124 holiday cookie recipes

Soft, buttery sugar cookies with a hint of lemon zest, made with both butter and oil for a tender crumb. Cream of tartar keeps them pillowy. A holiday cookie jar classic.

Lebkuchen (German honey cakes) blend honey, brown sugar, lemon, almonds, citron, and warm spices into a chewy spice cookie cut into fancy holiday shapes. Traditional Christmas cookie from Nuremberg.

Tiny Bohemian chocolate cookies with melted milk chocolate, grated walnuts, and butter, baked low and slow until they melt on your tongue. Makes 16 dozen bite-sized cookies for holiday platters.

Checkerboard cookies with alternating chocolate and vanilla dough squares in a striking grid pattern. An impressive slice-and-bake cookie for holiday cookie tins and special occasions.

Soft, spiced drop cookies loaded with fruity mincemeat filling. A holiday cookie jar staple that makes 3 dozen in 30 minutes. Old-fashioned flavor your grandmother would recognize.

Snowball cookies made with butter, ground nuts, vanilla, and flour, then rolled in powdered sugar while warm. A classic melt-in-your-mouth holiday cookie.

German filbert cookies shape buttery hazelnut dough into delicate crescents and dust them in powdered sugar or dip in chocolate. Holiday cookie classic with deep nutty flavor.

Lemon blossom cookies are buttery thumbprint cookies made with lemon juice and powdered sugar, rolled in chopped nuts, and filled with fruit preserves or pecans. A classic holiday cookie tray staple.

Rich, fudgy Austrian chocolate balls loaded with chopped nuts and dipped in a glossy chocolate glaze. These bite-sized baked cookies are a European holiday cookie tray staple that disappears fast.

Brown sugar raisin walnut drop cookies for the holiday cookie tin. All brown sugar (no white) for deep caramel chew, packed with raisins and walnuts in every bite. Three dozen from one bowl in twenty minutes.

Sirups kager are traditional Danish brown spice cookies made with dark corn syrup, cinnamon, and cloves. Crisp, warmly spiced, and ideal for holiday cookie tins and Christmas baking.

St. Nicholas cookies are buttery, spiced Dutch-style holiday cookies loaded with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and chopped almonds. Slice-and-bake or press into carved wooden molds.

Chocolate pinon cookies with grated semi-sweet chocolate and toasted pine nuts in a buttery shortbread dough, dusted with powdered sugar. A Southwestern-inspired holiday cookie.

Birds in the Nest cookies with brown sugar dough rolled in ground nuts and filled with jelly. A thumbprint cookie recipe passed down through generations of holiday baking.

Christmas cookie slices are old-fashioned icebox cookies: vanilla shortbread dough rolled into logs, chilled, sliced thin, and baked into crisp golden rounds. Make ahead and ready to slice for holiday baking.

Buttery almond cookies piped into festive wreaths, decorated with red and green candied cherries. A stunning holiday cookie that tastes as good as it looks.