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21 Best Christmas Cookie Recipes

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21 Best Christmas Cookie Recipes

5 / 5. 2

Everyone’s had that special moment during the holidays when you’re visiting friends and family and the host brings out a plate of assorted holiday cookies. Each one you bite into makes you think, “Oh, my goodness, everything is so scrumptious and homemade! I wish I baked like this.” 

Well, good news! With our list of 20 BEST CHRISTMAS COOKIE RECIPES, you can become the baker of your dreams. Everyone loves the taste of these tried-and-true holiday cookies. No need to make fancy desserts when these recipes will make your cookie platters the talk of the town.

A silver tray filled with cookies from the best Christmas Cookie Recipes.

You can scroll through the entire list of these favourite Christmas cookie recipes, or click the GROUP HEADINGS to jump to a particular section of interest:

  • MOST POPULAR – Show-stopping homemade cookie recipes that are the most popular on our site, rated by family, friends, and maybe even you!
  • NO-BAKE – Three simple but very flavourful cookies that always get rave reviews. Bonus: all three recipes are gluten-free – no flour in sight!
  • CHRISTMAS SUGAR COOKIES – Three distinctly different cookies that utilize the same sugar cookie recipe as their base. Cocoa powder, nuts, jam and coconut can take our classic recipe in three amazingly different directions.
  • HOLIDAY CLASSICS – Gingerbread, biscotti, a favourite crispy snap cookie, and a unique miniature tart confection.
  • SQUARES – These squares are featured on this list because they’re as easy to make as a cookie. We also like how a big batch can be cut into dainty 1-inch squares, adding a bit of interest and variation to your baking trays.
  • BONUS ROUND – Two surprise recipes for sweet treats. Hint: they aren’t cookies, and you won’t need the oven to make them. As a bonus, they make lovely gifts too.

These essential recipes are keepers; speaking from experience, you’ll make them once, and they’ll return to your baking trays year after year. That said, best to keep them at the ready, so make sure to PIN the recipes on a favourite Pinterest board and SHARE them with friends. We’d also appreciate seeing pics when you make them. Use #weekendatthecottage when you post on Facebook and Instagram. Thanks for sharing with the world! 

Here is the essential cookie list for the holiday season, our top 20 BEST CHRISTMAS COOKIE RECIPES! Don’t forget to click those LINK BUTTONS under each listing to go straight to the recipe or video.

Melt-In-Your-Mouth Pecan Cookies

Butter gets creamed with ground pecans and a pinch of sugar, then shaped into balls and rolled in confectioners’ sugar. Big flavour.

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Italian Almond Cookies

Sun-dried cherries dot these almond-flavoured cookies, that feature a crisp outer texture of sliced almonds, but a soft, chewy centre.

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Nutty Thumbprint Cookies

Buttery sugar cookies rolled in chopped almonds and pecans, then topped with a drop of homemade jam.

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Buttery Shortbread Cookies

A rich, buttery shortbread with a hint of nuttiness courtesy of finely chopped rolled oats. Santa approved!

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NO-BAKE COOKIES

Chocolate Salami

Chopped nuts, fragrant spices and semisweet chocolate rolled into a log shape. Let it chill out in the fridge before coating it in icing sugar and slicing it as thin as a delicatessen.

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Orange Almond Balls

Vegan, no-bake cookies made with ground orange peel, vanilla extract, ground almonds and a wonderfully scented vanilla sugar.

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Chocolate Rum Balls

Scrumptious chocolate balls with your choice of a rum-soaked cherry centre or a luscious rum buttercream. Rolled in nuts and either ground chocolate chips or white chocolate.

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SUGAR COOKIES

Coconut Butter Cookie Macaroons

Rich cookies with the taste of coconut macaroons, baked golden brown and brushed with chocolate and a sprinkle of kosher salt.

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Easy Thumbprint Cookies

This most-requested cookie dough recipe is enhanced with a classic thumbprint indentation filled with chocolate or a favourite raspberry jam. Easy never tasted so good!

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Chocolate Mocha Snowballs

A melt-in-your-mouth mocha and pecan-flavoured chocolate cookie rolled in icing sugar.

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HOLIDAY CLASSICS

Chocolate-Hazelnut Biscotti

The classic crunchy finger-shaped biscuit flavoured with toasted hazelnuts and shards of dark chocolate, complete with a decorative chocolate glaze.

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Gingersnap Cookies

Sugar-rolled crackled ginger spice cookies with a heady fragrant profile of spices and orange zest.

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Coconut Macaroons with Chocolate

Mounds of sweetened shredded coconut scrumptiousness that get baked and drizzled with chocolate. Yield is 36!

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Mini Fruit and Nut Tarts

Miniature tart shells made with butter and cream cheese filled with cranberries and pistachios in bubbly centres of dark brown sugar, egg and butter.

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Gingerbread Spiced Cookies

Rich, crisp cookies flavoured with dark brown sugar and assorted freshly ground spices, plus royal icing for decorating.

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SQUARES

Butter Tart Squares

A buttery pastry base topped with that classic mix of eggs, dark brown sugar, butter, walnuts and raisins.

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Classic All-American Brownies

A rich, chewy cake studded with walnuts and bursting with chocolate flavour. Kids love them!

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Pecan Pie Squares

A caramel-flavoured pecan pie topping baked over a pecan-studded shortbread base.

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Tangy Lemon Squares

A buttery shortbread base topped with a richly flavoured, extra-tangy layer of golden lemon goodness.

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BONUS ROUND

Triple Chocolate Peppermint Bark

Three types of chocolate melted and swirled together, finished with a sprinkle of crushed peppermint candy cane.

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Chocolate-Almond Toffee Bark

Toasted almonds coated with a rich, buttery toffee, then covered with melted chocolate and ground almonds.

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