If you’re planning your holiday parties and cookie boxes, don’t fret — we’ve got the best holiday cookies for 2024 right here! This year, bloggers from around the world came up with 48 delicious holiday cookies to try. Whether you’re looking for drop cookies, cut out cookies, chocolate cookies and more, we’ve got all kinds of variations and flavors.
I’m thrilled to report that this year, we have 48 new (and updated!) holiday cookie recipes from bloggers all over the world.
It’s always so fun to see what our blogger friends create. Our bloggers predict that the 2024 holiday season is going to be a busy one.
This year, we found a few fun trends among our cookie recipes:
We need EASY and FAST cookie recipes! More than half of the recipes shared were drop cookies, bars or no-bake cookies. These cookies don’t require as much effort, like sugar coatings, cookie cutters or rolling pins.
But we have time for a few involved cookies, too. About 20% of this year’s cookies are cutouts or shaped cookies. Only a few involve some kind of icing or frosting. They’re delicious and worth the effort if you have time!
And we still LOVE variety! Classics are tried-and-true, tasty and traditional for a reason, but nearly half of this year’s cookies aren’t classics. If you’re looking for unique cookies, flavors and textures to add to your holiday spread, keep on reading.
About this year’s cookies…
The Sweetest Season always has so many delicious cookies! I wish I had time to make them all. (I’m trying, believe me.)
Here’s the breakdown of this year’s cookie recipes:
Flavors: Classic holiday flavors like cranberry, gingerbread, peppermint, white chocolate, spices, vanilla and chocolate all showed up to the party this year. (It would be really weird if they didn’t!) But we also made room for some exciting new additions, like espresso, red velvet, coconut, orange, pistachio and peanut butter & jelly! Even two with sesame — which I am so excited to bake up!
Textures: We’ve got it all: Soft cookies, chewy cookies, crispy cookies. Even gooey, buttery and crumbly cookies. Frosted cookies and cutout cookies. Cookie sandwiches and sugar-rolled. You like it, we’ve got it.
Effort: How much time do you have? Because we’ve got easy cookies, as well as some that are a little more complex and time consuming. They all deserve a place in this year’s cookie box!I always recommend a few easy ones and 1-2 more difficult ones as showstoppers.
Types of cookies: We’ve broken the cookies down into categories, like Brownies and Bar Cookies, Hand-Formed Cookies, No Bake Cookie Recipes, Drop Cookies, Cut Out Cookies and more. We’ve even got a cookie mix and some non-cookie sweet treats to share with the people you love this holiday season, too.
If you’re looking for a new favorite cookie recipe, some tried and true holiday favorites or want to bake something different, there’s a little bit of everything here for a home cook to try.
Let’s talk about what this year’s Sweetest Season was all about and one of the reasons I love to bake this time of year.
The Sweetest Season is my annual holiday cookie week. In 2011, I decided to share my favorite Christmas cookies… then invited other bloggers to join me. The celebration grew, we changed the name to make it more inclusive, my friend Susannah stepped up to help and the rest is history.
And now, every year, food bloggers get together to share new holiday cookie recipes. It is one of my favorite weeks of the year!
In 2011, I decided to share my favorite Christmas cookies… then invited other bloggers to join me. The celebration grew, we changed the name to make it more inclusive, my friend Susannah stepped up to help and the rest is history.
And now, every year, food bloggers get together to share new holiday cookie recipes.
This year, we’re raising money in support of Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to funding research for new, innovative and less-toxic treatments for childhood cancer.
Since 2008, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer has granted nearly $18 million to pediatric cancer research in the form of 100+ research grants to leading pediatric cancer centers. More than 35 treatments available to kids battling cancer today were stemmed from these grants.
We’d love for you to help us raise money for this cause! You can donate through our fundraising page.
Currently, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer is in a matching window with their friends at OXO. This means OXO will match every dollar up to $100,000 raised through the end of 2024. So whatever money we raise will automatically double!
Best ways to share cookies:
That depends on you and what you’re into. But during the Christmas season, I feel like it’s never a bad idea to share holiday cheer in cookie form.
Here are some occasions you can make and bake ’em to share:
Serve them at a holiday party or Christmas party for your work, your friends or family members, or even at Christmas dinner
Bring them to (or host) a cookie swap party, where everyone brings a batch of cookies to share, and everyone gets to take some home.
Give them as a foodie gift for neighbors, teachers or the cookie lover in your life in a cookie box or a holiday cookie tin.
Leave them out for Santa and his helpers on Christmas Eve.
Just to have around and for fun! Cookies are invited to Hanukkah, Thanksgiving and New Year’s, too!
What are the best Christmas cookies?
Whether you’re baking the cookies for Santa, your family, friends, neighbors, teachers or anyone else, there are SO many excellent options, thanks to the participants in this year’s Sweetest Season Cookie Exchange! (And our past participants, too — don’t miss recipes from previous years.)
We’ve got a little something for everyone!
Do you love…
Classic Christmas cookies or something a little more unique?
Easy cookies or Top Chef-level cookies?
Chewy, crispy or cake-y cookies?
Decorated or plain cookies?
Whatever it is, you’ll definitely find it here… So which is the best? That’s up to you, my friend! We’ve got more than 48 cookie recipes below for you to peruse, bake and then decide which is superior. Tell me in the comments what you decide!
Happy baking and happy holidays!
Here are our best holiday cookie ideas for this year…
Brownies & Bar Cookies
If it's baked in a bar form, you're sure to find find holiday cookie inspiration in this section!
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www.40aprons.com
Cranberry Bliss Bars
A perfect copycat of the popular Starbucks treat, these cranberry bliss bars combine tender blondies with tart dried cranberries, a rich cream cheese frosting, and a sweet white chocolate drizzle.
Studded with classic milk chocolate M&Ms, chocolate chips and sprinkles, these colorful and chocolatey Christmas M&M Cookie Bars are the perfect holiday dessert. Easy to make with simple ingredients and requiring no chilling time, these bar cookies are excellent for sharing with the people you love. Learn how to make ‘em here!
Easy 4-Ingredient Cranberry White Chocolate Cookie Bars
Give store-bought sugar cookie dough a festive makeover with this super-easy recipe for cranberry white chocolate cookie bars! Thick sugar cookie squares dotted with tart dried cranberries then topped with a creamy white chocolate ganache – all with just 4 ingredients!
Double Chocolate Cranberry Magic Bars feature a layer of sweet shortbread crust topped with white and semi-sweet chocolate, chewy cranberries, shredded coconut, and crunchy pecans that are then covered with sweetened condensed milk and baked to gooey perfection.
These chewy Snickerdoodle Blondies are gluten-free, vegan, and just 9 ingredients! A quick and easy dessert that's perfect for the holidays with all the sweet, cinnamony, tangy, and buttery flavors you love! Eggless and allergy-free snickerdoodles in bar form with a crisp cinnamon sugar top that's even more delicious than the classic cookie!
Any cookie that requires a cookie cutter or a special tool to form it is in the section below. Think: festive sugar cookies, snowflake cookies, spritz cookies and everything in between!
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www.ifeloveandgoodfood.com
Cinnamon Roll Cookies
Bring the nostalgic flavors of cinnamon rolls to your holiday baking with these irresistible Cinnamon Roll Cookies! Made with tender sugar cookie dough swirled with sweet cinnamon filling, these beautiful treats are perfect for cookie swaps, holiday gifting, or leaving out for Santa.
Cocoa Wafer Sandwich Cookies with Mint Chocolate Ganache
Everyone who has tried these chocolatey Cocoa Wafer Sandwich Cookies with Mint Chocolate Ganache is obsessed. Crispy chocolate wafer cookies are held together with a decadent mint chocolate ganache to make the ultimate chocolate and mint cookie combination. These homemade sandwich cookies are a perfect holiday cookie and are a delicious mash-up of two beloved cookies.
This light and flaky gluten-free vanilla shortbread is the perfect combination of light and sweet. Vanilla bean sugar gives it a lovely smooth flavor with melt in your mouth deliciousness and it's even more festive dipped in chocolate for that extra hit of holiday cheer.
Sourdough Gingerbread Cookies (or Houses & Trees) • Homestead Lady
Here’s a simple and spicy recipe for sourdough gingerbread cookies that will also work for houses, trees, and other shapes. Stop buying prefab gingerbread cookies and houses that are inedible and unhealthy!
Soft, spiced, and perfectly sweetened, Gingerbread Cookies are a holiday classic that everyone loves! This recipe is perfect for cookies that hold their shape beautifully and stay soft long after baking.
These drop cookie recipes are a little easier to make than the cutout cookies (and generally take less time!) Instead of forming them with a cookie cutter and chilling for a portion of time, you drop these cookies onto the baking sheet, and let 'em bake!
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www.familyaroundthetable.com
Lemon Crinkle Cake Mix Cookies
Lemon crinkle cake mix cookies are super easy to make. They’re soft and full of sweet and tangy lemon flavor, with a fun powdered sugar coating that cracks as they bake.
Tart and sweet these simple cookies take advantage of the best of winter produce. Frost them for serving at holiday buffets or don't to make them easy for mailing to loved ones.
Decadent, soft and chewy inside, with crispy edges, these cookies have little pockets of tartness coming from the dried cranberries and crunchy pieces of hazelnuts in the folds.
Frosted Gingerbread Cookies are thick, soft, chewy and full of warm gingerbread flavor. Topped with a cream cheese buttercream frosting and festive Christmas sprinkles for the perfect holiday cookie.
Craving a cookie that takes chocolate to the next level? These Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies combine a rich cocoa base with gooey chocolate chunks for the ultimate soft, chewy, extra thick cookie!
This Russian Tea Cakes recipe is made in one bowl with 6 ingredients and is ready in 30 minutes or less. These are an easy drop cookie made with pecans and rolled in powdered sugar!
Chocolate Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies sing of the holiday season with their combination of chocolate and peppermint and are so easy to make. These dense chocolate peppermint cookies are the perfect treat for Santa or sharing throughout the holiday season.
These light and crisp sugar cookies are dotted with chocolate chips. It’s the perfect blend of two classic cookies! If your inner cookie monster craves cookies, make this easy recipe for Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookies.
These peppermint bark cookies are soft, chewy chocolate cookie flavored with peppermint. They are dipped in melted white chocolate and decorated with crushed peppermint candies.
If you love the flavor of German Chocolate Cake, you’re going to LOVE these sweet, chewy Chocolate Coconut Pecan Cookies. They’re easy to make and perfect for Christmas cookie giving!
Bake the best chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips! With their fun inside-out look and rich, chewy texture, these cookies are as delicious as they are eye-catching and perfect for sharing during the holidays!
Perfect for any mint chocolate lover, these Andes Chocolate Mint Cookies feature a soft chocolate base topped with a creamy melted Andes mint for an irresistible treat.
Japanese Hojicha Cookies with Dark Chocolate Chips
Soft and chewy Japanese-inspired hojicha cookies with dark chocolate chips. These cookies have a deeply roasted flavor, perfectly complemented by dark chocolate chips.
These easy to make Turtle Cookies are full of rich chocolate chips, rolled in toasted pecans, and topped with a gooey caramel drizzle. Pretty and delicious!
Soft and pillow-like with a thick layer of chocolate and vanilla frosting, these giant Black and White Cookies are just like your favorite NYC bakery, without having to leave your house. Halfway between a cookie and cake, it’s the perfect mix of chocolate and vanilla!
Any cookie that needs your hands to form them are listed below! Generally speaking, you'll roll these cookies with your hands or shape them to form them before you bake them.
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Red Velvet Sugar Cookies
From-scratch Red Velvet Cookies are the perfect treat to bake during the holiday season and beyond. Made with a handful of easy-to-find ingredients, these cookies have a crunchy exterior that pairs beautiful with a soft, cakey interior. Topped with a cream cheese frosting drizzle, this red velvet cookie recipe is reminiscent of the classic cake.
Surprisingly easy to make, these deliciously chewy chocolate cookies are stuffed with a creamy peanut butter filling. Peanut Butter Stuffed Chocolate Cookies are perfect for anyone who loves peanut butter cups.
Indulge in the irresistible flavors of traditional Italian cuisine with our delightful recipe for Sesame Cookies. These cookies are a classic Italian treat that perfectly balances a delicate crunch with a nutty aroma.
These ginger molasses cookies will remind you of the taste of gingerbread cookies, with the soft chewy texture that snickerdoodles are known for. These cookies are so simple to make and delightful to share with friends!
These festive cookies are a go-to recipe for Christmas goodie plates and holiday parties! They are so festive and are the perfect blend of chocolate and mint.
Sourdough chocolate crinkle cookies made with discard are an easy and utterly delicious way to use leftover sourdough starter. Add these to your next cookie tray and everyone will be asking you for the secret to how amazing they are!
These vegan espresso cookies are the perfect blend of rich coffee flavor and indulgent chocolate, creating a heavenly treat that his all the right spots! Made with vegan-friendly ingredients, these easy thumbprint cookies come with a creamy espresso-chocolate filling that makes them simply too irresistible to miss out.
Crunchy cranberry pistachio biscotti is easy to make at home, and perfect for dipping into your favorite coffee or tea. Package for gifting or keep it all to yourself.
Cozy and warm, these Chai Molasses Cookies are filled with the most delicious warming spices, have a chewy center and just slightly crispy edges. The perfect comforting cookie to bring holiday cheer!
Soft, chewy, and delicious, our Cinnamon cookie recipe is easy to make and only takes about 30 minutes so go grab a hot cup of coffee or a cold glass of milk.
These are cookies that don't need an oven to be made or enjoyed!
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No Bake Cookie Butter Cookies
No time to bake this season? Mix together these No Bake Cookie butter Cookies the night before a party to spread holiday cheer! These chilled no-bake cookies taste like gingerbread and are the perfect quick cookie.
These Christmas Oreos are almost too cute to eat but I bet they won’t stick around for long! Easy and festive, these holiday cookies are as much fun to make as they are to eat.
If you're looking for confections, sweets or jarred cookie recipes, we've got some ideas for you here…
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www.stetted.com
Cookie Mix in a Jar
Gift handmade this holiday — or any occasion — with this simple cookie mix! These cookies in a jar are layered for a pretty presentation and are ready to bake in moments!
Easy Christmas Muffin Top Recipe (with Cranberries and White Chocolate)
If you happen to love the tops of muffins, I think you just might enjoy this small-batch White Chocolate Cranberry Muffin Top Recipe. These naturally colored Christmas muffin tops are similar to cookies, texture-wise, and a festive addition to any holiday breakfast, brunch, or snack.
Triple chocolate peppermint cookies jar mix is a delightful blend of rich chocolate, sweet peppermint, and chocolate candies that makes a perfect gift or addition to any Christmas celebrations.
Erin Parker is a Southern gal living in Texas with her husband and two daughters. She started The Speckled Palate to share what she was cooking as a newlywed… and over the years, it’s evolved to capture her love for hosting. Specifically, the EASIEST, lowest key entertaining because everyone deserves to see their people and connect over good food. Learn more about her…
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