The Best Christmas Cookie Recipes

31+ of the best Christmas cookie recipes for cookie exchanges, cookie platters, and Christmas parties.

It’s my favorite time of year… Christmas cookie season!

I like to spend the days leading up to Christmas in the kitchen getting all my favorite Christmas cookies baked and ready for sharing with family on the big day. Because who doesn’t love Christmas cookies?!

Read on for a collection of my favorite Christmas cookie recipes.

Christmas Cookie Bars

Packed with red and green M&M's, chocolate chips, and sprinkles, these buttery cookie bars make for a fun and festive Christmas dessert.

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Gingerbread Men Cookies

This gingerbread recipe makes the tastiest classic Christmas Gingerbread Men cookies! Made with molasses and brown sugar you can’t go wrong!

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Classic Sugar Cookies

The only Christmas sugar cookie recipe you will ever need. These classic cut-out cookies are easy to make, fun to decorate, and perfect your holiday party or Christmas cookie exchange.

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Christmas Snowball Cookies

Unlike traditional snowballs, these Christmas cookies are made without nuts. Instead, they have a little surprise inside–red and green M&Ms! Yum!

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Soft Frosted Christmas Cookies

These soft frosted Christmas cookies are topped with a generous layer of frosting and loads of holiday sprinkles, making them perfect for Christmas parties and cookie exchanges.

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Soft Gingerbread Cookies

Soft and chewy gingerbread cookies rolled in festive sprinkles are a must-have for Christmas day.

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Kitchen Sink Christmas Cookies

These soft and chewy vanilla pudding cookies are packed with marshmallows, M&Ms, pretzels, and chunks of chocolate for the ultimate loaded Christmas cookie. I hear that they are Santa’s favorite!

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Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies

Melt-in-your-mouth peppermint pinwheels are swirled red and white cookies that are loaded with sweet minty flavor.

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Secret Kiss Pudding Cookies

Secret Kiss Cookies (aka Hidden Kiss Cookies) are soft and chewy pudding cookies with a sweet surprise hidden in the center– a chocolate Hershey’s Kiss!

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Sprinkle Sugar Cookies

Make festive sugar cookies the easy way with this sprinkle sugar cookie recipe–no rolling, cookie cutters, icing, or fancy decorating required. You are sure to fall in love with these soft sugar cookies.

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Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Peanut butter cup cookies take chewy, homemade peanut butter cookies and stuff them with a mini Reese's peanut butter cup. They are always a huge hit and one of my favorite cookies!

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Jumbo Snickerdoodle Cookies

The ultimate snickerdoodles! These bakery-style snickerdoodles are super soft on the inside with a slight crisp and crunch on the outside from the cinnamon sugar, they are absolutely amazing. Even though they are shareable size, you will want one all to yourself!

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Double Chocolate Snowball Cookies

Made with cocoa powder and mini chocolate chips, double chocolate snowball cookies are a rich chocolate twist on the classic Christmas cookies. The perfect holiday cookie for chocolate lovers!

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Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies

Soft and chewy red velvet cake mix cookies with white chocolate chips are easy to make in only 15 minutes with 5 simple ingredients!

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Thumbprint Jam Cookies

My thumbprint cookies recipe takes classic Christmas cookies up a notch with a secret ingredient in the cookie dough–vanilla pudding! The result is the most flavorful and soft thumbprint jam cookies ever. They literally melt in your mouth!

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7 Layer Bars

These thick and chunky cookie bars layered with chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coconut, and walnuts on top of a buttery graham cracker crust. Sweetened condensed milk is poured overtop to hold the bars together. My mom has been making these incredible cookie bars every Christmas for as long as I can remember. It just wouldn't feel like Christmas without them!

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Candy Cane Kiss Cookies

Not only do these easy-to-make Candy Cane Hershey Kiss Cookies look festive, but these holiday cookies have a festive peppermint flavor as well! Yum!

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Grinch Heart Cake Mix Cookies

These grinch themed cake mix cookies are perfect for little kids. Plus, they are super simple to make thanks to starting with a box of vanilla cake mix!

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Mint Brownie Cookies

Everyone will love you if you add these rich and fudgy mint chocolate brownie cookies with white chocolate chips and Andes mints to your Christmas cookie tray this year.

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Classic No Bake Cookies

These classic chocolate peanut butter no-bake cookies are soft, chewy, and filled with rich chocolate peanut butter flavor. The tried and true recipe is just like the one that grandma used to make!

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Christmas Shortbread Cookies

These easy Christmas shortbread cookies have the heavenly melt in your mouth buttery flavor you crave in a shortbread cookie with a subtle vanilla flavor. They are perfect for rolling out and cutting with your favorite cookie cutters.

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White Chocolate Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

A delightful combination of chewy oats, tart cranberries, and sweet white chocolate chips, no one would ever guess that these oatmeal white chocolate cranberry cookies start with a packaged cookie mix!

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Christmas Tree Meringues

Christmas tree meringues are light, airy, and festive cookies that the whole family will love. Give the recipe a try and I am sure that the beautiful, easy cookies, will be the star of your Christmas dessert spread.

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Peppermint Meltaways

These sweet, lightly flavored peppermint cookies will literally melt in your mouth. Perfect for the holidays!

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Amaretti Cookies

These classic Italian cookies are melt in your mouth delicious. Nutty almond flour comes together with eggs, sugar, vanilla, and almond extract to produce a decadent sandy cookie full of flavor. Rolled in powder sugar and topped with sliced almonds, you can’t go wrong!

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Pudding Cookies with Sprinkles

Christmas sprinkle pudding cookies are soft, chewy, and easy to make in under 30 minutes with no chill time. A tasty and easy Christmas sprinkle cookie recipe for your Christmas party.

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Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies

Thick, rich chocolate cookies topped with a sweet peppermint buttercream and pieces of homemade peppermint bark.

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Christmas Sugar Cookie Bars

These frosted Christmas sugar cookie bars with sprinkles are all the tasty fun of classic sugar cookies without the mess. The thick and chewy bars are packed with sprinkles and/or holiday chips and topped with a generous layer of buttercream frosting; perfect for your Christmas cookie exchange or holiday party.

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Cranberry Cookies

Moist and delicious cranberry cookies are packed with holiday flavor and are always a hit at holiday cookies exchanges!

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Chocolate Chip Cookies

You can't go wrong with classic chocolate chip cookies. This chocolate chip cookie recipe is easy to make and always a crowd favorite.

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Buttery Pecan Snowball Cookies

Pecan snowballs aka Mexican wedding cakes, are the perfect make-ahead treat for your holiday tins. The classic Christmas cookies are easy, quick to make, and packed with buttery, nutty flavor. Plus, they look like cute little snowballs!

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Double Chocolate Pecan Cookies

These rich chocolate cookies are packed with sweet white chocolate chips and salty pecans. The easy drop cookies will make a perfect addition to your Christmas cookie platter.

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Chocolate Cherry Thumbprint Cookies

Chocolate Cherry Thumbprint Cookies are a fun twist on classic thumbprints, pairing chocolate cookies with a rich chocolate ganache and a sweet maraschino cherry. The easy Christmas cookies will look great in your holiday cookie tin!

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Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies

These classic peanut butter cookies have a crispy, golden brown outside and a soft center, just like the ones that grandma used to make.

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Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies

Thick peanut butter cookies decorated to look like Santa's reindeer using mini pretzels, candy eyes, and M&M noses.

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Grasshopper Cookies Recipe

Who doesn’t love the combination of chocolate and mint?! Made with rich and refreshing Andes Mints, this grasshopper cookies recipe puts all other grasshopper cookies to shame! Plus, their green color makes them a perfect addition to your holiday cookie platter this year.

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Italian Anise Cookies

No list of the best Christmas cookie recipes would be complete without a recipe for classic Italian Christmas Cookies! These Italian cookies are topped with a sweet 3-ingredient icing and rainbow or holiday sprinkles.

(Another great option is A Grande’s Life anise cookie recipe!)

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Candy Cane Snowball Cookies

These peppermint snowballs are packed with crushed candy canes for a surprise pop of holiday flavor with each bite.

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Crockpot Avalanche Cookies

If no-bake cookies and rice krispie treats had a baby, it would be these rich and chewy crockpot avalanche cookies! Gooey marshmallows and crispy rice cereal are coated in luscious peanut butter and white chocolate to make these easy slow cooker cookies.

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Peanut Butter Cornflake Cookies

Sweet and crunchy peanut butter cornflake cookies are fun and easy to make with just 5 ingredients! No baking required!

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Rolo Stuffed Chocolate Cookies

Another cookie that is perfect for your Christmas cookie exchange are these delicious incredible Rolo stuffed cookies. These soft and chewy chocolate cookies have an irresistible ooey gooey Rolo center. Yum!

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Peanut Butter Blossoms

No holiday cookie exchange is complete without peanut butter kiss cookies! They are classic Christmas cookies that are full of delicious peanut butter flavor.

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Snow Capped Gingersnaps

Made with cinnamon, cloves, and ginger, these gingersnaps pack a whole lot of holiday flavor. To finish them off, the chewy gingerbread cookies are dipped in white chocolate and topped with crystallized ginger.

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Christmas Pretzel Hugs

Although not technically a cookie, these salty-sweet treats are really perfect for Christmas celebrations and cookie exchanges. And you will love how quick and easy they are to make with just 3 ingredients!

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Snickerdoodle Cake Mix Cookies

These delicious snickerdoodles are easy to make with a box of white cake mix and 6 other simple ingredients. The perfect shortcut for quick and easy holiday cookies.

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Peppermint Patty Stuffed Cookies

These York peppermint patty cookies are soft, chewy, and full of delicious mint chocolate flavor. Plus, they are super easy to make with just 4 ingredients!

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Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chips meet Funfetti in these delicious cookies. These cookies are thick and have a cake batter as their base.

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Sugar Cookie Pudding Cups

Why not try something a bit different this year? Shape your sugar cookies into little cups, bake, and then fill with pudding. The combination of sugar cookies and creamy pudding is absolutely delicious! Plus, the kids just love these!

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Ritz Cracker Thin Mints

If you are looking for a quick and easy Christmas cookie recipe, these tasty Ritz cracker thin mints for you. The no-bake mint chocolate treats couldn't be easier to make with just 2-ingredients.

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3-Ingredient Buttery Shortbread Cookies

These melt in your mouth Christmas shortbread cookies are easy to make with only three ingredients!

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3-Ingredeint Funfetti Cake Mix Cookies

These soft and chewy Funfetti cake mix cookies are easy to make using just 3 ingredients! You can add red and green sprinkles on top for more of a holiday look.

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Quaker Oatmeal Cookies

The perfectly crispy and amazing original oatmeal cookie recipe from the back of the Quaker oats container in the 1950s! They have changed their recipe since then but in my opinion this vintage recipe made the BEST oatmeal cookies ever!

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Christmas M&M Mini Cookies

These fun cookies are miniature in size and are filled richly with chocolate chips and M&M! They’re irresistible for everyone and they make great gifts!

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Cranberry Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Fresh cranberries give these chocolate chip oatmeal cookies a twist that makes them perfect for Christmas parties. This recipe is also vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free so it can be enjoyed by even those with special diets.

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Mexican Crinkle Cookies with a Kick

A little twist on an old favorite adds a bit of spice to these chocolate crinkle cookies. These bad boys have become my new favorite cookie – they are incredible!

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I hope that this list left you with some ideas for the perfect holiday cookie recipe for your holiday cookie trays.

For even more cookie ideas, see all 90+ of my easy cookie recipes.

Enjoy & Happy Holiday Baking!