Christmas Cookie Recipes

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Traditional Christmas Cookie Recipes Perfect for the Holiday Season

Classic cookie recipes like these will instantly evoke warm Christmas memories. Make a batch of gingerbread, spritz cookies, thumbprints, shortbread, or biscotti to celebrate the most festive time of the year.

By Anna Kovel

Martha's All-Time Favorite Christmas Cookies

Get out your measuring cups, mixing bowls, cookie cutters, and baking trays because you'll want to make all of these Christmas cookies—they're Martha's favorites! For more holiday cookie recipes and packaging ideas, download our complete guide!

By Lynn Andriani

Our Favorite Christmas Cookie Recipes, from Biscotti to Gingerbread

'Tis the season to bake cookies! Use our delicious recipes for biscotti, gingerbread, shortbread, spritz, and more to make the best edible gifts for family and friends.

By Frances Kim

11 Gift-Worthy Sweets to Give During the Holiday Season

From colorful cookies to spicy brittle, everyone will love opening up a box of these desserts.

By Jenny Comita

How Cookies Came to Be the Ultimate Christmas Treat

The sweet history of this ultimate holiday treat.

By Aimee Lee Ball

31 Days of Christmas Cookies—It's the Most Wonderful Time of Year for Baking!

Daily baking inspiration for the holidays and beyond! 'Tis the season to enjoy (and gift!) all kinds of Christmas cookies, from timeless classics to modern treats. Want more tasty and festive holiday cookie recipes and tips? Be sure to download our complete guide here!

By Frances Kim

Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies

Shaker Lemon Bars

These lush treats are wonderful on any dessert table.

Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

Studding chewy oatmeal cookies with cranberries gives them a bit of bright color and a slight tang. Any dried fruit can be substituted.

Chewy Chocolate-Gingerbread Cookies

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A combination of fresh and ground ginger, molasses, and chunks of semisweet chocolate makes the cookies sophisticated enough for adults but chocolaty enough for children.

Cookie-Press Cookies

Rich, buttery, and made with lots of vanilla, these cookies are simple to make. Use a cookie press—a hollow tube fitted with a decorative nozzle at one end and a plunger at the other—to press the cookies directly onto the baking sheet.

Chocolate Spice Cookies

Believe it or not, the two cookies in this photo share the same delicious ginger-spiced dough. The main recipe will result in a patterned cookie laced with cocoa, embossed with a cookie stamp, and brushed with an orange-butter glaze; head to the variation for a simpler—but no less delicious—version that is packed with chopped semi-sweet chocolate and rolled in sanding sugar for sweet sparkle.

Inspiration and Ideas

10 Clever Ways to Gift-Wrap Your Christmas Cookies

Your favorite holiday cookie recipe calls for extra love—why not put some extra love into its wrapping, too? Try these creative ideas for packing and presenting holiday cookies, using cellophane wrappers, decorated gift boxes, and more. For more holiday cookie recipes and packaging ideas, download our complete guide.

The Very Best Cookie Recipes for Shipping

If you're baking cookies to send as holiday gifts, it's important to make sure they're sturdy enough to survive the rigors of shipping. Choose from this collection of biscotti, sugar cookies, shortbread cookies, bar cookies, and other delicious recipes to pack and send. For more tasty and festive holiday cookie recipes and tips, download our complete guide here.

How to Host the Perfect Cookie Swap

How to Make a Gingerbread House Facade

Icebox Cookie Recipes

A Glimpse Inside One of Martha's Famous Holiday Cookie Parties

Biscochitos

Rendering your own lard is what really makes these anise-flavored Mexican sugar cookies stand out, but you can use vegetable shortening in a pinch. Martha made this recipe on "Martha Bakes" episode 711.

All Christmas Cookie Recipes

Oatmeal Cookies

Add your choice of chocolate chunks, golden raisins, or toffee pieces to the basic oatmeal-cookie recipe.

Sugar Cookies

Use this recipe along with our Royal Icing to make Partridge-in-a-Pear-Tree Cookies, Snowman Cookies, Reindeer Cookies, Santa Claus Cookies, Marbleized Peppermint-Candy Cookies (not pictured), and Snow Globe Cookies (not pictured).

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

You can bake these up to ten days ahead and store in the freezer, without cutting into bars; wrap the baking sheet tightly in plastic.

Mixed Fruit-and-Nut Cookies

These hearty cookies are packed with wholesome dried fruits and nuts. They borrow their delicious flavors from the traditional holiday fruitcake.

Almond Biscotti

These Italian cookies are made without butter or oil and are twice baked to crisp perfection. Try Rum-Soaked Raisin Biscotti, Cherry Espresso Biscotti, Mexican Chocolate Biscotti, and Brown Sugar and Date Biscotti.

Cinnamon-Sugar Palmiers

It takes just four ingredients to make these easy, crispy cookies.

Speculaas Cookies

When imprinting the fragrant spiced cookie dough with springerle molds, stop frequently to clean the patterns with the tip of a skewer. This allows for a better impression in the dough and resulting cookie.

Chewy Molasses-Spice Cookies

The holidays wouldn't be complete without a jar of these spice cookies.

Basic Vanilla Cookie Dough

For tinted cookies, add drops of gel-paste food coloring once the flour is incorporated. If you'd like to try a variation, see what ingredients to add: Spice Cookie Dough, Chocolate Cookie Dough, Citrus Cookie Dough.

Checkerboard Cookies

Though they look complicated, these tender cookies are easy to make if you use a ruler. To ensure an even design, measure the strips of dough carefully.

Snickerdoodles

Not only do snickerdoodles taste delicious, but they also have a fun name! Finish off this classic snickerdoodles cookie recipe with a cinnamon-sugar dusting. After rolling the balls of dough in the cinnamon sugar, give them ample room on cookie sheets -- the snickerdoodles spread a lot as they bake.

Rosemary Butter Cookies

Coating the outsides of the dough with cornmeal or sanding sugar lends a lovely bit of crunch.

Scottish Shortbread

For this Scottish variation of our Classic Shortbread, the dough is baked in a stoneware mold.

Meyer-Lemon Shortbread Wreath Cookies

Almost too pretty to eat, these festive wreath-shaped shortbread cookies are infused with Meyer lemon and adorned with sugared rosemary and thyme.

Classic Biscotti

Rum Balls

These rum-infused brownie balls are perfectly-sized treats for adults.

Lemon Madeleines

Like little cakes with a citrus perfume, these European darlings are equally delightful as a light dessert with fresh fruit or on their own at teatime.

Almond Macaroons

This classic almond cookie is moist, soft, and chewy.

Lemony Brown-Butter Crinkle Cookies

Lemon zest and juice add brightness and cut the richness of the brown butter in these cookies. You can make the dough up to two days in advance.

Blueberry Bonanza Bars

An almond crust is spread with blueberry jam and topped with crumbles of homemade granola.

Lemon Shortbread

Lemons brighten up our rich Classic Shortbread.

Basic Shortbread

This wonderful recipe for basic shortbread can be used to make Black-and-White Triangles, and Candied Ginger Shortbread Wedges.

Icebox Shortbread

These buttery cookies can be made with mix-ins such as orange or lemon zest, dried cranberries or apricots, pistachios or peanut butter chocolate chips.

Thumbprint Cookies

A signature Christmastime sweet, our tiny almond-flavored cookies bear the print of the baker's thumb, which is gently pressed into the partially baked cookie to create a well. A dollop of apricot, red currant, or raspberry jam fills the center. If you use fruit preserves you've put up yourself, the signature is even more personal.

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