The 85 Best Cookie Recipes for Christmas or Anytime

updated Dec 1, 2022

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cookies and milk on parchment with one taken a bite out of it — Credit: Photo: Ghazalle Badiozamani; Food Styling: Jesse Szewczyk
Birthday Cake Sprinkle Crinkles

Do you need an occasion to bake cookies? Of course you don’t! A lazy Saturday or a rainy weeknight is absolutely reason enough. After all, it doesn’t get any more satisfying than biting into a warm cookie fresh from the oven — and we could all use a little extra cozy right now.

Everyone has their own cookie preferences, be it chocolate chip or shortbread. Don’t worry — we’ve got the recipes for them all. Here are 85 of our very best recipes that span from traditional to newfangled and everything in between.

Chocolate-y Cookies

You can’t talk about cookies without talking about chocolate. No matter if it’s chocolate chip, double chocolate, or chocolate-dipped you crave, these should do the trick.

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Slice-and-No-Bake Cookies

This easy no-bake cookie is made with dark chocolate and peanut butter and filled with peanuts and pretzels.

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Flourless Chocolate Brownie Cookies

A handful of pantry ingredients combine to create the richest, fudgiest, chewiest, crispiest cookies around — perfect for dunking into a glass of milk.

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The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

It doesn't get any more classic than this chocolate chip cookie recipe. If you need a place to start on your cookie baking adventure, start here.

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Toasted Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

A handful of almonds add just a touch of crunch to these soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies.

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4-Ingredient Chocolate Banana Coconut Cookies

These banana-coconut cookies are the easiest snack option for those 3 p.m. munchies. Hold on to those brown bananas — they're just what this recipe needs.

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Flourless Chocolate Cookies

Learn how to make our essential flourless chocolate cookies — the best chocolate crinkle cookie we know.

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Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are soft and chewy, with just a touch of firmness around the edges, and have a very generous helping of melty chocolate bits.

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Magnolia Table Chocolate Chip Cookies

Check out Joanna Gaines' chocolate chip cookies recipe, straight from her cookbook Magnolia Table.

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Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

They're soft, tender, and just a little bit chewy, with a delicate exterior that's coated with a thick layer of powdered sugar.

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Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookies

Thanks to the high fan speed and concentrated heat of the air fryer, these chocolate chip cookies are crispy on the outside and perfectly gooey on the inside.

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Buckeye Brownie Cookies

Buckeye brownie cookies give you the best of three desserts baked into one impossibly irresistible sweet treat.

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Chocolate Chip and Toffee Shortbread Cookies

These crumbly, buttery shortbread cookies are dunked in melted chocolate.

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No-Bake Cookies

This step-by-step recipe for classic no-bake cookies will set you up for success every single time.

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Chocolate Truffle Cookies with Cherries & Walnuts

Dried cherries add a burst of chewy brightness to each bite of these chocolate-y cookies.

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Gingerbread Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adding chocolate chips to soft gingerbread cookies might just be the best baking idea yet.

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Two-Bite Nutella Chocolate Cookies

If you can never get enough Nutella, these are the cookies you want to bake ASAP.

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Easy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oatmeal lends the perfect amount of chewy texture to these classic cookies.

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Dark Chocolate Walnut Cookies

If you're chocolate craving is extra-serious, these cookies should do the trick.

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Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

Cocoa powder lends just the right amount to depth to this twist on gingerbread cookies.

Nutty Cookies

Peanut butter cookies are almost as tried and true as chocolate chip. We’re also all about cookies made with tahini.

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Pignoli Cookies Recipe

These classic Italian cookies are one of the easiest cookies you can make, requiring just five ingredients and very little work - and they're naturally gluten-free.

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Classic Peanut Butter Cookies

These tender, crumbly cookies will satisfy your deepest peanut butter craving.

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Think of this surprising recipe as peanut butter cookies 2.0.

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Peanut Butter & Fudge Oatmeal Cookies

Oatmeal lends just the right amount of chew to these cookies.

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You could totally eat these cookies for breakfast.

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Fudge & Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

Soft fudge makes these cookies practically irresistable.

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Flourless Honey-Roasted Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yes, these cookies are gluten-free — you're welcome.

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Spiced Carrot Oat Cookies

If you love carrot cake, you'll immediately fall for this recipe.

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Trail Mix Cookies

These trailblazing oatmeal cookies are chock-full of sweet, savory, crunchy, and chewy ingredients.

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Chewy Almond Spice Cookies

Almond flour makes these cookies incredibly tender — it also makes them gluten-free.

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Chunky Monkey Cookies

Just like your favorite Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor.

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Black Sesame-Espresso Pinwheel Shortbread Cookies

These easy slice-and-bake shortbread cookies are flavored with black sesame.

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Peanut Butter and Jelly Icebox Cookies

Feel free to use any jam you like in this recipe to make these cookies your own.

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Spiced Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

This recipe delivers everything you'd expect from classic peanut butter blossoms, with a cinnamon spice twist.

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Pistachio Smash Cookies

These naturally gluten- and egg-free cookies are a Depression-era treat that are surprisingly rich and decadent thanks to cream cheese, almond paste, and ground pistachios.

Vollrath Wear-Ever Cookie Sheet Pan

Classic Cookies

It’s hard to define what makes a cookie “classic,” since we all grew up making and eating different kinds. These, however, are some of the most popular varieties, and ones that will stay in fashion for years to come.

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Classic Oatmeal Cookies

These homey oatmeal cookies, studded with raisins, are the perfect afternoon treat.

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The Best Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

The best cut-out sugar cookies you can make! A delicious dough, with tips for cutting out pretty shapes and easy decorating.

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Spiced Mexican Wedding Cookies

Learn how to make these buttery, nutty one-bite cookies, also known as Russian Tea Cakes, Italian Wedding Cookies, or Snowball Cookies.

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Lemon Spritz Cookies

These easy, melt-in-your-mouth spritz cookies are flavored with lemon.

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Classic Linzer Cookies

A rich and tender cookie with a tart, jammy center.

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Melt-in-Your-Mouth Butter Cookies

Just like the cookies from the classic blue tin, these butter cookies are just sweet enough with a crisp, snappy bite and a sandy texture.

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Berry-Almond Shortbread Cookies

It’s the classic shortbread cookie you know and love, transformed into a flavorful, technicolored dream.

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Soft & Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

These gingerbread drop cookies are soft, chewy, and sweetened with molasses.

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Creamy Cheesecake Cookies

Dressed up with powdered sugar, these tender cookies might remind you of soft, pillowy sugar cookies, but a lingering subtle tang makes them all their own.

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Rosemary Shortbread Cookies

Fresh herbs lend a subtle savory note to these buttery cookies.

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Classic Spritz Cookies

Spritz cookies, sometimes called butter spritz or pressed butter cookies, are pretty, petite cookies with a tender, crisp crumb and a rich butter flavor.

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Toasted Sugar Cookies

Toasting the sugar before mixing it into the dough concentrates the sweetness and gives the cookies a surprising honey-lemon flavor.

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Simple Shortbread Cookies

This is definitely a recipe you'll want to memorize.

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You don't just have to be a kid to enjoy these colorful cookies.

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Super Soft Snickerdoodle Cookies

These cinnamon-spiked cookies are as cozy as it gets.

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Pinwheel Sugar Cookies

When you can't decide between chocolate and vanilla, have both.

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Jammy Shortbread Thumbprints

These cookies are sandy and buttery with a crisp, snappy bite, and a very subtle sweetness to make the the soft, jammy center stand out.

Bar Cookies

Bar cookies, like sugar cookie bars and blondies, are always a win — and perfect if you’re too lazy to form individual balls of cookie dough.

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Salted Caramel Pretzel Blondies

This decadent twist on chocolate chip-studded blondies adds crunchy pretzels and homemade salted caramel to the mix.

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Salted Toffee & Brown Butter Blondies

Nutty brown butter, a generous pinch of salt, and a handful of chocolate-coated toffee pieces give classic blondies a bold, exciting twist.

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White Chocolate Cranberry Bar Cookies

These buttery, orange-zested bar cookies are studded with white chocolate chips and dried cranberries.

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Linzer Bar Cookies

You might be more familiar with linzer cookies, but this bar version is easier and just as satisfying.

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Snickers Bar Cookies

Everything you love about the candy bar all in one cookie.

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Classic Blondies

These blondies require just a bowl and few pantry ingredients and bake up soft, chewy with a subtle butterscotch flavor and lots of chocolate chips.

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Halfway Cookie Bars

Chewy cookie on the bottom, marshmallow-like meringue on top, and a rich layer of chocolate sandwiched in between — these bar cookies are the best!

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Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars

Feel free to make the frosting any color you want, depending on your mood or the occasion.

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PB&J Crumble Bar Cookies

Like the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich, only even more sweet and lovable.

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Brown Butter Blondies

These big batch blondies are infinitely adaptable — just add your favorite mix-ins!

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Funfetti Bar Cookies

These festive bar cookies are a fun twist on Funfetti.

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Magic Cookie Bars

Crispy, sandy, creamy, gooey, sweet, chocolatey, and nutty — this recipe is part-candy, part-cookie, and all delicious.

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One-Bowl Pantry Blondies

These blondies can be decorated any way you like, depending on the season.

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Sugar Cookie Bark

The large-format cookie bakes up snappy, and is broken into large slabs like classic chocolate bark.

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Bark

Drop dollops of cookie dough on melted chocolate and you have a wonderful mashup of treats.

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Dorie Greenspan's Blondies

Dorie offers three ways to make blondies: as drop cookies, as a more traditional bar cookie, and in a muffin tin for crispy, chewy edges.

OXO Good Grips Medium Cookie Scoop

Other Great Cookies

These are the cookies that don’t fit just one definition, but deserve just as much love and attention. I mean, hello, cookie pizza!

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Birthday Cake Sprinkle Crinkles

They taste like Funfetti cake in cookie form!

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The World's Easiest Cookies

You just need four ingredients and a little elbow grease to make macaron-flavored cookies that are crisp on the edges and chewy in the center.

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Lemon Curd Sandwich Cookies

Either pick up a jar of lemon curd or make your own for these vibrant cookies.

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Drunken Molasses Cookies With Ginger

A few generous splashes of dark rum add depth of flavor to these cookies, though you can also swap in apple juice.

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Life-Changing Vegan Thumbprint Cookies

Nutty, oat-y, sweet with maple syrup and a touch of jam, these thumbprints will please vegan and non-vegan palates alike.

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Ultra-Chewy Lemon Coconut Cookies

Lemon and coconut are the match you never knew you needed.

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If you're familiar with Christina Tosi's corn cookies from Momofuku Milk Bar, here is her recipe.

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Chinese Five-Spice Cookies with Candied Mandarin Oranges

These unique shortbread cookies go perfectly with a mid-afternoon cup of tea.

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Galette des Brittany (Salted Butter Cookies)

These cookies are special because they rely on cultured butter to flavor them. No vanilla, no citrus zest — just high-quality, salted butter.

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Cake Mix Cookies

These easy 4-ingredient cookies — like gooey butter, chocolate crinkle, and red velvet — all start with a box of cake mix.

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Peach Cobbler Cookies

Take everything you love about peach cobbler and squeeze it into handheld form.

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Chai Tea Cookies

Yes, these cookies taste exactly like the spiced tea.

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Soft and Easy (Lofthouse-Style) Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

These super-soft, Lofthouse-style pumpkin cookies come together with just five ingredients.

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Fruit Pizza with Sugar Cookie Crust

This is an easy dessert everyone will love to eat, and the kids can help make.

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Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

A celebration-worthy chocolate chip cookie cake topped with chocolate frosting and sprinkles.

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Ube Crinkle Cookies

Here, ube, a purple yam often used in Filipino dessert, replaces chocolate in the classic crinkle cookie.

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