Classic German Christmas Cookies

Beautiful, delicious, and nearly impossible to pronounce (try to say weihnachtsplätzchen three times fast), these traditional cookies are delectably festive and worth adding to your cookie platter. Here are our best recipes for classic German Christmas cookies.

Hausfreunde

This recipe calls for dipping buttery almond-apricot sandwich cookies in bittersweet chocolate. The phenomenal results are well worth the effort.

Basler Leckerli

These spiced cookie bars are an essential part of a German Christmas. They are an excellent make-ahead sweet; in fact, they get more tender and flavorful the longer they sit.

Lebkuchen

Lebkuchen are traditional, delicately spiced German molasses-ginger cookies. This recipe, from mixologist Jeffrey Morgenthaler was passed down from his great-grandmother to his grandmother to his uncle.

Haselnussmakronen

These German raspberry-hazelnut macaroons require just five ingredients and are extremely no-fuss. “You just throw the dough together, heat up some jam and you’re almost there,” says Berlin-based blogger Luisa Weiss.

Candy Cookies

These truffle-like cookies are adapted from a traditional holiday cookie that baker Renato Poliafito discovered during his travels in Germany.