When it comes time to plan your holiday baking, cookies are a must. If you’re anything like us you’ll be baking up quite an assortment. But, whatever you decide to make, your plate just isn’t complete until you’ve got a rich, buttery confection like shortbread or sablés tucked in with the other holiday cookies. Butter cookies are a traditional Yuletide treat—and they feel like a true indulgence regardless of how you make them. If you’re looking for that one, perfect butter cookie that will stay in your recipe box for years, this is it. The finished cookies are crisp, yet tender and perfect alongside hot cocoa or eggnog. Plus, you have the choice to make drop cookies or a slice-and-bake version!

These classic cookies have a nostalgic appearance and pack a mighty flavor punch. Piping the cookie dough is a fun change up from the normal scoop-and-bake cookie. Make sure to use room temperature butter for a dough that whips up nicely and is easy to pipe.

Reduced apple cider adds tangy apple flavor to these rich cookies. Don’t let the reduction cool completely or it will be too hard and thick to beat evenly into the cookie batter. Using cookie stamps can take a little practice, but it’s well worth it for the simple and beautiful designs they impart on these festive rounds!

This satisfying shortbread is as easy as it gets. It's simultaneously crisp, crumbly and tender because we've added a little cornstarch to the flour. And granulated sugar gives the cookies their gorgeous golden color.

Trisha Yearwood’s Brown Butter Honey Cookies bring warm, nutty richness and a touch of sweetness to your holiday cookie tray with every melt-in-your-mouth bite.

These staple Christmas cookies, often sold in a decorative blue tin at the grocery store, are similar to sweetened, crispy shortbread but with an unbelievable vanilla-almond flavor. Our homemade version is even better — soft on the inside, crispy on the outside, with a fresher, lighter and more delicate taste than the industrial made treats. You can serve them plain, or jazz them up with melted chocolate and sprinkles or a maraschino cherry in the middle to give you all the holiday feels.

Recipe developer Dan Langan says, "Shortbread cookies are light, buttery and barely sweet, so I like to dress them up with new flavor combinations. Here a touch of nutmeg and cinnamon along with a dash of rum add the familiar flavors of eggnog. Finishing the cookies with a drizzle of white chocolate adds a sweet silkiness that's reminiscent of the creamy holiday beverage."

These cookies instantly scream the holidays are here with their iconic shape and vanilla-mint flavor. Rather than tint all the dough red, small ropes of dough are rolled in white or red sugars and then twisted together for a crispy sparkling exterior.

One of the most iconic of holiday sweets, spritz are bite-size buttery cookies with vanilla and almond. These classic cookies are made with a cookie press and the dough holds its shape beautifully when baked and will be the perfect addition to your cookie swap.