The holiday season is known for a lot of things, and healthy eating isn’t one of them. On cold winter nights, there’s nothing cozier than turning on Christmas music and baking cookies spiced with ginger or sprinkled with peppermints — and loaded with lots of sugar and butter.
In honor of the holidays, I asked my colleagues about their favorite Christmas cookies and compiled 10 recipes below. We hope you enjoy making and eating them this holiday season and wish you a very Merry Christmas!
Cranberry chip cookies
Most cranberry cookies I’ve tried have dried cranberries, which I don’t always love. However, Holly Richardson’s recipe — with fresh cranberries, pistachio and semisweet chocolate chips — sounds incredibly promising.
Holly says, “We LOVE these cookies! We love the sweet/sour/salty blend of flavors. Mmm. You can use fresh or frozen cranberries but pat the frozen cranberries dry after chopping and don’t overmix. Also, pick through your fresh cranberries carefully — I discard any squishy ones, even if they still look whole, because one rotten cranberry will spoil your whole batch. Believe me.”
Here’s her recipe:
- 1 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 1 egg
- 3 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 1/2 cups coarsely chopped cranberries
- 1 cup chopped pistachios
- 1 cup chocolate chips (or white chocolate chips)
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix sugars and butter. Stir in milk, orange juice and egg. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Carefully stir in cranberries, nuts and chocolate chips.
Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Makes about 5 1/2 dozen. Oh, and you can’t double this one in a regular Kitchen-Aid — it’s too much for it.
Ginger molasses cookies/soft gingerbread cookies
Margaret Darby says, “My favorite Christmas cookies are molasses cookies! They are extra special because I only eat them once a year. I love their unique sweet, salty and spicy flavor. Whenever I eat a molasses cookie, I get to think about my dad, who makes the best ones (in my opinion)!”
Asia Bown also loves this type of cookie, and she recommends this recipe from Love from the Oven. She says, “Gingerbread cookies are a Christmas classic, so I can’t help but think of winter and Christmastime when I eat them. For a little extra oomph, add an orange glaze or candied oranges to these cookies.”
No-bake cookies
Brigham Tomco makes these so often that he has the recipe memorized.
He says, “This is no diet disguised as a dessert. No-bakes are the quintessential high calorie comfort food: a brick of butter, mounds of sugar, the aroma of bubbling chocolate filling your home? Yes, please. And all without turning on an oven.”
Here’s his recipe:
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 cups oats
Bring to a roiling boil the butter, sugar, milk and cocoa powder. Let boil for one minute, stirring constantly.
Take off heat. Stir in peanut butter, vanilla and oats. Spoon small balls onto cookie sheet to cool.
Chokladbollar (Swedish chocolate balls)
If you haven’t tried these before, you’re in for a real treat. Chokladbollar are deceptively easy chocolate oatmeal balls that you can make without an oven or a stove.
Jay Evensen says, “Chokladbollar have been a family favorite for us as long as I can remember. They’re easy and quick to make. My wife generally makes them with different colored sugar sprinkles. She is a piano teacher, and these cookies are the highlight of her recital snacks. I figure if oatmeal is good for you, then about 10 of these ought to be good for you, as well.”
Here’s a good recipe for chokladbollar from Swedish Food. Most recipes call for a few tablespoons of strong coffee — if you don’t have that, you can use hot water or a coffee substitute like Pero.
Gingersnaps
Emma Pitts said, “Gingersnaps are my favorite Christmas cookies because they taste incredible, but also because they’re very nostalgic to me. We always had them during the holidays.”
Here’s her recipe, which is titled “Anne Anderson’s Gingersnaps:”
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup shortening
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 2 eggs
- 3 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 4 cups flour
Mix all, except flour. Add flour gradually. Form balls and roll in sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
White chocolate candy cane cookies
Krysyan Edler says her family actually makes truffles for Christmas (and I can personally attest that hers are delicious). However, she also enjoys white chocolate peppermint cookies.
She says, “This is an easy recipe for soft, delicious cookies that taste like Christmas. I’m not much of a baker, but even I could follow this recipe and was very pleased with how the cookies turned out.”
Krysyan uses this recipe from Just So Tasty.
Hot chocolate cookies
When Valerie Jones told me about her favorite hot chocolate cookies — with real mini marshmallows — I knew I had to try them. You can go nuts with Christmas add-ins like candy cane bits or mini M&Ms, but they’re also divine as is.
Here’s the recipe from Love from the Oven that Valerie uses.
Raspberry white chocolate cookies
Hanna Seariac is known among our colleagues for her culinary skills, so I knew she’d offer something exciting to this list. I was right — not only did she send me an incredible recipe for a unique cookie I’ve never tried before, but she added her own twist.
If you want to make these like Hanna does, substitute the lemon for orange (the subtler flavor feels more Christmas-y, especially with the cinnamon in the cookies) and add chopped macadamia nuts.
Here’s Hanna’s recipe, from Ana’s Baking Chronicles.
Peanut butter blossoms
Saul Marquez says his family enjoys these peanut butter cookies every year. Here’s his recipe:
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 10-ounce bag of mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups or Hershey’s Kisses
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine peanut butter, butter, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl. Mix, then add egg until well blended. Combine flour, baking soda and baking powder.
Gradually add to creamed mixture. Mix until just blended. Shape into 1-inch balls, roll in sugar and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake for seven to nine minutes. Remove and immediately press Kisses or mini Peanut Butter Cups into center.
Chocolate crinkles
This recipe comes recommended from yours truly. My mom has been making these for years, and while I’ve tried other recipes, this one is always the best.
The original recipe comes from Family Fun magazine, which my family adored in the early 2000s, although it doesn’t appear to be in circulation anymore. In its honor, here is the Family Fun chocolate crinkle cookie recipe:
- 3/4 cup butter, melted
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 ounces mini semisweet chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
In a large bowl, mix together the melted butter, cocoa powder and sugar. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract. In a medium-size bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture and whisk to combine. Add the chocolate chips.
Form the dough into 1-inch balls and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour. Roll the balls in confectioners’ sugar. (For an extra Christmassy twist, I like to press a red or green M&M into the top of each cookie before baking.)
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Let cool for five minutes, then dust with more powdered sugar, if desired. Enjoy!
Honorable mention: Store-bought cookies
Suzanne Bates told me her favorite Christmas cookies were the Harmon’s snickerdoodles, and she makes a great point. Store-bought cookies can make this aspect of Christmas easier if you’re not a fan of baking, and even if you are, there are some fantastic store-bought cookies out there.
For instance, I have yet to meet a sugar cookie I enjoy as much as the Lofthouse brand — maybe it’s a nostalgia thing, but somehow, no other sugar cookie comes close.
We hope you try our recommendations and enjoy a very merry holiday with your loved ones.