17 Easy Cookie Recipes to Satisfy Your Inner Cookie Monster

Scooped, rolled, cut, or formed with a cookie press, these cookies are perfect for enjoying any time of day.

I've been known to go big (some friends would say overboard) when it comes to my cookie baking, especially during the holidays. One year, I offered a 12-cookie selection made up of elaborately decorated festive cut-out, sandwiched, and dipped cookies that almost killed me (not an exaggeration). Unless I'm baking for a special occasion or prepping for a bake sale, however, my everyday cookies of choice are almost always quick and easy. By "everyday" I mean you can easily whip up a batch in about 30 minutes—or better, you can prep a batch of dough to freeze and bake whenever the mood strikes. Whether you want a wonderful slice-and-bake option like a log of Easy Chocolate Rugelach or something festive like spritz butter cookies, there's an easy cookie recipe in this collection to satisfy any cookie craving or occasion.

New-Fashioned Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles are perhaps one of the first and easiest cookies to make for newbie bakers—it certainly was for me in home economics class way back when. For her new version of an old classic, Stella favors refined coconut oil over the traditional shortening used in many recipes, and blends two types of cinnamon for a more complex flavor.

Get Recipe: New-Fashioned Snickerdoodles

Easy One-Bowl Oatmeal Cookies

Melted butter and resting the dough a bit are the keys to these marvelously chewy oatmeal cookies with crisp edges, butterscotchy middles, and tart dried cranberries (or cherries).

Get Recipe: Easy One-Bowl Oatmeal Cookies

Quick and Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies

The secret to BraveTart's (a.k.a. Stella Parks) chocolate chip cookies is to use hand-chopped bar chocolate—which has better flavor and forms larger pockets of oozy melted goodness when baked—instead of commercial chocolate chips. Another is to use American over European butter to ensure a chewy texture.

Get Recipe: Quick and Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

This excellent vegan version of Stella's chocolate chip cookie swaps in refined coconut oil for butter and an oat slurry for eggs. A bit of dry malt extract imparts toasty notes that mimic the taste of brown butter.

Get Recipe: Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Soft and Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies

These soft, chewy cookies double down on peanutty flavor with both chunky peanut butter and whole roasted peanuts, which add a desirable crunch. Light brown sugar imparts butterscotch notes.

Get Recipe: Soft and Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies

Dark Chocolate Easter Cookies

The extra dark, bitter chocolate dough provides the perfect backdrop and foil for an assortment of leftover Easter (or Halloween for that matter) chocolate candies. Easy ultra-chocolate cookies? Yes, please!

Get Recipe: Dark Chocolate Easter Cookies

Vanilla Sprinkle Cookies

Rolling balls of vanilla dough in rainbow sprinkles is like putting party dresses on plain cookies. These are reminiscent of the cookies you'd find at an Italian-American bakery.

Get Recipe: Vanilla Sprinkle Cookies

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

These classic crinkle cookies are appropriately fudgy with a slightly bitter edge, thanks to espresso powder and unsweetened cocoa, that perfectly balances out the powdered sugar coating.

Get Recipe: Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Chewy Brown Sugar Cookies

Melted butter and light brown sugar produce a denser, chewier cookie, made all the more irresistible with a crackly brown sugar crust. It takes only about 30 minutes from start to finish.

Get Recipe: Chewy Brown Sugar Cookies

Easy Mexican Wedding Cookie

Whether you call them "Russian tea cakes," "snowballs," or my favorite, "butterballs," there's no denying these powdered sugar-coated, nut-studded cookies are an absolute melt-in-your-mouth delight. They belong in everyone's cookie repertoire.

Get Recipe: Easy Mexican Wedding Cookie

Gingerbread Cookies

This recipe comes together in no time and doesn't require chilling the dough before rolling, making it that much easier to bake and decorate festive cut-outs for the holidays.

Get Recipe: Gingerbread Cookies

Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies

Not everyone has the time or the inclination to roll, cut out, and frost sugar cookies for the holidays. These soft and chewy sugar cookies offer a quick and simple alternative—all you need is an assortment of colorful sugar crystals and you're good to go!

Get Recipe: Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies

Spritz Butter Cookies

The key to making these easy fun little cookies is to cream the butter, sugar, and eggs well with a mixer, then stir in the flour by hand to avoid over-developing the gluten. The result is a wonderfully crisp exterior with a buttery, melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Buttery Gluten-Free Corn Cookies

This is Elizabeth Barbone's gluten-free take on Momofuku Milk Bar's famous corn cookie—a tasty ode to Captain Crunch cereal. The dough itself is simple enough to put together, and you can easily purchase freeze-dried corn powder online.

Get Recipe: Buttery Gluten-Free Corn Cookies

Lemon Meltaways

A cross between lemon shortbread and cotton candy, these impossibly delicate cookies get their distinctive texture from a mix of powdered sugar and tapioca starch, which results in a richer, more buttery flavor. Feel free to substitute the lemon with lime or a combination of citrus zests.

Get Recipe: Lemon Meltaways

No-Bake Cookies With Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Chewy Oats

No one has to know that these rich, salty-sweet morsels are really just fudge masquerading as no-bake cookies. All you need is a clip-on digital thermometer to ensure that the fudgy base is cooked to the right temperature.

Get Recipe: No-Bake Cookies With Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Chewy Oats

Easy Chocolate Rugelach

This classic Jewish cookie features a simple, rich cream cheese dough rolled with a chocolate filling—though you can always swap it out for a dried fruit or nut filling. Rolling them up into logs and cutting them into slices instead of forming individual crescents streamlines the process.

Get Recipe: Easy Chocolate Rugelach

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