92 holiday cookie recipes

Pfeffernuesse German pepper cookies with molasses, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and black pepper, rolled in powdered sugar. Small, spicy, and deeply aromatic holiday cookies from the old country.

Reva's molasses sugar cookies: chewy, crackle-topped molasses cookies rolled in sugar before baking. Spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. The old-fashioned holiday cookie your grandma kept in a tin.

Fa-la-la-la's are festive spritz-style cookies pressed into holiday shapes from a buttery shortening dough flavored with vanilla and almond extract. Christmas cookie classic.

Checkerboard cookies, a visually striking shortbread-style cookie with alternating vanilla and chocolate squares. An impressive icebox cookie for holiday tins.

Fortune Christmas Cookies, tiny marble-sized dough balls baked into bite-sized holiday treats. A simple, quick-baking variation of the Mysticandy cookie dough for the Christmas tin.

Oatmeal cranberry nut cookies loaded with rolled oats, whole berry cranberry sauce, toasted almonds, molasses, and warm spice. A soft, chewy holiday cookie that uses up leftover cranberry sauce.

Tiny green sugar cookie balls arranged in rings with candied cherry "berries" to make festive Christmas wreath cookies. A fun, easy holiday baking project for kids.

Crispy vanilla rosettes fried on a decorative iron, then dipped in vanilla icing. Scandinavian holiday cookies that look like edible snowflakes. Yields 12 cookies.

Italian chocolate nut cookies (mostaccioli) are dense, spiced cocoa cookies with chopped almonds and raisins on whole wheat flour. A traditional Calabrian holiday cookie with deep chocolate-clove flavor.

Rosette cookies fried on a decorative iron with a thin egg-and-milk batter, dusted with powdered sugar. Crisp, lacy Scandinavian holiday cookies with a delicate snowflake shape.

Santa Claus cookies decorate flat sugar cookies with red sugar caps, miniature marshmallow tassels, currant eyes, cinnamon candy noses, and coconut beards. A festive holiday craft cookie kids can help build from baked rounds.

Buttery almond crescent cookies with oats, dusted in powdered sugar like fresh snowfall. A melt-in-your-mouth holiday cookie that bakes in under 20 minutes.

Chocolate chip cherry drop cookies with cream cheese in the dough, maraschino cherries, and a half-cherry crown on each cookie. Holiday-bright bite-sized treats.

Orange zest and spices give these cookies fresh and tangy taste, they are delicious and healthy, a great recipe for your kids or holidays!

Fig Star Cookies feature a maple-scented shortening dough wrapped around a homemade dried fig filling with lemon and nuts. A vintage holiday cookie worth the effort.

Magic window cookies are sugar cookies with stained glass centers made from crushed hard candy that melts during baking. A holiday favorite for tree ornaments and gifts.