Best Ever Top 10 Christmas Cookies Recipes

Looking for fabulous Christmas Cookies Recipes for the holidays? Look no further! We have compiled our top 10 easy Christmas cookies recipes, plus tips for decorating your treats and ideas for cookie exchanges!

Christmas Cookies Recipes

Once the middle of December hits, we start baking and packing up treats to be delivered to our family, friends, and people who have otherwise touched our lives. 

We call these our “gratitude baskets” — we started the tradition in 2006, and I can’t imagine stopping!

Cooking and baking fill me with love and happiness, and being able to share that with others through homemade gifts is even more of a present for me.

I’ve also refined a few recipes and picked up a few tricks over the years, so you’ll find my top ideas for decorating Christmas cookies below.

And if you’re tired of the same ol’ pinwheels and peanut butter blossoms, you’ll find plenty of Christmas cookie exchange ideas that your friends and neighbors won’t be expecting!

SCROLL DOWN for the complete list, then click the link under each image to be taken to the recipe!

Ideas for Decorating Christmas Cookies

There’s something special about cookie decorating parties, even if it’s just Munchkin and myself with some holiday tunes playing.

Since cut-out sugar cookies are one of the most popular choices, you’ll find those at the top of our easy Christmas cookies recipes list!

But what is a sugar cookie without frosting? Not to worry — I’ve got a recipe for the fluffiest cookie buttercream that hardens as it dries, so you can stack and package them without damaging the tops.

You can also make this scrumptious sugar cookie icing, perfect for piping and flooding whatever designs you can dream up!

Once you’ve got your base, get creative with decorations:

• Colorful sprinkles in classic and themed shapes
• Dragées (candy beads) for elegant designs
• Icing decorations such as eyes, lights, snowflakes, and more

And if you’re planning on more traditional Christmas cookie exchange ideas, you can still add a festive touch. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Color light-colored dough with gel food coloring
• Swap candies (like M&Ms and Kisses) with holiday versions
• Roll dough in colorful sanding sugar instead of regular granulated sugar

Christmas Cookie Exchange Ideas

If you’ve never done a cookie exchange, it’s pretty simple! Everyone chooses from their favorite Christmas cookies recipes and decides on one or two to make.

For larger groups, you may want everyone to decide ahead of time what they’re bringing so there aren’t any duplicates.

Then, everyone gets to baking and brings at least 2 dozen cookies to the event. It’s best to have them labeled and set up on tables so they’re all in one place.

Once everyone has arrived, guests grab a few of each type of cookie to take back home with them.

It’s an easy way for everyone to get a bunch of different flavors and types of cookies while only having to bake one kind themselves!

To make the event more festive, play your favorite Christmas tunes and have hot drinks like tea, cider, and cocoa available for sipping.

You can also have decorative containers available (plus parchment or wax paper for stacking) in case not everything fits in the containers that each person brought.

Easy Christmas Cookies Recipes

Christmastime is busy enough without worrying about extra ingredients and specialty tools that are tucked deep in a cabinet or cupboard.

There are plenty of delicious options to choose from made with pantry staples and basic equipment.

And because I know the holidays are hectic for everyone, I’ve only included easy Christmas cookie ideas so you won’t need to spend hours in the kitchen for each batch!

This is the BEST and EASIEST Sugar Cookie Recipe for cut-out cookies. They’re slightly crisp on the edges, soft and chewy throughout, and feature the fabulous flavors of vanilla and almond. You can also make and freeze the dough ahead of time, and I’ve included plenty of ideas for decorating these Christmas cookies!

3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies are soft, chewy, and packed with peanut flavor. This is the recipe that great grandma used to make — just stir, scoop, and bake! When you’re looking for easy Christmas cookie ideas, this is the one the make.

These Chewy Peppermint Sugar Cookies, also known as crinkle cookies, are crispy on the outside, soft in the middle, and speckled with bits of crushed candy canes. Each batch makes 7 dozen treats, making this one of the best Christmas cookie exchange ideas!

My Triple Chocolate Cookie Recipe is packed from top to bottom with chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate! One of the best Christmas cookies recipes for those who aren’t a fan of traditional holiday flavors like mint or gingerbread.

No Bake Avalanche Cookies are packed with fudgy, peanut butter flavor and plenty of crunchy, chewy, and crispy textures. Even better, you can make them in 10 minutes with just 5 ingredients — talk about easy Christmas cookie ideas!

Imagine the softest Chocolate Chip Cookies you’ve ever had… These are it! My secret is a packet of instant pudding mix, which creates the most incredible bakery texture. Once you try them, you’ll never go back to your old recipe!

Make this Pizzelle Recipe for classic Italian waffle cookies that are as tasty as they are gorgeous. You will need a special iron to make them, but the batter comes together easily with a handful of ingredients. Dusted with powdered sugar, I think they look like snowflakes!

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies are the perfect combination of tender, buttery, chewy, and crunchy. This recipe makes enough dough for a whopping 72 cookies in just 15 minutes, and it’s also one of the easiest Christmas cookies recipes to customize in terms of flavor or color.

Cuccidati are Italian fig cookies with a sweet and sticky center inside a delicate shortbread. And while they are typically topped with rainbow nonpareils (tiny round sprinkles), you can easily swap those out with different colors. There are always a few blends available with the holiday sprinkles

Italian Pignoli Cookies are a classic Italian holiday treat, combining a sweet and chewy almond cookie with a crunchy pine nut topping. Even better, they’re naturally gluten- and dairy-free, making them a great option when allergies are a concern!

Enjoy!
With love, from our simple kitchen to yours.

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Originally published December 2013, Updated and republished November 2024

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