Festive cookie recipes for Christmas that are easy, fun, and full of holiday flavor. Make sweet treats everyone will enjoy this season.
Christmas is the perfect time to bake fun and festive cookies. These easy recipes help you create sweet treats that look great and taste even better. Whether you want classic flavors or something new, you’ll find simple ideas that bring holiday cheer to your kitchen and make everyone smile.
Festive Cookies Recipes for Christmas
1. Grinch Cookies
These Grinch-themed sugar cookies are very easy to make and look festive. You can finish them in about an hour, and everyone will love the cute red heart on top. Even someone who doesn’t enjoy the holidays might change their mind after one bite. Use gel food coloring instead of liquid for a brighter green without using too much.
2. Maple Cream Sandwich Cookies
Maple Cream Sandwich Cookies are soft and buttery, with a sweet maple cream in the middle. Every bite tastes warm and cozy, like maple syrup and vanilla. These cookies are great for fall or anytime you want a rich, creamy treat that feels homemade and comforting.
3. Cake Mix Peppermint Bark Cookies
Sometimes you want to make fancy holiday treats, but other times you just need quick and festive cookies right away. That’s when cake mix cookies are perfect. The best part is that they are very flexible. You can add any mix-ins you like to make them your own.
4. Chocolate “I Scream” Cookie Sandwiches
Chocolate “I Scream” Cookie Sandwiches are a fun and tasty treat. Soft chocolate cookies are filled with creamy ice cream, making every bite sweet and delicious. They are easy to make at home and perfect for parties, snacks, or a special dessert with family.
5. Pillsbury Stacked Sugar Cookies
Pillsbury’s cute holiday-shaped sugar cookie dough makes it easy to feel festive. You just need two packs of dough—one with shapes and one plain—and some colorful sprinkles. Put on your ugly Christmas sweater, turn on a holiday movie, and get ready to make the easiest cookie plate for Santa.
6. Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies
These chocolate peppermint crunch cookies are soft in the middle and a little chewy at the edges, like crinkle cookies but without the sugar coating. They become extra festive when dipped in melted chocolate and sprinkled with crushed peppermint candies.
7. Letters To Santa Cookies
Put a plate of these cookies out for Santa on Christmas Eve, and you’ll stay on his nice list for sure. They’re cute, tasty, and very easy to make. Covered in cinnamon sugar and filled with creamy Nutella, these cookies have a little extra Christmas magic in every bite.
8. Eggnog Snickerdoodles
Eggnog and snickerdoodles both feel like the holidays, so why not mix them into one cookie? Your Christmas cookie tray probably hasn’t had these before. Eggnog is rich and creamy, which makes the cookies perfectly chewy. The nutmeg and cinnamon add warm flavor that every snickerdoodle needs. Nutmeg is usually strong, but in this recipe, it really shines—I added extra to the dough and to the sugar coating. If you buy eggnog just for these cookies or want to use up leftovers, you’ll be happy you did.
9. Peanut Butter Blossoms
The story says that a woman named Mrs. Freda F. Smith from Ohio created the first version of these cookies for the Pillsbury Bake-Off in 1957. She didn’t win, but her cookies still became famous. Later, Pillsbury added a Bake-Off Hall of Fame and put her recipe in 7th place. Now you know!
10. Italian Lemon Cookies
These Italian cookies were first served at weddings to symbolize “tying the knot,” but now people enjoy them at holiday gatherings too. The dough is soft but firm and gets its flavor from lemon juice and lemon zest. It’s shaped into a small knot, baked, dipped in a lemon glaze, and topped with more zest.
