Recipes Holidays + Events Christmas 16 Festive Christmas Cookie Recipes to Make This Holiday By Food & Wine Editors Updated on October 27, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Photo by Jenny Huang / Food Styling by Tyna Hoang / Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka Christmas cookies are a sweet holiday tradition, and if you're looking for new recipes to add to your rotation, we have plenty. For the chocolate lovers, we've got chocolate pretzel crinkle cookies and triple-chocolate peppermint cookies, and for those who like spice in their cookies, show-stopping brown butter-cardamom spitzbuben. There are also triple-ginger rye cookies, walnut crescents, and s'mores (yes, s'mores!) linzer cookies. Read on for even more Christmas cookie recipes. 01 of 16 Basler Leckerli © Nicole Franzen 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. Get the Recipe 02 of 16 Sugar-Crusted Chocolate Cookies © Quentin Bacon This is Jacques Torres's recipe for sablés, a classic French butter cookie with a sandy, crumbly texture (sablé means "sandy") — though this fabulously dense version is actually more like shortbread. Get the Recipe 03 of 16 Cardamom Thumbprints © Chris Court Adding cardamom to these crispy cookies gives them a subtle spiced flavor. You can fill the thumb print with other jams or with chocolate. Get the Recipe 04 of 16 Linzer Cookies with Spiced Jam PHOTO © JOHN KERNICK Kevin Sbraga adds anise and coriander to the raspberry jam that he spreads between the hazelnut cookies (which are spiced with cinnamon and cloves). Get the Recipe 05 of 16 Cashew Snowballs You can substitute pecans, walnuts, or macadamias for the cashews used here. Get the Recipe 06 of 16 Gingerbread Cookies © Frances Janisch These gingerbread cookies use butter instead of shortening and corn syrup, and get finished with royal icing for decoration. Get the Recipe 07 of 16 Chocolate Pretzel Crinkle Cookies Greg DuPree By substituting the flour with Glutino pretzels, this version of the holiday staple is not only gluten-free but also perfectly salty-sweet with the best-ever chewy center. Get the Recipe 08 of 16 Triple-Ginger Rye Cookies Greg DuPree Hearty rye flour paired with three types of ginger — powdered, candied, and fresh — lends an earthy, lightly spicy flavor to these delicious holiday cookies. Get the Recipe 09 of 16 Rum Balls Danica Jorge These lightly boozy balls come together in about 30 minutes. But while you can eat them soon after they're made, they taste best the day after. Get the Recipe 10 of 16 Key Lime Macarons John Kernick These tangy, one-bite sandwich cookies from Uyen Nguyen get a surprise pop of flavor courtesy of fennel seeds. Get the Recipe 11 of 16 Gluten-Free Cacao Nib Meringues Justin Walker Made with chocolate, cacao nibs, and cocoa powder, these intensely flavored meringues have a delicate, crispy exterior with a soft, chewy, marshmallow-like interior. Get the Recipe 12 of 16 Walnut Crescents Abby Hocking These crumbly and buttery walnut crescents from Nadine Redzepi are super simple. If you're not a walnut fan, you can use pecans or hazelnuts instead. Get the Recipe 13 of 16 Brown Butter-Cardamom Spitzbuben Photo by Jenny Huang / Food Styling by Tyna Hoang / Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka German for "cheeky boys," these Bavarian cookies will be the star of your holiday cookie platter. Brown butter and cardamom make this simple cookie into a fragrant treat. Take the time to freshly grind the cardamom — its robust, citrusy flavor is worth it. You can use round or fluted cutters to cut out the cookies and any shape that takes your fancy for the center. Get the Recipe 14 of 16 Triple Chocolate–Peppermint Cookies Justin Walker The peppermint bark in these cookies is simple to make and adds a beautiful pop of color and flavor in each cookie, though store-bought bark will work well here, too. Get the Recipe 15 of 16 S'mores Linzer Cookies Greg DuPree Linzer cookies are descendants of the linzertorte, named for the Austrian city of Linz. Swapping graham flour and hazelnut meal for the all-purpose flour and almond meal gives these linzer-inspired cookies the flavor of s'mores. Get the Recipe 16 of 16 Tortellini Dolci al Forno (Emilian Fruit-Stuffed Christmas Cookies) Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Christine Keely Not to be confused with the pasta of the same name, these classic Emilian Christmas cookies are made from a tender, flaky dough filled with a sweet-tart trio of fruit: cherry preserves, rich saba (cooked-down grape must), and candied citron. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit