has that signature crust.
No chilling is required, which makes them a fast, go-to cookie option when you want something festive but not complicated. They disappear fast at Christmas gatherings, and their cinnamon aroma brings cozy vibes to any cookie tray.
Chocolate Lovers’ Christmas Cookies
5: Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
These chocolate crinkle cookies are a holiday staple, crisp on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside, and coated in powdered sugar that cracks (crinkles) as they bake. With under ten ingredients and no chilling required, they’re easy enough to whip up last minute.
Their snowy powdered sugar appearance evokes Christmas magic, making them a visual favorite. They store well in airtight containers and freeze beautifully, too. Because of their chocolate richness and festive look, they’re perfect for cookie exchanges, holiday trays, or pairing with hot cocoa or milk.
6: Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies
These peppermint chip cookies take the classic chocolate chip and infuse it with crushed candy cane pieces for a minty holiday twist. The peppermint flavor and red-white candy bits give them festive flair, while the base remains soft and chewy, great for people who love mint + chocolate combos.
They’re fun to make (crushing candy canes is a kid-friendly task) and look beautiful on a holiday cookie platter. Because they aren’t overly fussy, they’re a great way to add a “holiday special” cookie alongside more traditional ones.
7: Double Chocolate Fudge Cookies
These fudgy double chocolate cookies are packed with cocoa and melty chocolate chunks, delivering an indulgent bite every time. Their deep chocolate flavor provides contrast to more delicate or spicy cookies on a holiday tray. The richness and intensity make them feel luxurious, perfect for satisfying chocolate lovers at Christmas.
They also travel well and freeze nicely because their density holds up. Gifting boxes of these, along with lighter cookies, gives your cookie selection balance and ensures everyone gets something they love.
8: Chocolate-Dipped Biscotti
These crisp, twice-baked biscotti are ideal for dipping in coffee, hot chocolate, or even mulled wine by the fireside. The added chocolate coating elevates the classic cookie into a dessert experience. Because biscotti are very dry, they keep exceptionally well, making them fantastic for packaging in gift tins or stacking on cookie platters without worrying about sogginess.
Their elegant shape and pairing potential make them a refined addition to Christmas cookie assortments. Serve alongside holiday beverages for a perfect finishing touch.
Fruity & Nutty Festive Cookies
9: Thumbprint Cookies with Jam
These thumbprint cookies begin as buttery shortbread rolled in sugar, then pressed and filled with jewel-red jam (raspberry is a favorite) for a festive center.
They work beautifully for Christmas because the jam pop gives holiday color, and their structure makes them sturdy for packaging or gifting. The dough is straightforward enough that you can make it ahead and bake fresh. Their elegance, color contrast, and classic flavor make them a must for any holiday cookie tray.
10: Rugelach
Rugelach are delicate rolled pastries made with cream cheese dough, spread with jam, nuts, raisins or chocolate, then rolled and sliced into crescents. They’re perfect for Christmas because they blend flaky layers, sweet filling, and nutty textures rich but bite-sized and elegant.
The dough can be chilled and shaped ahead, giving you flexibility on baking day. Their old-world charm and sophisticated flavor profile make them a wonderful addition to festive cookie assortments.
11: Cranberry Orange Cookies
These cookies combine tart cranberries and bright orange zest into a soft, buttery base with a sweet glaze on top. They’re a seasonal favorite because cranberries and citrus are holiday staples, and their flavor is both refreshing and festive. They make an excellent balance on a cookie tray of richer, heavier cookies.
The orange adds brightness, and the glaze gives them extra sweetness without overindulgence. These cookies also travel and store well, ideal for gifting or sharing.
12: Italian Wedding Cookies
Also known as butterballs or snowball cookies, these melt-in-your-mouth bites are packed with walnuts or hazelnuts and then coated in powdered sugar to look like little snowballs. They’re a Christmas staple because their snowy exterior evokes the season, their nutty, buttery flavor is comforting, and their simplicity makes them reliable.
Because they’re sturdy yet delicate, they’re excellent in cookie tins, for gift boxes, or on dessert trays. Their gentle sweetness complements more intense cookies beautifully.
Creative & Whimsical Christmas Cookies
13: Reindeer Cookies with Pretzel Antlers
These charming reindeer cookies are fun, festive, and perfect for involving kids in holiday baking. The base is a peanut butter cookie dough, shaped into triangles, then decorated with pretzel “antlers,” chocolate chips for eyes, and a red M&M or chocolate chip for the nose.
They’re ideal for Christmas because they combine playfulness and holiday iconography, plus they bake quickly and are sturdy enough for cookie platters. Make them ahead, store in airtight containers, and they’ll still look adorable and delicious on party day.
14: Candy Cane Cookies
These cookies swirl red and white dough (often vanilla and peppermint flavors) to mimic the classic candy cane shape. The peppermint flavor and candy-cane appearance instantly signal holiday cheer. They work well for Christmas because they’re visually festive, easy to decorate, and offer a cool minty contrast among richer cookies.
They also hold their shape better than heavily frosted cookies, making them great for cookie exchanges or shipping. Serve them on a tray or even hang them on a tree with ribbon if you add a hole.
15: Stained Glass Cookies
Stained glass cookies are sugar cookies with cut-out centers filled with melted hard candies (like crushed Jolly Ranchers) that harden into translucent “glass.” hey’re a beautiful option for Christmas because when placed by windows or under lights, the candy centers catch the light like colorful ornaments.
They’re part cookie, part decoration. While a bit more advanced, they’re worth the effort for holiday gatherings. Make ahead (the dough refrigerated) and bake on the day of to preserve clarity of “glass.”
16: Snowball Cookies
These melt-in-your-mouth butter cookies feature finely chopped pecans and are rolled in powdered sugar (often twice) so they look like little snowballs. They’re a classic holiday cookie because their snowy exterior evokes winter, and their nutty, buttery flavor is comforting and universal.
They’re also excellent for gifting and cookie swaps because they store well, travel without damage, and offer a light, delicate counterpoint to heavier chocolate or glazed cookies.
International Christmas Cookie Recipes
17: German Lebkuchen
Lebkuchen are soft, aromatic German cookies traditionally spiced with cloves, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, and often honey or molasses, sometimes glazed or coated in chocolate. The “Elisen” style uses minimal flour and more nuts and candied peel, giving them a melt-in-your-mouth texture. Because they balance spice, sweetness, and a hint of chewiness, they’re ideal for Christmas baking.
They echo the flavors of mulled wine and holiday desserts. The dough can often rest overnight to deepen flavor, making it a great make-ahead cookie. Their European heritage adds elegance and tradition to any cookie tray.
18: Polish Kolaczki (Jam-Filled Pastries)
Kolaczki are delicate, tender pastries made from a cream cheese or sour cream dough wrapped around fruit preserves, poppy seed, or sweet cheese filling, then baked until lightly golden. Their buttery, flaky texture combined with bright jam centers makes them festive and elegant—perfect for Christmas cookie assortments.
They’re especially suited for gifting, cookie swaps, or elegant dessert trays. Because the dough is pliable, you can shape and refrigerate it ahead of time, then bake when needed. Their subtle approach to sweetness makes them a lovely contrast to richer cookies on a holiday platter.
19: Mexican Wedding Cookies (Polvorones)
Polvorones, also known as Mexican wedding cookies, snowballs, or Russian tea cakes, are small, nutty, buttery cookies rolled in powdered sugar. They melt in the mouth with a nutty crunch and powdery finish that evokes snowballs, making them visually perfect for Christmas.
Their simple, non-fussy ingredients make them reliable for baking in bulk. Because of their sturdy nature, they travel well, making them ideal for packaging or gifting. Their mild sweetness and delicate texture balance richer and more decadent cookies in a holiday assortment.
20: Swedish Pepparkakor (Thin Ginger Cookies)
Pepparkakor are crisp Swedish ginger cookies flavored with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and often cardamom. Thin and crisp, they’re often cut into traditional shapes, hearts, stars, and horses, and sometimes used as edible ornaments for Christmas trees.
Their crisp texture and lively spice make them a delightful counterpoint to heavier or softer cookies.
Because they’re thin and dry, they store very well and maintain their snap over time, making them great for holiday platters and tins. Their Scandinavian heritage and iconic flavor make them a timeless seasonal addition.
Christmas Cookies for Gifting & Sharing
Cookie Platters with Mixed Varieties
Assemble an assortment of classics like gingerbread, sugar cookies, and chocolate crinkles. Mixing colors, textures, and flavors creates an eye-catching platter that delights guests and neighbors alike.
Cookie Gift Boxes & Packaging Ideas
Line tins, mason jars, or festive boxes with parchment, then stack cookies in neat layers. Add ribbons, labels, or sprigs of rosemary for a presentation that feels store-worthy and personal.
Best Cookies That Travel Well
Sturdy options like shortbread, biscotti, and thumbprints hold up beautifully when packaged, shipped, or carried to parties. Avoid delicate, frosting-heavy cookies if you want treats to arrive in perfect condition.
Tips for Perfect Christmas Cookies
Make Dough Ahead & Freeze
Most cookie doughs, like sugar, gingerbread, and shortbread, can be frozen in logs or balls. Simply thaw, slice or roll, and bake fresh when needed for stress-free holiday baking.
Storing Cookies for Freshness
Keep cookies in airtight containers, separating layers with parchment. Freeze sturdier cookies for long-term storage. Always cool completely before storing to avoid sogginess.
Decorating Tricks for Beginners
Use royal icing for designs that set hard, or glaze for a glossy finish. Food coloring gels create vibrant colors, and sprinkles or sanding sugar add instant festive charm.
Getting Kids Involved in Baking
Choose simple recipes like sugar cookies or snowballs. Let kids cut shapes, add sprinkles, or decorate with icing. It’s a fun family activity that doubles as edible décor.
FAQs About Christmas Cookie Recipes
What’s the easiest Christmas cookie to make?
Snowball cookies, chocolate crinkles, and basic sugar cookies are quick, simple, and require minimal decorating. They’re perfect for beginner bakers or last-minute holiday treats.
How long do homemade Christmas cookies last?
Most cookies stay fresh for 3–5 days in airtight containers at room temperature. Sturdier cookies like shortbread and biscotti can last up to two weeks, and many freeze beautifully.
Can I freeze decorated cookies?
Yes, though it’s best to freeze cookies before icing for the cleanest look. If freezing decorated cookies, ensure the icing is fully set, then layer with parchment to prevent smudging.
How many types of cookies should I bake for a party or swap?
Aim for 3–5 varieties for balance—something classic, something chocolatey, something spiced, and a fun or creative option. This keeps trays diverse without overwhelming the baker.