Christmas Cookie Recipes
Picture a cozy night in with a warm mug and a tray of freshly baked cookies beside you. These Christmas Cookies Recipes bring that holiday feeling to cookie exchanges, family gatherings and quiet baking days at home.
Christmas cookies come in many forms, from frosted sugar cookie bars to spiced molasses and peppermint cookies. Most start with pantry staples like butter, sugar and flour, then get holiday flavor from spices, peppermint or chocolate.
Jump to:
- Christmas Cookie Bars
- Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars
- Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars
- Gingerbread Cookie Bars
- Christmas M&M Cookie Bars
- Christmas Cookies
- Cake Mix Christmas Cookies
- Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies
- Peppermint Brownie Cookies
- Checkerboard Cookies
- Peppermint Cookies
- More Christmas Ideas
- Taylor Swift Chai Cookies
- Christmas Crack Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Whipped Shortbread Cookies
- Sugar Cookie Cups
- No Bake Christmas Cookies
- Ritz Cracker Christmas Cookies
- White Chocolate Ritz Cracker Cookies
- christmas cookie recipes faqs
- More Recipes
Christmas Cookie Bars
Bars are a friendly start for new bakers, since there's no dough to roll or cut. Soft centers, sweet toppings and squares that stack neatly make them perfect for cookie trays, parties and gift boxes.
Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars
Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars are soft and buttery, topped with a thick layer of creamy frosting and sprinkles. Since they bake in a square pan, you can skip the cookie cutters.
Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars
Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars have golden tops, soft centers and a cinnamon-sugar topping. They give you classic snickerdoodle flavor without rolling each cookie.
Gingerbread Cookie Bars
Top your Gingerbread Cookie Bars with spiced frosting and festive sprinkles. They skip the rolling and the cutters but keep all the gingerbread flavor.
Christmas M&M Cookie Bars
Christmas M&M Cookie Bars are soft and chewy with dark chocolate chunks and red and green M&Ms in every bite. Baked on a sheet pan, they make a big batch without scooping.
Christmas Cookies
These cookies bring warm spice, cool peppermint and plenty of chocolate to your holiday table. Make them for cookie exchanges, party trays and gift tins, or enjoy with a cold glass of milk.
Cake Mix Christmas Cookies
Cake Mix Christmas Cookies start with a box of white cake mix, plus oil, eggs and M&Ms. That shortcut means four ingredients and a bake time of about 9 minutes.
Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies
Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies are full of molasses, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. The edges turn lightly crisp while the centers stay chewy.
Our Espresso Irish Coffee is a cozy coffee cocktail to enjoy with these.
Peppermint Brownie Cookies
Peppermint Brownie Cookies use a boxed brownie mix with a little peppermint extract. Top them with white candy melts and crushed candy canes while they're still hot.
A Peppermint Mocha makes a cozy match for the chocolate and mint.
Checkerboard Cookies
Checkerboard Cookies combine a vanilla dough and a chocolate-espresso dough in neat squares.
Peppermint Cookies
Peppermint Cookies have soft centers, slightly crisp edges and pockets of white chocolate. Crushed peppermint candies add a minty crunch.
Pour a mug of Starbucks Peppermint Hot Chocolate to sip alongside these.
Taylor Swift Chai Cookies
Taylor Swift Chai Cookies are chai-spiced sugar cookies topped with an eggnog glaze. They're inspired by a recipe Taylor shared with fans.
Christmas Crack Chocolate Chip Cookies
Christmas Crack Chocolate Chip Cookies are chocolate chip cookies made with homemade Christmas Crack toffee, which starts with saltine crackers.
For these cookies, we use our Easy Christmas Crack Recipe layers saltine crackers with buttery toffee and melted chocolate.
Whipped Shortbread Cookies
Whipped Shortbread Cookies are topped with Christmas sprinkles for an extra festive look.
Sugar Cookie Cups
Sugar Cookie Cups take a shortcut, using a sugar cookie mix as the base.
No Bake Christmas Cookies
These treats skip the oven completely, so they're great for busy baking days. Peanut butter, chocolate and sprinkles make them a hit on any cookie tray.
Ritz Cracker Christmas Cookies
Ritz Cracker Christmas Cookies combine creamy peanut butter and buttery Ritz crackers in a rich chocolate coating topped with festive sprinkles. It's a no bake treat made for holiday cookie trays.
White Chocolate Ritz Cracker Cookies
White Chocolate Ritz Cracker Cookies sandwich creamy peanut butter between buttery Ritz crackers for a sweet and salty mix. They get dipped in white chocolate and sprinkles for a fun cookie tray pick.
Round out your cookie tray with a little candy, like Costco Peppermint Bark or Crockpot Candy Recipe. Bake one batch or work down the list, and pour something warm while the oven does the work. Happy baking!
christmas cookie recipes faqs
There's no official top 10, but this list covers a bit of everything. You'll find frosted bars, spiced cookies, peppermint cookies and a few box-mix shortcuts.
Cake Mix Christmas Cookies start with a white cake mix and use four ingredients, with a bake time of about 9 minutes. Ritz Cracker Christmas Cookies skip the oven completely, and cookie bars skip the rolling and cutting.
Taylor Swift Chai Cookies are chai-spiced sugar cookies topped with an eggnog glaze. Checkerboard Cookies layer vanilla and chocolate-espresso dough in neat squares, and Christmas Crack Chocolate Chip Cookies use homemade saltine cracker toffee.
Cookie bars like Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars and Gingerbread Cookie Bars stack neatly in a gift box. Peppermint Cookies and Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies also work well in a cookie tin.
Our picks are Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars, Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars and Gingerbread Cookie Bars. All three skip the rolling and the cookie cutters.
Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars are soft and buttery with a thick layer of frosting. Tint the frosting with gel food coloring and add sprinkles to make them festive.
