Holiday Cookie Recipes: 20 Festive Cookies and Baking Tips

Holiday baking season is the best excuse to fill the kitchen with butter, sugar and spice. Here are 20 festive cookies plus the techniques that make big-batch baking easier.

Classic holiday cookies

1. Gingerbread cookies: molasses, ginger, cinnamon, cloves.
2. Cut-out sugar cookies with royal icing.
3. Shortbread: butter, sugar, flour, nothing else.
4. Chocolate crinkle cookies rolled in powdered sugar.
5. Snickerdoodles: cinnamon sugar coating.
6. Thumbprint cookies with jam.
7. Peanut butter blossoms.
8. Russian tea cakes / snowball cookies.
9. Spritz cookies.
10. Linzer cookies.

Chocolate lovers

1. Brown-butter chocolate chip cookies.
2. Double-chocolate peppermint cookies.
3. Florentines.
4. Chocolate-dipped biscotti.

From around the world

1. Pfeffernüsse (German spiced cookies).
2. Speculoos (Belgian/Dutch spiced biscuits).
3. Polvorones (Spanish/Mexican crumbly cookies).
4. Kourabiedes (Greek butter cookies).
5. Ma'amoul (date-filled semolina cookies, also made for Eid and Easter).
6. Melomakarona (Greek honey cookies).

Big-batch baking tips

• Weigh ingredients for consistency: cups to grams.
• Chill dough to prevent spread: why cookies spread.
• Rotate trays halfway, or bake one tray at a time for even results.
• Use parchment and cool trays between batches.
• Scale with care: doubling is fine for most cookies. See how to scale a recipe.

Make ahead and freeze

• Dough: freeze scooped balls on a tray, then bag them. Bake from frozen, adding 1–2 minutes.
• Baked cookies: most freeze well for 2–3 months; ice after thawing.
• Gifting: pack sturdy cookies (shortbread, gingerbread, biscotti) for shipping; keep soft cookies separate so they don't make crisp ones soggy.

Keep the family recipes

Holiday cookies are often family recipes on stained cards. Scan them into a "Holiday baking" collection in SmartChef AI before the season starts. See how to digitize family recipes.

Classic shortbread (3 ingredients)

Beat 225 g softened butter with 100 g sugar until pale. Mix in 300 g flour and a pinch of salt until a dough forms. Press into a 20 cm (8 in) square pan or roll and cut shapes. Chill 30 minutes. Bake at 160 °C (325 °F) for 25–35 minutes until pale golden. Cut while warm, cool completely. Variations: add orange zest, chopped rosemary or dip in dark chocolate.

Cookie exchange tips

Hosting a cookie swap? Ask each guest to bring 4–6 dozen of one cookie plus the recipe. Afterwards, share the recipe links or photos of the cards so everyone can import a clean copy into their own recipe app.

Frequently asked questions

What cookies freeze best?

Shortbread, gingerbread, sugar cookies (un-iced), biscotti and chocolate chip cookies freeze well.

How far ahead can I make holiday cookies?

Freeze dough or baked cookies up to 2–3 months ahead; most baked cookies keep about a week in an airtight tin.

How do I stop sugar cookies spreading?

Chill the dough well, roll it evenly and bake on cool trays.