11 Favorite Christmas Cookie Recipes

These are, without a doubt, the BEST tasting decorated cut-out cookies I’ve ever eaten. Brown butter citrus shortbread is delicious all on it’s own – buttery, not overly sweet, and laced with the subtle flavors of orange, lemon, and lime.

Dark and white chocolate fondants are easy to work with, gorgeously glossy, and a delicious compliment to the brown butter citrus flavor of the cookies.

These tasty little gems are for those of you who looking for a Christmas cookie recipe that’s uncomplicated, simple, and fun.

With or without the funfetti sprinkles, this is my absolute favorite sugar cookie recipe. The combination of melted butter and cream cheese makes them extra soft and chewy.

These are especially great cookies to bake with young children. The dough is a simple shortbread requiring only a handful of ingredients, and rolling it around a chocolate kiss is a fun and easy task for small hands.

Tender little shortbread cookies flavored with white chocolate and malted milk powder are filled with a rich halva buttercream and drizzled with white and dark chocolate.

If you, like me, are a halva lover, these just might become your new favorite Christmas cookie recipe.

Unless you dislike chocolate (gasp!) or brownies (double gasp!), you’ll agree with me that chocolate krinkle cookies are the bomb. I mean, they are essentially brownies in cookie form. What’s not to love?

This recipe gilds the lily by sandwiching two chocolate krinkle cookies together with a dollop of warm homemade marshmallow. It goes without saying that kids LOVE these. But, I’ll bet you won’t find many adults willing to turn one down.

If you, like me, are a sucker for fruit-nut-chocolate combinations, these biscotti are right up your alley. They are appropriately crunchy (as good biscotti should be) and not overly sweet.

I love the chocolate dip – but, honestly, they are also delightful without it. You could use dried cranberries in a pinch, but I prefer fresh because the cranberry juice infuses the dough with lots of cranberry flavor.

Spritz cookies originated in Germany and are typically made from little more than flour, butter, sugar and eggs. This recipe is nearly that simple, only calling for the addition of cream, vanilla and almond extracts and a bit of salt.

If you have a cookie press, now’s the time to use it. If not, a pastry bag and a star tip is all you need to create wreath shaped cookies that you can decorate any which way you like.

To me, the flavors of peppermint and chocolate are exactly what Christmas should taste like, so it goes without saying that these are one of my favorite Christmas cookies.

These simple little chocolate thumbprint cookies are filled with a dollop of peppermint spiked hot fudge and a sprinkling of crushed candy canes.

I’ll take one anytime, but I especially love to eat rugelach early in the morning when the house is still quiet, steaming mug of coffee in hand, cuddled under a blanket next to the Christmas Tree.

The cream cheese dough is super easy to work with and produces gorgeous layers of flaky pastry that’s buttery and not overly sweet. Rugelach can be filled with anything you like, but I especially love them with a shmear of tart cherry jam and a sprinkle of salty roasted almonds.

Calling all chocolate and peppermint lovers! These rich chocolate brownies, topped with mint icing, bitter chocolate glaze, and chopped creme de menthe mints, are about as mint-chocolatey as you can get.

I’m not sure why ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves practically shout Christmas, but they do. Not only do these spicy little cookies taste like Christmas, they will make your whole house smell like Christmas.