We're serving up 31 days of our best-ever cookie recipes.
Macadamia Butter Cookies with Dried Cranberries
Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner
We love these thick, satisfying cookies as humble as peanut butter cookies, complete with the criss-cross markings of a fork before going into the oven. Dried cranberries provide a slightly tart counterpoint to the macadamia nuts' richness. Swap in dried cherries, strawberries, or blueberries for the cranberries to suit your taste.
View Recipe: Macadamia Butter Cookies with Dried Cranberries
Almond-Apricot Macaroons
Prepare these traditional treats in honor of the Festival of Lights. Matzo cake meal, freshly ground blanched almonds, and matzo cake meal make a fitting based for sweet apricots, orange rind, and almond extract.
View Recipe: Almond-Apricot Macaroons
Sweet and Salty Peanut Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner
Go beyond average holiday cookies with our play on sweet-and-salty in these gift-worthy treats. Coarse-grained sea salt does not melt into the batter, so you experience a crunchy burst with every bite. Use any other nut you like in place of peanuts. Package simply in glass jars for gifts or stash for an afternoon dose of yin-and-yang.
Butterscotch Bars
A small square of these rich bars is enough to satisfy a dessert craving. A flour and oats mixture serves as a solid base for the soft butterscotch chip layer and a crumbly, streusel-like topping.
View Recipe: Butterscotch Bars
Cream Cheese Meltaways with Lemon Glaze
When shaping these buttery cookies, do not try to form perfectly smooth balls. If the dough is handled too much, the cookies will become heavy and dense. Let them be free-form and show off that they’re homemade. Imperfect usually means that they’re perfectly delicious.
Coconut Meringues
Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner
They've got just 25 calories apiece, so you can get more kick out of your calorie count with these light-as-air treats. Not your average meringues, these get a kick of flavor from flaked sweetened coconut, coconut extract, and unsweetened cocoa. Plus, they're easy and fun to make.
View Recipe: Coconut Meringues
Pecan Bar Cookies
Crisp on the outside, and soft inside, these cookies combine pecans, chocolate, and maple flavoring for the ultimate decadent treat.
View Recipe: Pecan Bar Cookies
Deep Dark Chocolate Biscotti
Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner
It may be the holidays, but sneak in some good stuff with these coffee-dunking biscotti. Your little secret: whole-wheat flour, flaxseed, dark chocolate chips, and almonds add fiber and antioxidants without sacrificing one ounce of pleasure.
Cinnamon-Sugar Cookies
Buttery and sweet with a hint of spice, these cookie jar favorites are right for any occasion. If you prefer a slightly chewier cookie, reduce baking time to 10 minutes. A sprinkling of large-grained turbinado sugar makes a pretty presentation.
Peanut Butter-Fudge Cups
Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner
If you like peanut butter cups, you'll love this charming twist. Perfect for parties (and kid-friendly, too), these fun treats have a crunchy peanut butter crusts and chocolaty centers that appeal to all ages. They're an eye-catching addition to any dessert tray.
Black and White Striped Cookies
Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner
These may take a little more time, but it’s the weekend! Dive into some holiday baking with these gift-worthy cookies. Cutting and stacking the dough creates alternating stripes of vanilla and chocolate pieces. For pinwheel variation, stack the two (12 x 8-inch) dough rectangles on top of each other, and roll up into a 12-inch-long cylinder as if you're making cinnamon rolls.
View Recipe: Black and White Striped Cookies
Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Marshmallow Cream Filling
Cranberry-Oatmeal Bars
Classic holiday ingredients like cranberries, orange, and cinnamon strike a nice flavor balance: not too sweet and not too tart. This is homey holiday food at its best.
View Recipe: Cranberry-Oatmeal Bars
Black and White Chocolate Chip Cookies
These cookies get a kick from a bit of Kahlúa; if you don't have this coffee-flavored liqueur, substitute an equal amount of strong freshly brewed coffee. You can freeze completely cooled cookies for up to a month in a zip-top plastic bag.
View Recipe: Black and White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chewy Chocolate-Cherry Cookies
Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner
These rich, chewy cookies contrasts the tartness of the cherries with the cocoa and semisweet chocolate chips for an elegant, and delicious, addition to your holiday table.
Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, and Pecan Cookies
Simple, classic drop cookies belong on any holiday dessert table. Oatmeal adds wholesome whole grains to these chocolate chip cookies, while mini-chips ensure a bit of chocolate in every bite. If you're a smart cookie, you might double the recipe and freeze some of the dough for a quick batch later.
View Recipe: Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, and Pecan Cookies
Almond Butter Snickerdoodles
Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner
Trust us. Our twist on the classic cinnamon-sugar cookie, lovingly called the Snickerdoodle, won’t disappoint. Using almond butter, egg yolks, and cream cheese in the cookie dough adds richness, and the crunchy coating of cinnamon sugar brings back all the memories from this all-time favorite cookie.
Gingerbread Cookies
Get the kids involved with a Saturday morning bake-a-thon. They can help decorate these adorable ginger people. Get a head start by baking cookies up to four days ahead and storing in an airtight container. Frost one day before serving; after frosting is set, pack cookies in airtight containers between layers of wax paper. This dough also makes fine slice-and-bake cookies if you want something a little easier.
View Recipe: Gingerbread Cookies
Brown Sugar Shortbread
Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner
Rich shortbread is easy to prepare and keeps for several days in an airtight container, making it ideal for gifts. Wrap simply in clear cellophane bags with festive ribbon for delicious treats for teachers, co-workers, and last-minute guests.
Giant Chocolate Chunk Cookies
How do you improve the perfect chocolate chip cookie? Make it bigger! These ample treats bring out the little kid in everyone when paired with a glass of milk and a mug for dunking. Each batch makes only 6 cookies, so you might want to double the recipe for a crowd.
Amaretti
Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner
Package these crunchy cookies in a gift box with a pound of your favorite coffee beans. Look for almond paste on your supermarket's baking aisle, and for best results, don't substitute marzipan, which is sweeter and more finely textured, in place of the paste.
Mexican Spiced Shortbread Cookies
Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner
What would happen if pecans and dulce de leche met buttery shortbread? Heaven on a holiday plate. These aren’t just cookies. They’re full-on dessert in a bite-size treat.
Classic Iced Sugar Cookies
Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner
A good starting point for decorated cookies, this basic recipe uses ingredients you probably have in your pantry. Feeling creative? Tint the icing with food coloring and have fun adding your own designs. If you plan on piping the icing, decrease the milk to two tablespoons.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
Dear Santa: You won’t want to skip our house. We have warm Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies and a glass of cold milk waiting for you. We all helped make them. They’re going fast, so don’t be late.
Iced Browned Butter Sugar Cookies
Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner
These classic sugar cookies are infused with nutty, caramel notes from browned butter and a fair bit of salt to balance the flavors. You can roll out the dough right after combining all the ingredients—no chilling required.
Hello Dolly Bars
Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner
These bar cookies are also known as seven-layer bars. They take less than 30 minutes to prepare and call for just eight ingredients, many of which you may have leftover from holiday baking.
View Recipe: Hello Dolly Bars
Chocolate-Hazelnut Thumbprints
With a double shot of chocolate and hazelnut flavors, kids and adults will rave over these filled cookies. An addition of espresso powder is optional, but it intensifies the chocolate flavor. Serve these pretty gems at your holiday gathering with coffee or hot tea.
Toasted Coconut Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Dulce de Leche-Filled Cookies
Alfajores, these crisp wafer cookies, are filled with caramelized sweetened condensed milk. Although you often can find a full-fat version of this product at Hispanic markets, we've made our own lower-fat version.
Chocolate-Cherry Heart Smart Cookies
Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner
The New Year (and all those resolutions) are just about here. Get a head start with heart-healthier treats. Oats, whole-wheat flour, bittersweet chocolate, and dried cherries give these cookies their “heart-smart” appeal.
View Recipe: Chocolate-Cherry Heart Smart Cookies
