12 Delicious Days of Holiday Cookies

Bring on the holiday cheer with a roundup of our most festive treats: brand-new recipes, created for 2022 — to make this year's cookie plate your merriest one yet!

November 02, 2022

By: Food Network Kitchen

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Photo By: Teri Lyn Fisher

Photo By: Matt Armendariz

Photo By: Teri Lyn Fisher

Photo By: Matt Armendariz

Photo By: Teri Lyn Fisher

Photo By: Matt Armendariz

The Most Delicious Countdown

It wouldn't be the holidays without the scent of sugar and butter wafting from your oven — and cookie tins bursting with treats for sharing. So, we dreamed up a whole new lineup of holiday cookies that are perfect for spreading some holiday cheer. With new takes on classics, easy-to-make sweets and yummy snacks to leave for Santa on Christmas Eve, you're guaranteed to find recipes you'll want to make this holiday season — and add to your annual rotation for years to come!

Marshmallow Melting Snowman Cookies

These adorable holiday cookies will charm and delight recipients of all ages. Simply pipe mounds of marshmallow creme on top of sugar cookie dough. As they bake, the marshmallow slumps off the side to create a melting snowman. Decorate with an assortment of candies and sprinkles to bring these snowmen to life. Note: Marshmallow creme can become sticky at room temperature, so make sure to separate each cookie with wax paper in your tins to prevent them from sticking.

Get the Recipe: Marshmallow Melting Snowman Cookies

Pecan Pie Cookies

These cookies are simple to make and absolutely delicious. They should definitely be a staple on your holiday table (they’re secretly gluten-free too, but shhhh...don’t tell anyone).

Get the Recipe: Pecan Pie Cookies

Crunchy Buckeyes

Crispy rice cereal adds a delightful crunchiness to this classic peanut butter and chocolate treat.

Get the Recipe: Crunchy Buckeyes

Cookies and Cream Magic Bars

These sweet treats are so easy to make and take just 15 minutes to assemble. The cookie crumbs and sweetened condensed milk magically combine to make an ooey-gooey bottom layer, then generous sprinkles of coconut and semisweet and white chocolate chips form the generous topping. The result is a delicious bar cookie to make throughout the year.

Get the Recipe: Cookies and Cream Magic Bars

Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies

These olive oil cookies are my take on everyone’s favorite ooey gooey chocolate chip cookie. Instead of butter, good-quality extra-virgin olive oil is the base fat, adding moisture and richness and elevating the flavor profile of this dessert. While I can assure you the cookies won’t taste like salad dressing, they'll have a gentle floral, citrusy, nutty and herbaceous undertone that complements the chocolate. To enhance the natural citrus hint the olive oil brings, I use freshly grated orange zest to flavor the cookie dough, rubbing it with the granulated sugar until the sugar turns yellow and fragrant. It’s a small step that goes a long way, adding a touch of complexity that will make you go in for another bite. Every guest I have served these to has asked for the recipe. There’s something so simple, yet so unique about them. You’re going to love these cookies.

Get the Recipe: Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies

The Worst Christmas Cookie

Can a cookie be so outrageously good, so superior to all others, that it’s actually bad? We were intrigued when recipe blogger Sam of Sugar Spun Run caused a sensation with her recipe for The Worst Chocolate Chip Cookie. She claimed this cookie was so delicious it would ruin people for all other cookies. It made us wonder: What would the "worst" Christmas cookie be like? We started out with a rich, dark, chocolate cookie dough, added in the best elements of a "loaded" monster cookie, then topped it off with irresistible holiday color and flair. If you love a soft, chewy cookie studded with pockets of gooey chocolate, toffee bits and pecans, then finished with gooey marshmallow and chocolate candy, then this decadent masterpiece will ruin you for all other Christmas contenders. It’s the absolute worst!

Get the Recipe: The Worst Christmas Cookie

Mojito Sugar Cookies

Since moving to California from Puerto Rico and spending many holidays stateside, I’ve come to really love the American tradition of baking and decorating Christmas cookies. It’s not something I grew up doing, but I've eagerly embraced it as a late bloomer. As a result, I thought I’d have a little fun and combine my favorite tropical cocktail and the tradition of Christmas cookie decorating into one. This "mojito" cookie is buttery, sugary and refreshing. A touch of rum in the icing makes this an adults-only treat, but you can substitute lime juice for the rum for a virgin cookie option.

Get the Recipe: Mojito Sugar Cookies

Gingerbread Cookies

Nothing beats a sweet-and-spiced gingerbread cutout cookie, especially when it’s topped with colorful icing, candy pieces or sprinkles! Duff’s recipe is the perfect choice for the holidays. The dough is loaded with warm baking spices like cinnamon, ginger and cloves — and it’s easy to work with no matter which cookie cutter you’ve picked out this year. The secret is to keep the dough very cold. Refrigerate the dough before cutting the shapes and then chill the unbaked cookies again before popping them in the oven. That will help them keep their festive shapes during the baking process.

Get the Recipe: Gingerbread Cookies

Peanut Butter Jammies

If you love the classic combination of peanut butter and jelly, then this cookie is your jam! Baked in muffin pans, these thick, soft cookies don’t skimp on peanut butter flavor and boast the perfect amount of sweet grape jam on top. This recipe uses grape jam instead of jelly since it’s thicker and will hold up better in the cookie.

Get the Recipe: Peanut Butter Jammies

Melomakarona

These Greek cookies, scented with warm spices like cinnamon and cloves, are traditionally served around Christmas. The dough, made with semolina flour and olive oil, has a tender, crumbly texture. Once baked, the cookies are soaked in an aromatic orange honey syrup which makes them even more delicious. Most recipes for melomakarona don’t call for salt so it's not included here. However, some call for brandy while others just add orange juice. Melomakarona keep well for a long time and can be prepared well in advance of serving. As an added bonus, they just happen to be egg- and dairy-free.

Get the Recipe: Melomakarona

Slice-and-Bake Dreidel Cookies

These beautiful dreidel cookies are perfect for Hannukah. They each have a blue dreidel in the center inscribed with a different letter from the Hebrew alphabet when arranged together to represent the Hebrew phrase, "a great miracle happened there." The simple shape of a dreidel is especially striking for slice and bake cookies; the key is to keep the colored dough frozen and firm and the uncolored dough soft but still chilled. You can bake the cookies right away or keep the entire log wrapped in the freezer, then slice off and bake cookies as needed!

Get the Recipe: Slice-and-Bake Dreidel Cookies

Brandy Snaps

Originating in the UK, brandy snaps are delicately thin wafer cookies with a signature lacy texture. When rolled and filled with whipped cream, they are the ultimate sweet treat. While the brandy snap is shatteringly crisp, the whipped cream is soft and fluffy and offsets the sugary cookie perfectly. Despite their name, brandy snaps traditionally do not contain any brandy, though we’ve added a small amount to the whipped cream as a tasty option for adults. Commonly used in British baking recipes, golden syrup is available in some supermarkets and can be found online.

Get the Recipe: Brandy Snaps

Linzer Thumbprints

If you’re a fan of a Linzer torte you’ll love these cookies. If you’ve yet to try this famous Austrian dessert, just imagine shortbread crust spread with sweet fruit jam and covered with a lattice top — irresistible, just like these bite-size versions!

Get the Recipe: Linzer Thumbprints