8 Christmas Cookie Ideas You’ll Want to Bake All December

December has two types of people: those who casually bake a batch of Christmas cookies and those who suddenly decide their kitchen needs to operate like a small North Pole bakery. I tend to understand the second group.

And really, can you blame us? Christmas cookies are easy to share, perfect for holiday parties, adorable in gift boxes, and extremely convenient when you need something sweet with your afternoon coffee. Plus, a plate of homemade cookies instantly makes the house feel more festive without requiring you to untangle another string of Christmas lights.

These 8 Christmas cookie ideas give you a little bit of everything. You’ll find buttery classics, soft gingerbread, chocolate-packed treats, peppermint cookies, jam-filled beauties, and a couple of ridiculously easy options for those December evenings when ambition disappears around 7 p.m.

You don’t need fancy baking equipment or professional decorating skills, either. Keep the icing simple, embrace slightly wonky snowflakes, and remember that nobody complains about an imperfect cookie while chewing it.

Ready to make December smell incredible? Your butter has work to do.

1. Classic Christmas Sugar Cookies

If Christmas had an official cookie, the classic decorated sugar cookie would make a strong case for the title. These cookies stay buttery and tender while holding their shape well enough for trees, stars, snowflakes, candy canes, and whatever mysterious shape that one cookie cutter actually makes.

The real fun starts after they cool. Bring out the icing and sprinkles, and suddenly everyone becomes an artist.

Ingredients

• 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• Royal icing or cookie icing
• Red, green, white, and gold sprinkles

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.
2. Beat the softened butter and granulated sugar until the mixture looks pale and fluffy.
3. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Beat until everything looks smooth.
4. Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix just until a soft dough forms.
5. Divide the dough into two portions, flatten them into discs, and chill them for 30–60 minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
7. Roll the chilled dough to about ¼-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface.
8. Cut out your favorite Christmas shapes and arrange them on the prepared baking sheets.
9. Bake for 8–10 minutes. Pull them out when the edges look set but barely golden.
10. Cool completely before decorating with icing and sprinkles.

Why You’ll Love It

These cookies give you that nostalgic Christmas bakery flavor without turning decorating into an advanced engineering project. The little splash of almond extract makes them taste especially good, although you can skip it if you prefer pure vanilla.

I also prefer thicker sugar cookies. Thin ones get crisp quickly, and IMO Christmas deserves a soft, buttery cookie.

Quick tip: Chill your cut cookies for another 10 minutes before baking if you want especially sharp edges.

2. Soft and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

Gingerbread brings serious Christmas energy. The second cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and molasses start mingling in the oven, your kitchen basically announces that Santa could arrive at any moment.

These cookies stay soft in the middle with lightly crisp edges. That texture makes them ideal for decorating—or eating completely naked because patience has limits.

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• ½ cup molasses
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon salt
• White icing for decorating

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Beat the butter and brown sugar until light and creamy.
2. Add the egg and molasses. Beat until fully combined.
3. Whisk the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in another bowl.
4. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the molasses mixture.
5. Divide the dough into two discs and chill for at least one hour.
6. Heat the oven to 350°F.
7. Roll the dough to about ¼-inch thickness.
8. Cut out gingerbread people, stars, trees, or other Christmas shapes.
9. Bake for 8–10 minutes.
10. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for several minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
11. Decorate with white icing after they cool completely.

Why You’ll Love It

Molasses gives these cookies their rich caramel-like depth, while the spices bring plenty of warmth without overpowering everything.

I once baked gingerbread several minutes too long because I wanted “extra crisp edges.” Bad plan. Unless your Christmas guests happen to include beavers, keep these slightly soft.

For extra spice, add a tiny pinch of black pepper. It sounds strange, but it makes the ginger taste even warmer.

3. Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies

Chocolate and peppermint together taste like December decided to become dessert.

These crinkle cookies have fudgy centers, brownie-like flavor, snowy powdered-sugar tops, and just enough peppermint to make them festive. Better yet, the cracked tops form naturally in the oven.

Who doesn’t love a cookie that decorates itself?

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• ¼ cup crushed candy canes, optional

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt together.
2. Mix the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vegetable oil in another bowl.
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
4. Add the vanilla and peppermint extracts.
5. Stir the dry mixture into the wet ingredients until a sticky chocolate dough forms.
6. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least one hour.
7. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
8. Roll the chilled dough into tablespoon-sized balls.
9. Coat every ball generously with powdered sugar.
10. Bake for 10–12 minutes until cracks appear across the tops.
11. Sprinkle crushed candy canes over the warm cookies if you want extra peppermint crunch.

Why You’ll Love It

The centers stay rich and fudgy while the powdered sugar creates a gorgeous snowy finish. They look impressive on a Christmas cookie platter, but they require almost zero decorating talent.

Use peppermint extract carefully. A quarter teaspoon adds holiday flavor. Half the bottle creates something suspiciously close to mouthwash :/

4. Buttery Christmas Shortbread Cookies

Shortbread doesn’t need flashy ingredients. Give it good butter, flour, sugar, and vanilla, and it quietly steals the cookie tray anyway.

This version has crisp edges and a tender, melt-in-your-mouth center. Add festive sprinkles or dip the finished cookies in chocolate when you want them to look extra special.

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup Christmas sprinkles
• ½ cup melted dark or white chocolate, optional

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Beat the softened butter and powdered sugar until smooth and creamy.
2. Mix in the vanilla extract and salt.
3. Add the flour gradually.
4. Mix just until the dough comes together. Don’t keep beating it for entertainment.
5. Shape the dough into a log for slice-and-bake cookies, or flatten it into a disc for cookie cutters.
6. Refrigerate for 30–45 minutes.
7. Preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C).
8. Slice or cut the dough and place the cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
9. Add Christmas sprinkles.
10. Bake for 12–15 minutes until the edges turn pale golden.
11. Cool completely and drizzle or dip them in melted chocolate if desired.

Why You’ll Love It

Shortbread stores exceptionally well, so it works brilliantly for holiday gift boxes and make-ahead Christmas baking.

I strongly recommend real butter here. Shortbread contains so few ingredients that every one of them matters. This isn’t the moment to ask margarine to impersonate butter and hope nobody notices.

Try dipping half of each cookie in dark chocolate and sprinkling crushed pistachios or festive sprinkles over the chocolate.

5. White Chocolate Cranberry Christmas Cookies

Want Christmas colors without wrestling with food coloring? Cranberries and white chocolate have you covered.

These chewy cookies combine sweet, creamy white chocolate with tart dried cranberries. The ruby-red cranberries look gorgeous against the pale cookie dough, making these one of the easiest festive Christmas cookie ideas on the list.

Ingredients

• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• ¾ cup dried cranberries
• ½ cup chopped pecans or pistachios, optional

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F and prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. Beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until creamy.
4. Add the egg and vanilla, then mix until smooth.
5. Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture.
6. Fold in the white chocolate chips and dried cranberries.
7. Add chopped nuts if you want extra crunch.
8. Scoop tablespoon-sized portions onto your baking sheets.
9. Bake for 9–11 minutes until the edges turn lightly golden.
10. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for five minutes before moving them.

Why You’ll Love It

The cranberries stop the white chocolate from making these overly sweet. That tart-sweet contrast keeps you reaching for another cookie.

Pistachios also add a natural green color that makes the cookies look even more Christmas-y. Pecans taste richer, though, so choose based on whether you care more about looks or buttery crunch.

Baker’s trick: Press a few extra cranberries and white chocolate chips into the tops immediately after baking. Your cookies will suddenly look bakery-worthy.

6. Raspberry Jam Thumbprint Cookies

Thumbprint cookies look elegant enough for a holiday dessert table, yet the process couldn’t feel more relaxed. Roll, press, fill, bake. That’s basically it.

Raspberry jam adds a gorgeous jewel-red center, while the buttery cookie base keeps the flavor simple and balanced.

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• ⅔ cup granulated sugar
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup raspberry jam
• Powdered sugar for finishing

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Mix in the egg yolks and vanilla.
3. Add the flour and salt gradually.
4. Mix until a soft dough forms.
5. Chill for 20–30 minutes if the dough feels very soft.
6. Roll the dough into one-inch balls.
7. Arrange them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
8. Press your thumb or the back of a small measuring spoon into each center.
9. Spoon about ½ teaspoon raspberry jam into each indentation.
10. Bake at 350°F for 11–13 minutes.
11. Cool completely and dust lightly with powdered sugar.

Why You’ll Love It

These cookies give you buttery richness and bright raspberry flavor in every bite. They also add beautiful color to a tray full of brown and beige cookies—because delicious though beige may be, sometimes it needs help.

You can swap raspberry for strawberry, cherry, or apricot preserves. I prefer tart raspberry because it balances the sweet cookie best.

Warm thick jam for a few seconds before filling the cookies if you struggle to spoon it neatly.

7. Hot Cocoa Cookies with Marshmallows

Why drink hot chocolate when you can turn it into a cookie?

Okay, obviously do both.

These chocolate cookies taste rich and cozy, while gooey marshmallows on top create that unmistakable mug-of-cocoa vibe. Add chocolate chunks, and December suddenly looks much more manageable.

Ingredients

• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¾ cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup mini marshmallows
• ¼ cup crushed peppermint candies, optional

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Beat the butter with both sugars until fluffy.
4. Mix in the egg and vanilla.
5. Gradually add the dry ingredients.
6. Fold in the chocolate chips.
7. Scoop the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets.
8. Bake for about eight minutes.
9. Pull the tray from the oven and gently press two or three mini marshmallows into each cookie.
10. Return the cookies to the oven for another 2–3 minutes.
11. Add crushed peppermint candies while the marshmallows still feel warm and sticky.

Why You’ll Love It

You get chewy chocolate cookie edges, melted chocolate chips, and stretchy toasted marshmallow in the same bite. What exactly could go wrong here?

These cookies taste especially good while they’re slightly warm. FYI, marshmallows become sticky as they melt, so parchment paper will save you from scrubbing a baking tray while questioning your life choices.

For an even richer version, press a square of chocolate into each cookie beside the marshmallows.

8. Christmas M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sometimes you need an easy Christmas cookie that everybody recognizes immediately. Enter the Christmas M&M cookie.

The red and green candies turn a classic chocolate chip cookie into a festive treat without piping bags, cookie cutters, royal icing, or emotional negotiations with sprinkles.

Ingredients

• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup red and green M&M candies
• Flaky sea salt, optional

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. Beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until creamy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time.
5. Mix in the vanilla.
6. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients.
7. Fold in the chocolate chips and about three-quarters of the M&M candies.
8. Scoop the dough onto your prepared baking sheets.
9. Press the remaining candies into the tops.
10. Bake for 9–11 minutes until the edges look golden but the centers remain soft.
11. Sprinkle a tiny amount of flaky sea salt over the warm cookies if desired.

Why You’ll Love It

These cookies offer everything people already love about classic chocolate chip cookies, plus instant Christmas color. They’re fantastic for parties, school treats, cookie exchanges, and last-minute holiday baking.

The brown sugar keeps the centers chewy, while semi-sweet chocolate prevents the candies from making everything too sugary.

And yes, pressing extra M&Ms onto the tops matters. Half of baking involves flavor; the other half involves making sure people can actually see the good stuff.

Tips for Baking the Best Christmas Cookies

Even easy Christmas cookies can become tiny holiday disasters if the butter gets too warm or the flour gets packed into the measuring cup like concrete. A few simple tricks make December baking much more predictable.

Start With Properly Softened Butter

Softened butter should give slightly when you press it but shouldn’t look shiny or melted.

Overly warm butter can make cookies spread into one enormous cookie continent. Delicious? Probably. Gift-box material? Less so.

Measure Flour Carefully

Spoon flour into your measuring cup and level it rather than scooping directly from the bag. Scooping packs in extra flour and can create dry, dense cookies.

A kitchen scale gives you even more consistency if you bake often.

Don’t Skip Chilling When the Recipe Calls for It

Chilling helps cookie dough firm up, prevents excessive spreading, and can improve flavor.

Yes, waiting feels annoying when cookie dough sits directly in front of you. Consider it character development.

Slightly Underbake Chewy Cookies

Cookies continue cooking from residual heat after you remove the tray.

Pull chewy cookies when the edges look set but the centers still look slightly soft. They’ll settle as they cool and stay much more tender.

Cool Before Decorating

Warm cookies and icing have a complicated relationship.

Let sugar cookies, gingerbread, and shortbread cool completely before adding decorations. Otherwise, your carefully piped snowman may melt into something resembling modern art.

How to Make a Christmas Cookie Box

One of the best things about making several Christmas cookie recipes at once? You can build gorgeous homemade gift boxes without spending a fortune on fancy presents.

Start with three or four cookie styles that offer different shapes, colors, and textures. For example, combine:

• Decorated sugar cookies for color
• Chocolate crinkles for contrast
• Raspberry thumbprints for jewel-like centers
• Shortbread for buttery simplicity
• Gingerbread for classic Christmas character

Line a sturdy box or cookie tin with parchment paper. Arrange larger cookies first, then fill small spaces with shortbread, wrapped candies, or mini cookies.

Keep strongly flavored peppermint cookies separated with parchment or small paper liners. Peppermint has absolutely no respect for personal boundaries and will happily make every neighboring cookie taste minty.

For gifting, bake most cookies one or two days before you plan to hand them out. Store each variety separately, then assemble your boxes shortly before gifting.

How to Store Christmas Cookies

Most homemade Christmas cookies stay fresh for several days when you store them correctly.

Keep crisp cookies such as shortbread in airtight containers at room temperature. Store chewy cookies separately so moisture doesn’t soften your crisp varieties.

Sugar cookies, M&M cookies, gingerbread, and cranberry cookies generally keep well for 4–5 days in airtight containers.

You can also freeze many cookies for longer storage. Freeze undecorated cookies whenever possible, separate layers with parchment paper, and thaw them at room temperature before decorating or serving.

Cookie dough freezes beautifully too. Roll chocolate chip or M&M dough into individual portions first, freeze them on a tray, and transfer the frozen balls into a freezer bag.

Then you can bake a few fresh Christmas cookies whenever the mood hits. And during December, the mood tends to hit suspiciously often.

Which Christmas Cookies Should You Bake First?

If you want an easy place to start, make the Christmas M&M cookies. They require almost no decorating and deliver instant festive results.

Want something traditional? Choose sugar cookies or gingerbread.

Need an impressive cookie for a holiday party? Raspberry thumbprints and chocolate peppermint crinkles look beautiful without demanding professional decorating skills.

For homemade gifts, shortbread wins points because it travels and stores so well. And if your main goal involves curling up with a blanket, a Christmas movie, and something outrageously chocolatey, make those hot cocoa cookies.

Or bake all eight.

December isn’t exactly famous for restrain

Related Recipes

• 8 Christmas Candy Recipes Perfect for Homemade Holiday Gifts
• 8 Healthy Christmas Snacks That Still Feel Festive
• 8 Fun Christmas Desserts That Bring Instant Holiday Cheer

Final Thoughts

The best Christmas cookie ideas don’t need complicated ingredients or bakery-level decorating skills. They need good butter, festive flavors, a little patience, and preferably someone nearby who volunteers to wash the mixing bowls.

From classic Christmas sugar cookies and soft gingerbread to white chocolate cranberry cookies and gooey hot cocoa treats, these eight recipes give you enough variety to keep your oven busy all December. Bake one for a quiet weekend, make several for a cookie exchange, or create a full homemade Christmas cookie box for someone you love.

Most importantly, have fun with them. Crooked icing still tastes like icing, uneven gingerbread people still taste like gingerbread, and nobody has ever rejected a warm chocolate chip cookie because one M&M sat slightly off-center.

So put on your favorite Christmas playlist, preheat the oven, and accept the inevitable: you’re going to need more butter.