10 cookie recipes to bake for your holiday party
Christmas is a time for family, love and service, but an excellent way to get into the spirit of the season is through food. Each culture that celebrates the holiday has its own spin on Christmas foods and desserts, and, in the United States, it seems that Christmas cookies are everywhere this time of year.
While it’s hard to say for sure which types of cookies are the most popular, these 10 are some of my favorites. Make them as a treat for yourself, a gift for neighbors, an offering to a Christmas cookie party or a surprise for Santa.
Related
Christmas cookie recipes
1. Gingerbread men
People love gingerbread cookies so much that there’s a nursery rhyme about them. Unfortunately, a lot of recipes seem to bake down to dry, stiff cookies that aren’t very fun to eat. This recipe changes that — it produces gingerbread cookies that almost have the texture of a sugar cookie, but they still retain their shape so you can decorate your gingerbread men.
2. Chewy gingerbread cookies
If you like gingersnaps with a thin, crunchy texture, this recipe isn’t for you. While those are nice, I prefer these soft, chewy gingerbread cookies. You can bake them out as is, roll them in raw turbinado sugar before baking for an extra crunch, or drizzle them with icing or white chocolate after baking. I like to add an extra 1⁄4 teaspoon of allspice to this recipe to kick up the flavor, but that’s just me.
3. Chocolate crinkles
These cookies kind of look like snowballs, which makes them perfect for the winter months. This recipe recently won The Pancake Princess’ chocolate crinkle cookie bake-off thanks to its fudgy, chocolatey flavor and crisp exterior. For an extra-festive twist, I like to stick a red or green M&M on top of each cookie before baking.
4. Italian Christmas cookies
Italian Christmas cookies are similar to sugar cookies but they’re much thicker and softer and traditionally flavored with anise. This recipe uses ricotta in the dough to make the cookies extra soft and calls for almond and vanilla flavoring.
5. Buñuelos
Buñuelos aren’t technically cookies, as they’re fried rather than baked. However, they’re a delicious treat often served around the holidays, and I think they deserve a spot on this list. They consist of a thin dough fried until crisp and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. They’re relatively simple and fun to make, and they’ll stand out on a platter of Christmas cookies.
6. Vanilla crescent cookies
Also known as vanillekipferl, these cookies are a Christmas staple in parts of Austria, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Switzerland, Czechia and Slovakia. They consist of a shortbread-like dough with chopped nuts and vanilla that are formed into crescents and dipped in powdered sugar before baking.
7. Red velvet cookies
These cookies look incredibly festive, with their red-and-white color scheme. This recipe makes a soft, fudgy cookie studded with white and semisweet chocolate chips, but you could also omit the chocolate chips and top them with a cream cheese frosting instead.
8. Chocolate peppermint cookies
These cookies are basically peppermint bark in cookie form. This recipe consists of a double-chocolate cookie dipped in melted white chocolate and sprinkled with crushed candy cane, but you could also top the cookies with a peppermint frosting instead of the white chocolate.
9. Christmas chocolate-chip cookies
I’ve noticed that a lot of people top their favorite chocolate-chip cookies with red and green M&Ms to add a festive flair, but this recipe goes a step further with pretzel pieces and oats to make an extra-satisfying cookie that’s both chewy and crunchy.
10. Sugar cookies
Sugar cookies are simple and therefore provide the perfect canvas. You can decorate them to look like snowmen or snowflakes or change up the flavor of the dough or frosting. I like to add peppermint extract to my favorite recipe for a candy cane cookie.
