Dusty Bliss Cookies. Matt Taylor-Gross
We have cookie recipes that use everything from green tea to guava paste, but sometimes you just want to keep it simple. For those occasions we’ve rounded up our favorite holiday and classic cookie recipes, from chewy chocolate chip cookies to nutty gingerbread cookies.
You can’t get much more classic than chocolate chip cookies. In our version of the old-school Nestle Toll House cookie—our Platonic ideal of the chocolate chip cookie—sheets of dough are layered with chopped bittersweet chocolate to make a cookie with crisp edges, a moist center, and a perfect distribution of chocolate. Or try one with a crunchier bite to it. Our chocolate chocolate cookie has layers upon layers of chocolate for the ultimate chocolate chip cookie experience.
If you aren’t looking for chocolate, we’ve got you covered. Dusted with cinnamon-sugar, snickerdoodles are always a crowd-pleaser. Many of our favorite cookies are sweet, soft, and chewy—our rich peanut butter cookies certainly fit the bill. Spicy linzer tea cookies are great for adding a bit of sweetness and a rush of spiciness from yuzu after having warming holiday drinks.
It just isn’t Christmas without festively decorated sugar cookies. Cut into shapes like trees and stars and decorated with icing, sprinkles, dragées, and more, they’re almost as fun to make as they are to eat. Classic sugar cookies use a buttery flour, egg, and sugar dough. Replacing wheat flour with rice flour lets you make your cookies gluten-free. Danish tin-style cookies are great for preparing for the holidays ahead of time.
For more, check out our Essential Cookie Recipes Guide.
The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
We’ve found that rolling these cookies into bigger portions, then refrigerating them for at least 2 hours before slightly under-baking them at 350°, results in incredibly gooey, soft chocolate chip cookies. Get the recipe for The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies » Farideh Sadeghin
Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
These cookies test the limit of exactly how much chocolate you can possibly pack into one cookie. Made with cocoa powder and more than one type of chocolate chip, this cookie’s soft dough benefits from at least 4 hours of refrigeration, allowing the disks to stay thick and chewy when cooked. Plus, the dough will keep frozen for several months, so stash a few in the freezer to throw in the oven whenever you’re hit with a craving for chocolate. Test Kitchen Director Farideh Sadeghin developed this recipe based off New York City’s famous Levain Bakery. Get the recipe for Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies » Farideh Sadeghin
Meyer Lemon Sandwich Cookies
Fragrant Meyer lemon zest goes into these shortbread cookies from pastry chef and author Emily Luchetti. She then uses the sweet–tart juice to make a silky citrus curd that sandwiches two cookies together. Get the recipe for Meyer Lemon Sandwich Cookies » Paul Sirisalee | Food Styling: Eugene Jho
Graham Cookies
Chewy cookies made with brown sugar and graham flour and strips of candied ginger play background roles in this simple dessert showcasing the Hachiya persimmon’s floral aroma and flavor. Get the recipe for Graham Cookies » Matt Taylor-Gross
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Dorie Greenspan’s Chocolate Chunker Cookies
Dorie Greenspan’s Chocolate-Cornflake Haystack Cookies
Mexican Chocolate Icebox Cookies
At brunch at the Liberty Bar in San Antonio, a plate of these spicy-sweet cookies is set down on the table at the beginning of the meal—gratis. Featured in our book Best Cookies, they make a perfect cookie for holiday parties, especially when drizzled with a little melted white chocolate. Get the recipe for Mexican Chocolate Icebox Cookies » Helen Rosner
Sprinkle Cookies
Black and White Cookies
These generously iced, cakelike cookies are as cherished by New Yorkers as bagels and cream cheese. To quicken the setting of the glazes, place the cookies in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes after each coating. Get the recipe for Black and White Cookies
Cherry Snowball Cookies
Greek Honey Cookies
Honey and Spice Cookies
Loaded with warm spices—allspice, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon—sweetened with honey, and packed with hazelnuts, these are the only holiday cookies you’ll need. Get the recipe for Honey and Spice Cookies » Anders Schonnemann
Umbrian Snowflake Cookies
Chocolate-Almond Spice Cookies (Basler Brunsli)
Specialties of Basel, in northern Switzerland, these chocolatey confections are often described as Swiss brownies. Almonds, sugar, and chocolate are ground fine and bound together with egg whites to create a satisfyingly chewy texture, while cinnamon and cloves impart an unmistakable flavor of old-fashioned Christmas cheer. Get the recipe for Chocolate-Almond Spice Cookies (Basler Brunsli) »
Cinnamon Sugar Cookies
Citrus Twist Fritters
Dusty Bliss Cookies
Spicy Pineapple Linzer Cookies
These sandwich cookies, adapted from chef Frederico Ribeiro of New York’s Te Company, are an homage to the classic Taiwanese pineapple cake. Here a super-buttery vanilla bean shortbread gets a nutty dose of hazelnut flour, and sweet pineapple-rosemary jam gets balanced by the spicy, fermented, and grassy flavor of Japanese yuzu kosho paste. Be sure to let the cookies rest overnight (or at least a few hours) after assembling so the jam sets in place, and don’t skip the lime zest and flaky salt topping for a sweet and savory cookie that has a nice habit of electrifying your taste buds. Get the recipe for Spicy Pineapple Linzer Cookies » Matt Taylor-Gross
Mexican Butter Cookies with Sprinkles (Galletas con Chochitos)
Afghans
Folding cornflakes into the dough before baking gives simple chocolate cookies an addictive crunch. Get the recipe for Afghans » Helen Rosner
Coconut “Macaroonies”
With their powerful coconut flavor, chewy texture, and crisp edges, these gluten- and dairy-free all-coconut bar cookies (made with coconut extract, oil, and flour) are the ultimate macaron. Get the recipe for Coconut “Macaroonies” » Matt Taylor-Gross
Salted Chocolate Rye Cookies
New England Hermits
Almond Sugar Cookies
Vanilla Wreath Cookies
This buttery, vanilla-bean-flecked cookie batter is scraped into a piping bag and can be formed into wreaths, bows, or any shape your holiday heart desires. Get the recipe for Vanilla Wreath Cookies » Anders Schonnemann
Date Balls
Shortbread Cookies
Kamut, a strain of wheat that is one of a growing number of alternative grains, makes these cookies extra tender and crumbly. Baker Chad Robertson of Tartine notes to be sure to score the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven; they will be too fragile to cut once cooled. Get the recipe for Shortbread Cookies » Matt Taylor-Gross
Omani Coconut Cookies
A simple combination of sugar syrup and unsweetened coconut cools and hardens into sweet, crunchy treats that are perfect served alongside tea or coffee. Get the recipe for Omani Coconut Cookies » Felicia Campbell
Edouard’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
Homemade Mallomars
Date-Filled Semolina Cookies (Makroud)
Sugared Rosewater Marzipan Balls (Kaber Ellouz)
Jam Thumbprints
Chestnut and Goji Berry Rugelach
Smoked Almond S’mores with Whiskey Marshmallows
Peanut Butter Cookies
Molasses Cookies
Glazed Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies
Sweet Pretzel Butter Cookies
Butter Turtles
This recipe is from Food Editor Ben Mims, and was adapted from an old Southern Living recipe. The combination of salty nuts, sweet, buttery shortbread, and dark chocolate will have anyone hooked. Get the recipe for Butter Turtles » Noah Fecks
Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies
Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies
Our gluten-free twist on classic sugar cookies uses rice flour as the base. Gluten-free doughs tend to be more delicate than standard cookie doughs; if the dough becomes too soft to work with, cut out shapes and place unbaked cookies on trays in the freezer for 3-5 minutes before baking. Get the recipe for Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies » SAVEUR Editors
Chocolate Chip Cookies
No-Bake Chocolate-Oat Cookies
White Chocolate-Macadamia Nut Cookies
Sugar Cookies
Cut into Christmas trees, wreaths, snowflakes, snowmen, candy canes, and every other holiday design imaginable, these are classic holiday treats in the U.S. The cookies themselves are pure buttery comfort, but when decorated with royal icing, sprinkles, dragees, and sanding sugar, they’re elevated to cultural icons, beloved by children and grown-ups alike. Plus, they’re almost as much fun to make as they are to eat. Get the recipe for Sugar Cookies » Todd Coleman
Gingerbread Cookies
Shortbread Cookies (Punitions)
TKOs (Chocolate Sandwich Cookies)
Todd’s Snickerdoodles
