These 16 amazing Christmas cookies give you a delicious holiday baking menu for cookie exchanges, dessert trays, family parties, and edible gifts. Because this is a roundup rather than one single published recipe, each cookie has its own ingredients, quantities, preparation time, chilling needs, and baking time; use the individual recipe directions when exact measurements are required.
Expect a cheerful mix of buttery, chewy, crisp, chocolatey, fruity, spicy, and peppermint-filled treats. Bake one favorite or create a varied platter with gingerbread, sugar cookies, thumbprints, sandwich cookies, chocolate crinkles, shortbread, and more for a Christmas dessert table everyone will enjoy.
Jump to RecipeWhy You’ll Love This Christmas Cookie Roundup
A holiday cookie tray should offer something for every sweet tooth, and this collection makes that easy. Tender shortbread satisfies fans of simple buttery cookies, while chocolate crinkles bring a rich brownie-like center and a snowy powdered-sugar finish.
There are also colorful cutout cookies for decorating, warmly spiced gingerbread for classic Christmas flavor, fruity thumbprints for a jewel-like presentation, and chocolate-peppermint combinations that taste like a favorite seasonal candy. Choosing several different textures makes the platter look abundant without requiring every cookie to be decorated elaborately.
- For chocolate lovers: Choose crinkles, peppermint chocolate cookies, chocolate-dipped varieties, or double-chocolate rounds.
- For traditionalists: Gingerbread, sugar cookies, shortbread, and snickerdoodles bring familiar holiday comfort.
- For children: Pick cookies with sprinkles, icing, candy pieces, or simple shapes that are fun to decorate.
- For gifting: Select sturdy cookies that travel well, such as shortbread, sandwich cookies, and firm cutouts.
If you are baking with little helpers, our kid-friendly Christmas cookie ideas are a natural place to begin.
Sixteen Cookie Ideas for Your Holiday Tray
Start with the classics, then add a few eye-catching flavors. The following list is a planning guide for the sixteen styles in this roundup; exact ingredients, amounts, and timing vary because each cookie is a separate recipe rather than one master dough.
- Gingerbread cookies: Deep molasses flavor, cinnamon, ginger, and a lightly crisp edge make these perfect for stars, trees, snowflakes, and gingerbread people.
- Decorated sugar cookies: Their mild buttery flavor gives icing, sanding sugar, and festive sprinkles plenty of room to shine.
- Chocolate crinkle cookies: A fudgy center and cracked powdered-sugar coating make these look snowy and taste intensely chocolatey.
- Peppermint chocolate cookies: Chocolate dough paired with crushed candy cane creates a cool, minty finish.
- Butter shortbread: Rich, tender, and lightly crumbly, shortbread is ideal for dipping in chocolate or serving plain.
- Jam thumbprints: A buttery cookie with a colorful fruit center brings brightness to a tray filled with chocolate and spice.
- Peanut butter sandwich cookies: Two tender peanut butter cookies with a creamy middle make a satisfying, nostalgic treat. Try these quick peanut butter sandwich cookies when you want a fuss-free option.
- Snowball cookies: Their nutty, buttery crumb and powdered-sugar coating look like tiny winter ornaments.
- Snickerdoodles: A cinnamon-sugar coating gives these soft cookies a fragrant, gently spiced crust.
- Linzer-style cookies: Cutout windows reveal a layer of jam and add a beautiful bakery-style detail.
- White chocolate cranberry cookies: Creamy white chocolate and tart dried cranberry create a pleasing sweet-tangy contrast.
- Red velvet cookies: Their dramatic color makes them especially festive, with white chips or a cream-colored drizzle.
- Chocolate-dipped biscotti: Crisp twice-baked cookies are excellent with coffee, cocoa, or tea and package beautifully.
- Sprinkle cookies: Colorful nonpareils or holiday sprinkles turn a simple dough into a party-ready dessert.
- Orange spice cookies: Citrus zest brightens warm spices and adds a fragrant note to the cookie platter.
- Candy cane chocolate cookies: These combine two favorite Christmas flavors in a particularly cheerful bake; see our candy cane chocolate cookie recipe for inspiration.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Since this is a sixteen-cookie roundup, there is no single ingredient list or universal quantity. Plan your shopping list around the styles you choose, then use each published recipe’s exact measurements rather than combining estimates from several different cookies.
Most holiday baking plans use familiar pantry staples such as flour, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, salt, and leavening. Depending on the selection, you may also need cocoa powder, molasses, warm spices, powdered sugar, nuts, fruit preserves, dried cranberries, chocolate chips, white chocolate, peppermint candy, citrus zest, sprinkles, or royal icing.
- Keep butter and eggs at the temperature specified by the individual recipe.
- Measure flour carefully, preferably by weight when that option is provided.
- Set out parchment paper, cooling racks, cookie cutters, piping bags, and decorating supplies before beginning.
- Buy enough storage containers to keep strongly flavored peppermint cookies separate from delicate vanilla or shortbread cookies.
For a playful dessert display beyond the cookie tin, consider pairing the tray with our festive Oreo dessert wreath.
How to Make It Step-by-Step
Step 1: Choose a balanced assortment of cookies with different flavors, colors, and textures. A practical combination includes one spiced cookie, one cutout cookie, one chocolate cookie, one fruit-filled cookie, one buttery cookie, and one sandwich cookie.
Step 2: Read every selected recipe from beginning to end before mixing anything. Note which doughs require chilling, which cookies need decorations before baking, and which toppings or fillings must be added only after cooling.
Step 3: Gather ingredients and equipment for one cookie style at a time. Because the quantities and methods vary across the sixteen recipes, keeping ingredients grouped prevents accidental substitutions or omitted components.
Step 4: Mix each dough according to its specific recipe, stopping as soon as the ingredients are combined when the directions call for a tender texture. Overmixing can make some cookies dense, while insufficient mixing can leave streaks of butter, flour, or cocoa.
Step 5: Chill or rest the dough whenever the individual recipe instructs you to do so. This can make shaping easier and may help cookies hold their intended form, but the required chill time is different for every recipe.
Step 6: Shape the cookies consistently so pieces from the same batch bake at the same rate. Roll balls evenly, cut shapes close together, fill thumbprints carefully, and leave the spacing recommended by the recipe.
Step 7: Bake each variety at its specified temperature and for its specified time. Begin checking near the end of the baking window, looking for the visual cues described in that recipe rather than assuming every cookie should be deeply browned.
Step 8: Cool cookies as directed, usually beginning on the baking sheet before transferring them to a rack. Fully cooled cookies are less likely to break and provide a stable surface for icing, chocolate, powdered sugar, or sandwich filling.
Step 9: Decorate and assemble the cookies once they are cool. Add icing to cutouts, dip shortbread in chocolate, dust snowballs with powdered sugar, fill sandwich cookies, and finish peppermint cookies with crushed candy.
Step 10: Arrange the finished selection on a large platter with the lightest colors and most decorative pieces visible on top. Keep extra cookies in separate airtight containers so crisp varieties do not soften beside moist or filled cookies.
Pro Tips for Better Holiday Cookies
Use cool, sturdy baking sheets and line them with parchment when the individual recipe permits it. A hot pan can cause dough to spread before the edges have time to set, while a crowded pan can interfere with even baking.
Do not judge doneness by color alone. Some chocolate cookies remain dark even when ready, and some sugar cookies should stay pale with lightly set edges; follow the recipe’s visual cues and allow for carryover cooking as the cookies cool.
- For neat cutouts: Chill dough as directed and flour the cutter lightly if sticking becomes a problem.
- For attractive icing: Decorate only completely cool cookies and let each layer set before stacking.
- For even portions: Use a cookie scoop or weigh dough pieces when uniform size matters.
- For crisp edges: Avoid placing fresh dough on a hot baking sheet unless the recipe specifically allows it.
- For gift boxes: Add parchment between layers and group cookies with similar textures together.
Holiday baking is also easier when you work in stages: mix doughs on one day, bake on the next, and decorate after the cookies have cooled. For a seasonal fruit dessert alongside your cookie platter, our green apple pie recipe offers a warm, fragrant companion.
Storage, Freezing, and Serving
Storage depends on the cookie style. Crisp cookies should remain in a dry airtight container, while soft cookies need a well-sealed container to protect their chewy texture; filled or iced cookies may require special instructions from their individual recipes.
Keep peppermint or strongly spiced cookies separate when possible because their aromas can transfer. Place parchment between layers, and avoid stacking delicate decorations until icing or chocolate has fully hardened.
Many unfilled cookie doughs and baked cookies can be frozen, but the freezing method and thawing time vary by recipe. Label every container with the cookie name and date, then thaw baked cookies in their container to reduce condensation on the surface.
16 Amazing Christmas Cookies Everyone Will Love
Ingredients
Method
- Select one or more cookie styles from the roundup and consult the specific recipe for its exact ingredients, quantities, oven temperature, chilling instructions, and baking time.
- Prepare doughs according to their individual recipes, keeping butter temperature, mixing method, and resting time in mind because these details affect spread, texture, and flavor.
- Bake each cookie according to its published directions, watching closely near the end of the suggested baking window since small cookies can change from soft to overbaked quickly.
- Cool cookies completely before adding icing, chocolate, powdered sugar, crushed peppermint, jam, or sandwich fillings. Store each variety according to its texture and filling.
Notes
Final Thoughts
These 16 Christmas cookie ideas make it easy to build a festive dessert spread with something for everyone. Mix classic spice with rich chocolate, buttery shortbread, bright jam, creamy fillings, colorful icing, and cool peppermint for a tray that looks as wonderful as it tastes.
Remember that this is a roundup, not one definitive recipe, so exact ingredients, quantities, preparation times, chilling times, and baking times must be taken from the individual recipe you choose. Bake in manageable batches, cool everything completely, and enjoy sharing a homemade assortment with family, friends, neighbors, and Santa.