This collection of sophisticated cookie recipes will impress your most discriminating and food-loving friends for Christmas gift-giving. Some of these cookies are flavored with rum, brandy, or fruit liqueurs, and others with sweet and savory spices and herbs including anise, black pepper, and rosemary. Some of these cookies are delicate and elegant, while others are rich and multilayered. And, all of these cookie recipes are great fun for food-lovers to make and eat.

These shortbread cookies are enriched with cream cheese and walnut liqueur, and spiced with cinnamon and ginger. The dough is pressed into whimsical walnut molds and baked, then the walnut cookie halves are sandwiched together with a rich chocolate-walnut filling.

To make the swirly pattern on these cookies, paint stripes of red gel-paste food coloring on the inside of a piping bag before adding the meringue mixture. Fill the baked meringues with chocolate ganache and garnish with crushed candy canes.

Use your choice of dried cherries, cranberries, figs, or raisins to make the brandy-infused filling for these bite-size pies. Miniature cookie cutters or aspic cutters create the decorative top crust.

Anise seeds and orange zest lend an irresistible aroma to these delicate cookies. Boiling the sugar, honey, and butter together before adding the flour creates the cookies' unique crisp-chewy texture.

The flavor of toasted hazelnuts permeates these ethereal cookies. To make a chocolate version, simply add two tablespoons of cocoa powder.

Miniature pastry shells filled with rich chocolate ganache are finished with a sprinkling of coarse salt. If you prefer, top the tartlets with crushed candy canes or confectioners' sugar instead.

Delicate and chewy cookies made from almond flour and egg whites are made into dainty sandwiches with seedless raspberry jam filling. This recipe includes variations for chocolate, coconut, peanut, vanilla bean, and pistachio macarons.

To make these rum balls, begin by baking a batch of rich, fudgy brownies. The cooled brownies are crumbled, mixed with dark rum, formed into balls, and rolled in coarse sanding sugar for sparkle and crunch.

Eggnog, freshly grated nutmeg, and a splash of brandy give warm holiday flavor to these cheesecake bars. This recipe uses a traditional graham cracker crust, but feel free to substitute gingersnaps.

Black pepper gives warmth and a pleasant bite to these chocolate-cinnamon refrigerator cookies. The addition of instant espresso powder deepens the chocolate flavor.

Caramel-like dulce de leche, wildly popular in South America, is made by simmering sweetened condensed milk in a double boiler for several hours. To make these sandwich cookies, the cooled dulce de leche is spread between miniature shortbread rounds.

Lots of fresh rosemary gives a warm, piney aroma to these ginger-kissed shortbread cookies. Ground pine nuts are mixed into the cookie dough, and more pine nuts are pressed on top for garnish.

Tiny, tender cakes are enriched with egg yolks and flavored with lemon juice and zest. You will need a madeleine pan to make these cookies.

Ground anise seeds infuse these little cookies with sweet licorice flavor. The batter is piped onto the baking sheet using a pastry bag.

All the flavors of a traditional linzer torte are turned into a portable, bite-size form in these sandwich cookies. Ground hazelnuts, cinnamon, and nutmeg flavor the cookies, and raspberry or cherry jam is spread between them. Use any small cookie-cutter shape you like to make the decorative cutouts in the top cookies.

Equal parts all-purpose flour and cornstarch make these cookies melt-in-your-mouth tender. Lemon zest in the dough and a lemon glaze on top gives the cookies a light, refreshing flavor, while toasted pistachios add color and a rich crunch.

Simple sugar cookie dough is rolled thinly and cut with round and scalloped cookie cutters. Aspic cutters (like tiny cookie cutters) are used to create intricate doily patterns in the cookies before baking.

These cookies are made with confectioners' sugar for a light, tender texture. Fresh lime juice and zest add a refreshing note.

Semisweet chocolate ganache is sandwiched between meringue cookies flavored with peppermint extract. Make the red stripes on the meringues by painting stripes of gel-paste food coloring on the inside of a piping bag before spooning in the meringue.

The fresh, slightly bitter flavor of green tea powder permeates these butter cookies. The cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to four weeks.

Brown sugar, butter, pecans, and a hint of orange zest are the dominant flavors in these rich, delicate cookies. Corn syrup adds gloss and stability to the batter.

Simple, tender shortbread cookies are made with confectioners' sugar. Fluffy chestnut buttercream is spread between the cookies, and the sandwiches are dipped partway in melted semisweet chocolate.

Cocoa powder and ground espresso beans give these madeleines their deep brown color and bittersweet flavor. The cooled madeleines are dipped partway in a glaze made of brewed espresso and confectioners' sugar.

These thin, crisp cookies get richness from butter and cream. A filling of melted milk chocolate or chocolate-hazelnut spread is sandwiched between the cookies.

A very rich filling made of semisweet chocolate and egg yolks is piped on top of dense almond-paste cookies. The topped cookies are frozen for stability, then dipped in melted chocolate coating.

Light tuile cookie batter made with egg whites is spread thinly onto a baking sheet; some of the batter is dyed red and piped in diagonal stripes across the spread-out batter. After the cookies are baked and still warm from the oven, they are flexible enough to be rolled into sticks. Serve cookies with scoops of peppermint and chocolate ice cream for a knockout holiday dessert.

Unsweetened shredded coconut gives body to these light, crisp cookies, and brandy adds smoothness. You will need golden syrup for this recipe, a popular ingredient in British cooking made from concentrated sugar cane juice. It can be found next to the molasses and corn syrup in many supermarkets.

This holiday season, enjoy your hot buttered rum in cookie form! Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and dark rum flavor these tender shortbread rounds.

The batter for these tuile cookies is made with confectioners' sugar for a light, tender texture. After baking, the thin cookies are rolled into sticks while still warm, and dipped in bittersweet chocolate.

Almond paste and egg whites give these macaroons a light, chewy texture. Grand Marnier and orange zest give the cookies a sweet aroma.

Cornmeal gives crunch to these buttery, thyme-flecked cookies. Dried currants contribute bursts of sweetness.

Tender butter cookies are flecked with finely ground espresso beans. Milk chocolate ganache is the sweet, rich filling in these sandwich cookies.

Cake flour makes these light, crisp cookies especially tender, and corn syrup adds shine and flexibility. Coarsely chopped dried sour cherries add a pleasant flavor and pink blush to the cookies.

Brown sugar and a splash of rum give depth to these thin cookies. Lots of chopped walnuts add texture and richness.