50 Easy Holiday Cookies That's So Fun

There’s nothing better than a cookie—or ten—during the holidays. Here are 50 easy-to-make cookies that will make your mouth water and your tummy grumble with delight.

The recipes are divided into two sections: drop cookies and rolled cookies. Drop cookies are great for beginners because they’re quick to make, plus they use simple ingredients like flour, sugar, butter and eggs. Rolled cookies (think sugar cookies) aren’t quite as straightforward but still require minimal time and effort.

Gingersnaps

Ginger Snaps

Ginger snaps are a type of cookie first made in Scotland and Ireland. They’re traditionally made with molasses, ginger, spices and honey. Gingersnaps are often served with ice cream for dessert or tea time. They are also a traditional Christmas holiday cookie.

Linzer cookies

You’ll need:

1 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup ground hazelnuts or walnuts
1/3 cup granulated sugar (or brown sugar)
1 tsp. almond extract
3 egg whites, at room temperature#ENDWRITE

Lemon thumbprint cookies with cornmeal

Lemon thumbprint cookies with cornmeal are a great way to get your kids into the kitchen. Unlike other holiday cookies, these don’t require any special tools or skills. The dough is made by hand and baked in the oven—it’s as simple as that!

This yummy treat will have you looking like a baking genius with very little effort on your part. For this recipe, you’ll need:

1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg white
2 tablespoons lemon zest from one large lemon (or two small ones)

Danish butter cookies

Danish butter cookies are made with a simple dough that’s easy to work with. You’ll need:

3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
2 cups unsalted butter, softened (room temperature)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Beat together your butter and sugar until light and fluffy; add the egg whites one at a time until well incorporated. Add the vanilla extract, then add in your flour mixture and stir until just combined. Refrigerate for 1 hour or longer before rolling out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out to about 1/4 inch thick and cut out shapes (circles, squares) using cookie cutters of choice; use a fork to flatten each piece of dough so they bake evenly in the oven (this is optional but recommended). Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.* Cool on cooling racks before decorating with royal icing!

Gingerbread men

While gingerbread men are a classic holiday cookie, they can be a bit finicky to make. Luckily, with this easy-to-follow recipe and some creative decorating ideas, you’ll have perfectly delectable gingerbread men in no time!

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, beat 1 cup of softened butter or margarine with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add 1 cup sugar and continue beating until well combined. Beat in 2 eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Stir in 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground cloves and ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg; set aside while preparing bread dough.*In another large bowl stir together ½ cup white sugar plus 2 tablespoons molasses until smooth; add 6 cups all-purpose flour (about 2 pounds), 3 teaspoons baking powder and ¼ teaspoon salt.*Add the flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with ½ cup milk (or water) beating after each addition just until blended: do not over mix.*

Transfer batter into prepared pans then bake at 350°F for 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.*Remove from oven onto wire racks for about 10 minutes before removing from pans as cakes will be very fragile.*While cakes are cooling prepare icing by combining 4 cups confectioners’ sugar with 8 tablespoons butter or margarine melted over low heat stirring constantly until smooth; add 3 tablespoons hot water if necessary when smoothing surface of frosting on cooled gingerbread cake surfaces using small spatula if desired but not necessary because frosting will dry harden quickly once spread evenly over surface area of cooled gingerbread cake surfaces so keep fingers moistened while spreading evenly across top surface areas without thick ridges forming underneath where colors show through; let cool completely then decorate using sprinkles designed especially for holidays such as Easter – Christmas etcetera depending upon which type festive occasions most

White chocolate cutout cookies with pink frosting

2/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour (or more if necessary)
1 teaspoon baking powder (or more if necessary)
salt to taste

In a large bowl, mix the first 6 ingredients. If you need more flour or a bit more egg, add it slowly until your dough is smooth and not crumbly. You may also have to adjust the ratio of butter and sugar depending on how much moisture your dough has absorbed during mixing. When you’re done mixing, divide the dough into two sections: one will be pink colored and one will be white colored; roll each section into logs that are about 1 inch thick. Wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (at least 8 hours). The next day:, preheat oven to 350 degrees F., position racks in center of oven; remove logs from refrigerator; unwrap them from plastic wrap; using cookie cutters or rolling pin*, cut out shapes as desired**.*I used one-ounce molds for these cookies because I wanted them small enough so they could fit on top of each other without crushing them—you can use any size you’d like though!

Chocolate-covered toffee-pecan crunch bars

These bars are so easy to make and they can be made in advance, which makes them a great addition to your cookie-baking repertoire. Make the dough, roll it out, cut out shapes and bake! While the bars are cooling, melt chocolate chips and drizzle over the cooled cookies. Once they’re covered with chocolate and set up nicely, break apart into bite-size pieces. Store in an airtight container until you’re ready to gift or serve them!

Thin and crisp chocolate chip cookies

Chocolate chip cookies are a classic. These ones are crispy, not cakey and made with melted butter, brown sugar and plenty of chocolate chips. You can make them gluten-free by swapping out the all-purpose flour for coconut flour or almond flour (see recipe notes).

You’ll need:

1 cup (250 mL) unsalted butter at room temperature; 2 oz/60 g (1/2 stick), melted
1 cup packed light brown sugar; 7.5 oz/220 g
1 large egg yolk * 1 teaspoon vanilla extract * 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour; 8 oz/240 g

Spritz cookies

Bake the cookies in a 350-degree oven for 8-10 minutes.
Cool the cookies on a wire rack.
Roll the dough in sugar before baking.
Spritz the cookies with lemon juice before baking—this will help them keep their shape and give them that classic spritz look!
Cut the dough into 1/4 inch pieces and bake until golden brown, about 6 minutes at 400 degrees F, depending on your oven.

Make sweet treats for friends and family

These cookies are a great way to bring people together, and they can be made in advance. When you’re looking for something special to make for your friends and family this holiday season, look no further than these simple treats.

Make cookies with friends and family
Cookies are a great way to bring people together
Cookies can be made in advance and frozen
Cookies are easy to make

Here are more fun Holiday Cookie Ideas

Sugar Cookie Truffles
Christmas Rolo Pretzels
Quick and Easy Sugar Cookies
Christmas Cookie Bars
Grinch Cookies
Hot Cocoa Cookies
Buttery Pecan Snowballs
Christmas Pinwheels
Raspberry Cheesecake Cookies
Christmas Spritz Cookies

Related Post: Here are 30+ More Easy Holiday Cookie Ideas

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed reading these selections. We certainly did! It’s hard to believe that there are so many different kinds of cookies out there—and even harder to believe we only listed 50 here. But if you want to make more, don’t worry: we’ve got tons of recipes from all over the world on our website. Just click on one and give it a try! Or if you have another favorite recipe for a holiday cookie, leave us a comment below! We would love to hear about it, and maybe even share some tips with other readers who could use some help in their baking adventures.