Kirbie's Cravings

34 Christmas Cookies Recipes for the Holidays

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During the holidays I go cookie crazy and love to bake up batches of sweet treats to give as gifts or serve at holiday parties, so I’ve rounded up some of my most popular Christmas cookies for you to try this year. There are decadent chocolate chip cookies, classic holiday cookies, lots of colorful festive ones, and some of my favorite Nutella cookies. So, take a browse and make a list because there are a lot of holiday cookies to try.plate of stained glass cookies

Classic Christmas Cookies

Some Christmas cookies never go out of style and the following cookie recipes are ones that I make for my family every year. From classic spritz, crispy spiced gingerbread cut-outs, and the easiest sugar cookies ever, I hope you’ll try them all. Looking for other ideas? I’ve also rounded up my favorite holiday desserts, too, so be sure to check it out.

photo of a stack of chocolate chip shortbread

Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies | Shortbread cookies are a great make-ahead cookie for gifting because they keep well. This version with chocolate chips is crumbly, buttery, and practically melts in your mouth. Unlike a lot of Christmas cookies, they’re not overly sweet, either. I also have a chocolate version which I love just as much.

Classic Spritz Cookies | The holidays at our house are not complete unless I make a big batch of spritz cookies. They’re buttery little cookies that are so addicting so I make a big batch – some for us and I give the rest away as gifts.

Easy Sugar Cookies | These sugar cookies are easy to make and taste great. They’re delicious plain or decorate them with your favorite holiday frostings and sprinkles.

Giant Chocolate Crinkle Cookies | A lot of crinkle cookie recipes call for melted chocolate which is one step too many when it gets busy at the holidays, which is why I love this easy recipe. Plus, you can make the dough ahead of time and bake the cookies later.

photo of a stack of hot chocolate cookies

Hot Chocolate Cookies | When you turn a mug of hot chocolate into a cookie this is what you get! These chocolate cookies are made with cocoa mix and topped with toasted marshmallows. They are warm, gooey, and a fun cookie to make during the holidays.

Gingerbread Family | These cookies are crunchy with a wonderful spiced flavor. You can cut them into any shape you like, but I love making gingerbread families. They’re so cute you almost don’t want to eat them!

Hazelnut Russian Tea Cakes with Christmas Sprinkles | Russian tea cakes are buttery little cookies made with nuts. They’re not too sweet and very easy to make. I used hazelnuts for this version and decorated them with colorful holiday sprinkles. I also have a traditional Russian tea cakes recipe, too.

Soft and Chewy Snickerdoodles | These soft and chewy cookies are always a favorite during the holidays. They’re lightly spiced with cinnamon and so easy to make. I also have a keto and low-carb snickerdoodle recipe you might like, too.

keto shortbread

Keto Shortbread Cookies | Buttery, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate chip shortbread cookies that are also low carb and keto-friendly. These cookies are so easy to make with just four ingredients.

Soft Sugar Cookies | Soft and chewy all the way through, these sugar cookies are easy to make and decorate.

Ginger Spice Cookies I love to make ginger cookies during the holidays and these cookies are thick, soft, a little chewy, and loaded with lots of ginger flavor. Or try my classic gingersnap cookies which are also spiced with ginger but with a crispier texture.

Chewy Molasses Cookies | These chewy cookies are a holiday classic. Molasses gives them a unique flavor that is sweet with a subtle bitterness. Plus, you can use melted butter – no need to wait for butter to soften.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes

I love chocolate chip cookies and I have a bunch of recipes to share that are perfect for the holidays. Whether you prefer soft chocolate chip cookies, crispy-chewy chocolate chip cookies, or bakery-style chocolate chip cookies, I have you covered with all of my favorite holiday chocolate chip cookie recipes.

stack of cut open levain bakery cookie halves showing gooey center

Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies | This is my most popular cookie recipe and for good reason. These ooey-gooey chocolate chip cookies are my take on the ones sold at the famous Levain Bakery in New York City. They’re studded with chocolate and weigh in at a whopping six ounces each. If you want something even more decadent, be sure to check out my chocolate peanut butter chip cookies and dark chocolate chocolate chip cookies which are other popular cookies from the bakery.

Best Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies This is my favorite soft chocolate chip cookie recipe and during the holidays and I like to use red and green chocolate chips to make them perfect for the season. The cookies bake up soft and stay soft for days, which makes them great for cookie platters and gifting.

Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies | Do you know someone who’s following a keto diet? I bet they would love a batch of these keto chocolate chip cookies for the holidays. They’re low carb and easy to make with just five ingredients. I also have a paleo chocolate chip cookie recipe, too!

photo of four cookie shot glasses with one filled with milk

Chocolate Chip Cookie Shots | Now you can have your milk and cookies all in one special treat! They’re great for parties because they need to be made ahead of time. If you want something other than chocolate chip be sure to check out my cookies and cream cookie shots, too!

Crispy Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies | These bakery-style cookies are thin and chewy with crispy crinkled edges. Plus, they’re loaded with lots of chocolate chunks so every bite has rich, chocolatey goodness.

 New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies | At our house, the holidays are not complete without a batch of these chocolate chip cookies. These 72-hour cookies from Jacques Torres went viral after The New York Times printed the recipe and once you make a batch you’ll know why. Although it requires some patience, the 72-hour rest time for the dough produces a cookie with a perfect texture – crispy around the edges and soft and chewy in the center. It’s one of my favorite cookie recipes.

a stack of cookies

Flourless Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies | These cookies are crispy, chewy, and full of chocolate chips. They also don’t contain any flour. It’s an easy one bowl recipe and the dough is ready in just a few minutes.

Marble Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies | These thick and soft cookies combine chocolate chip cookies with chocolate chocolate chip cookies so you don’t have to choose just one.

Flourless Monster Cookies | A healthier version of monster cookies, these cookies don’t contain any flour, eggs, or butter. They are soft, chewy, and packed with oats, peanut butter, chocolate chips, and candy-coated chocolate. Use red and green M&Ms and they are perfect for the holidays.

Festive Cookies

If you’re making holiday cookie platters, you’ll want to include a few of these fun and festive cookies. Naturally green matcha cookies, marshmallow-stuffed cookies, and chocolate-dipped shortbread cookies are sure to stand out!

photo of matcha shortbread christmas trees
Matcha Shortbread Christmas Tree Cookies | These adorable Christmas tree cookies are made with matcha green tea which means you don’t need to use any food coloring. They are buttery and melt-in-your-mouth tender.

Chocolate Pinecone Shortbread Cookies | These chocolate shortbread cookies are cut and stacked to resemble pinecones with a light dusting of powdered sugar “snow”. They’re a fun and festive cookie for the holidays.

Green Tea Sugar Cookies | If you’re looking to change-up your sugar cookies this year these matcha ones are a fun way to do it. I love the flavor of the matcha and each cookie is studded with chewy cranberries.

Matcha Snowball Cookies | These tender snowball cookies (also known as Russian tea cakes or Mexican wedding cakes) are flavored with matcha green tea that gives them a natural and perfect-for-the-holidays green color.

Red Velvet Shortbread Cookies | These star-shaped red velvet shortbread cookies are dipped in chocolate and decorated with sprinkles. They’re a fun and sweet way to dress up a holiday cookie platter.

Matcha Shortbread Cookies | If you can’t tell already, I love to make shortbread during the holidays and these tree-shaped matcha shortbread cookies are one of my favorites!

candy cane peeps stuffed cookies

Peeps Candy Cane Stuffed Chocolate Cookies | These double chocolate cookies are stuffed with Peeps chocolate dipped candy cane flavored chicks that give the cookies a gooey candy cane flavored marshmallow center.

Soft Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies | These red-colored chocolate chip cookies are made with buttermilk and cocoa. They’re delicious and perfect for the holidays.

Stained Glass Christmas Tree Cookies | These delicate cookies are almost too pretty to eat! They look more complicated to make than they actually are – with just some hard candy and a few simple ingredients they’re easy to make.

Nutella Cookies

If you follow my blog you know how much I love Nutella and the holidays would not be complete without a few cookies made with my favorite chocolate and hazelnut spread. Gooey lava cookies and Nutella shortbread are just a few of my favorites!

photo of a stack of nutella lava cookies

Chocolate Nutella Lava Cookies | If you’ve ever had a chocolate lava cake you know how satisfying it is to dip into the molten chocolate center. Now imagine that in cookie form, but instead of melted chocolate, each cookie is stuffed with an ooey-gooey molten Nutella center. These are a must-make for all the Nutella lovers on your holiday list.

4 Ingredient Chewy Nutella Cookies | If you’re short on time during the holidays these chewy brownie-like Nutella cookies are ridiculously easy to make with just four simple ingredients.

Nutella Shortbread Cookies | Another shortbread recipe but this time it’s a tender melt-in-your-mouth Nutella version.

Holiday Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies | These simple Nutella chocolate chip cookies are great year-round but add some festive holiday chocolate chips and they make a great Christmas cookie that will disappear fast!

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4 comments on “34 Christmas Cookies Recipes for the Holidays”

  1. Great Stuff. Looks delicious

  2. Are the 32 cookie recipes available as a pdf document? I’m subscribed to the newsletter and would like to print all of the recipes. Thank you!