34 Recipe Ideas for Your Holiday Cookie Exchange

This sugar cookie recipe is beloved in Molly Yeh's family during the holiday season and pretty much any other season of the year. With a delicious almond-lemon-infused dough and the ease to cut-out and decorate to your liking, soon enough these thick cookies will also become a staple in your house.

All of the delicious components of a classic fruitcake, minus waiting weeks for the flavor to preserve.

These old-fashioned spritz cookies only take 30 minutes to make and only seconds to impress.

The iconic back-of-the-bag cookies, but with a small homemade twist. Instead of store bought candy, a dollop of creamy, dreamy espresso ganache kissese the top of each chewy peanut butter cookie.

As if powdered sugar wasn't dazzling enough, quite sparkly enough, these snowball cookies are rolled in glittery white decorating sugar for an extra top coat of sparkliness.

These classic Italian confections — made with almond paste, sugar, egg whites, and pine nuts — are guaranteed to be a stunner at any holiday cookie swap.

The best shortbread cookies you'll make! The rich cookie — which sometimes takes on the crispy, snappy quality of a cracker — doesn’t require a stand mixer, rolling pin, or cookie cutter, and can be stashed in the freezer for an impromptu holiday cookie plate.

A mainstay of any cookie platter, rainbow cookies are layers of cakey, chocolatey perfection.

There's many reasons why these snickerdoodles will remain super soft to the delight of anyone who eats them at a cookie exchange. For starters, they take a cue from our favorite chocolate chip cookie and involves absolutely no creaming of butter or sugar. That means there’s very little air in the dough to gradually leave and dry out the cookie.

With thrice the chocolate (two types in the dough, plus more in the filling), a mix of whole-grain flours, and crushed candy cane bits, these thumbprint cookies scream cozy holiday baking.

The most tantalizing brown butter chocolate chip cookie we ever did eat.

Because sometimes it’s the smallest things in life that always make us the happiest, we present a simply delicious recipe for chocolate-dipped coconut macaroons.

This cookie has everything you'd want in a chocolatey treat. It's deeply chocolatey and almost brownie-like in the middle, but has a crisp exterior. For fun pops of texture, it's studded with tart cherries and crunchy nuts.

A classic gingerbread and a Mexican chocolate cookie become one in this rich cookie laced with subtle heat. Grated ginger, ground ginger, and cinnamon give the cookie plenty of flair, while bittersweet chocolate and cocoa powder throw a one-two punch of chocolate.

Working in sweet red bean paste gives this classic vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe a distinct lightness, while also imparting chewiness.

These almond spice cookies are kind of like a chewy peanut butter cookie, filled with spices for the holidays.

Spiced cookie butter and a white chocolate drizzle gives these cookies their showstopping flair.

Sables are rich, buttery French shortbread cookies. The rosemary in this version provides a fresh, unexpected holiday twist. Together with the citrus curd, each bite is the perfect blend of sweet and savory.

Trust us on this one: sprinkle-topped, fig-filled cookies - known as cucidati in Italy - will be the crowning jewel of the holiday cookie plate.

If you don't want to crank on the oven but don't want to show up empty-handed, bourbon balls are the fudgiest, booziest no-bake treats you can easily make to impress.

The combination of the peppermint coating and the peppermint cream filling worn by this supremely tender cookie give it a sweet mintiness that deems them just perfect for the holidays.