25 Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes

Ready for holiday baking? Find our best Christmas cookies below! They include easy recipes for sugar cookies, spice cookies, cut outs, and more.

I’ll be baking Christmas cookies on repeat for the next few weeks! They’re one of my favorite parts of the holiday season—sweet, festive, and perfect for making with family and sharing as a gift. If you ask me, there’s no better way to spread holiday cheer.

In case you’re ready for holiday baking too, I’ve rounded up my best easy Christmas cookie recipes below. They include traditional Christmas cookies like gingerbread as well as fun shortbread variations, classic chocolate chip cookies, and more. They’re all great for holiday parties, cookie tins, and baking with loved ones (kids included!). I hope you find some you love!

Our Best Traditional Christmas Cookies

Gingerbread Cookies

With over 300 5-star reviews, these gingerbread cut outs are our most popular Christmas cookies! They’re some of my personal favorites too—soft, richly spiced, and perfect for decorating.

Mexican Wedding Cookies

Sometimes called snowballs, these buttery pecan cookies practically melt in your mouth.

Christmas Sugar Cookies

These classic cut-out cookies have lightly crisp edges, soft middles, and a warm, buttery flavor. Top them with royal icing and sprinkles for a festive holiday treat!

Thumbprint Cookies

These thumbprints are one of the Christmas cookie recipes I make every single year. They have a delicious almond shortbread dough that I fill with sweet, tangy apricot and raspberry jam.

Chewy Molasses Cookies

Ready in just 30 minutes, this recipe is a quick and easy way to get your Christmas cookie fix. These have crisp edges, fudgy middles, and a deeply spiced molasses flavor.

Spritz Cookies

These buttery cookies keep well for a week at room temperature and freeze well for months, so they’re great Christmas cookies for gifting. My family has been making them since my sister and I were kids!

Pignoli Cookies

Crusted with pine nuts, these cookies will add an elegant Italian spin to your holiday cookie spread.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Top them with the traditional Hershey’s Kisses, or use mini peanut butter cups for extra peanut butter flavor.

Holiday Shortbread and Sugar Cookies

Shortbread Cookies

These slice and bake cookies are tender, buttery, and easy to make with 5 ingredients. They’re the best Christmas cookies to enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea!

Easy Sugar Cookies

Roll these simple drop cookies in colored sugar to make them extra-festive for the holidays.

Lemon Cookies

With lightly crisp edges and chewy, fudgy middles, these zesty cookies are bakery-worthy perfection. I love them all year round, but especially at Christmas.

Orange Shortbread Cookies

Orange zest and a simple orange glaze brighten these delicate shortbread cut outs.

Lemon Shortbread Cookies

I add fresh thyme to this lemony shortbread dough for an unexpected herbal twist.

Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes for Chocolate Lovers

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies might not be traditional for Christmas, but no chocolate lover will complain about them on a holiday cookie plate. This recipe is my go-to—they’re chewy, flavorful, and easy to make. No stand mixer required!

Cranberry Cookies

Dried cranberries and pistachios give these soft-baked cookies some red and green holiday flair.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Essentially brownies in cookie form. L&L reader Alyssa wrote, “Just made these—such a hit! Definitely will make them again!” Try adding a drop of peppermint extract to the cookie dough for minty depth of flavor.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

These delicious cookies have lightly crisp edges, soft middles, and plenty of chocolate in every bite. No one would guess they’re made without butter and eggs!

Soft, Spiced Christmas Cookies

Snickerdoodles

I add an extra egg yolk to these cookies to perfect their soft and chewy texture. Though you could enjoy them at any time of year, I think their cinnamon coating makes them especially perfect for the holidays.

Perfect Oatmeal Cookies

For a holiday spin on these classic cookies, replace the raisins with a mix of dried cherries and white chocolate chips.

Soft Pumpkin Cookies

These moist, cake-like cookies are delicious plain, but a slather of tangy cream cheese frosting really takes them over the top.

Nutty Christmas Cookies

Best Peanut Butter Cookies

Made with more peanut butter than most, these cookies are a peanut butter lovers’ dream. They have a perfectly balanced sweet and salty flavor.

No-Bake Cookies

If you’re spending a day baking Christmas cookie recipes, your oven might end up maxed out. Free up some space by making these no bakes! Super dense and fudgy, they’re crowdpleasers on a cookie plate.

Almond Butter Cookies

An almond-y twist on classic peanut butter cookies. Try them once, and you’ll wonder why you didn’t start making them sooner!

Creative Christmas Cookie Recipes

Tahini Cookies

Topped with pretty pomegranate arils, these gluten-free cookies have been some of my favorite holiday treats for years. The tahini gives them a rich, nutty flavor, while cardamom and ginger add warm, spiced notes.

Matcha Cookies

No food coloring here! Matcha tea gives these cookies their bold green color. I love to dip them in white chocolate and top them with black sesame seeds when I make them for Christmas.