Instructions
Holiday baking is one of those traditions that makes the season feel like the season. Maybe you’re filling tins for friends and neighbors, bringing a tray to a cookie exchange, baking with the kids, or simply making something sweet to enjoy at home. Whatever is on the calendar, a few dependable festive cookie recipes make it easy to get started.
This collection has something for every kind of baker, from nostalgic gingerbread and buttery spritz cookies to chocolate crinkles, peppermint swirls, and creamy thumbprints. McCormick® favorites like All Natural Pure Vanilla Extract, Ground Cinnamon, Ground Ginger, Ground Nutmeg, and Pure Peppermint Extract help create the distinctive tastes we associate with this time of year.
Here are 10 holiday cookie recipes to bake, share, gift, and come back to year after year.
What You'll Find in This Holiday Cookie Collection
A memorable cookie assortment is all about variety. Pair crisp edges with tender centers, warming spices with cool peppermint, and chocolate treats with lighter, buttery options. Different shapes and finishes also make a platter more inviting, from powdered crinkles and sugar-coated rounds to colorful swirls.
Your schedule can help narrow down what to make. Some doughs need several hours in the refrigerator, making them easy to prepare the night before. Others require very little waiting. If you’re filling gift boxes, look for sturdy options that are easy to stack and transport. Planning a baking afternoon with the kids? Save the cookie press, cutouts, colorful sugar, and decorating for when everyone can join in.
Ready to start baking? These 10 holiday cookie recipes offer something for nearly every occasion and skill level.
The 10 Essential Holiday Cookie Recipes
1. Gingerbread Cookies
Difficulty: Easy | Time: About 5 hours, including chilling | Batch: Varies
Featured spices and extracts: McCormick Ground Ginger, Ground Cinnamon, Ground Nutmeg and All Natural Pure Vanilla Extract
Gingerbread Latte Cookies put a coffeehouse-inspired spin on gingerbread. Espresso powder joins McCormick Ground Ginger, Ground Cinnamon, Ground Nutmeg, molasses, and All Natural Pure Vanilla Extract in the dough, followed by a white chocolate espresso drizzle once the cookies have cooled. Since the dough can rest overnight, you can mix it one day and bake the next.
For a traditional take, our Gingerbread Cookie Recipe can be cut into gingerbread people or other seasonal shapes. Chocolate Kissed Gingerbread Thumbprint Cookies with Vanilla Drizzle offer another direction, pairing the ginger-and-molasses dough with milk chocolate centers and vanilla glaze.
2. Spritz Cookies
Difficulty: Intermediate | Time: About 30 minutes | Batch: Varies by cookie press
Featured spices and extracts: McCormick All Natural Pure Vanilla Extract and Pure Almond Extract
A cookie press gives Spritz Cookies their signature shapes, while vanilla and almond extracts complement the buttery dough. Finish them with sprinkles or chocolate chips before they head into the oven.
There’s no extended dough-chilling step, so this is a convenient recipe when you want to bake and decorate in the same afternoon. Kids can also get involved by choosing press designs and adding the decorations.
3. Chocolate Chip Cookies
Difficulty: Easy | Time: About 3 hours, including chilling | Batch: Varies
Featured spices and extracts: McCormick All Natural Pure Vanilla Extract
A Christmas cookie assortment doesn’t have to be limited to seasonal specialties. Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies earn their name from brown sugar and cornstarch, which contribute to moist, tender centers and a chewy bite. A full tablespoon of McCormick All Natural Pure Vanilla Extract brings rich warmth to the dough and rounds out the semisweet chocolate chips.
You can also lean into the vanilla with Vanilla Rich Chocolate Chip Cookies, which use four teaspoons in the dough. Or introduce something unexpected with Matcha Chocolate Chip Cookies, where earthy matcha balances semisweet chocolate.
Explore The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes for more ways to reinvent this familiar favorite.
4. Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Difficulty: Easy | Time: About 4 hours, including chilling | Batch: Varies
Featured spices and extracts: McCormick All Natural Pure Vanilla Extract
With dark cocoa peeking through a snowy confectioners’ sugar coating, Chocolate Crinkle Cookies bring instant contrast to a dessert tray. The outside develops its recognizable crackled appearance in the oven while the middle remains soft and brownie-like.
The dough needs 4 hours in the refrigerator, but once it’s ready, baking takes only 10 minutes. Roll each ball first in granulated sugar and then generously in confectioners’ sugar to create the characteristic crinkle effect.
5. Pecan Cookie Balls
Difficulty: Easy | Time: About 30 minutes | Batch: Varies
Featured spices and extracts: McCormick Ground Nutmeg and All Natural Pure Vanilla Extract
Also known as Mexican Wedding Cookies, Pecan Cookie Balls have a nutty, melt-in-your-mouth quality that stands apart from the chewier selections in this collection. Finely chopped pecans run throughout the butter-based dough, with McCormick All Natural Pure Vanilla Extract and Ground Nutmeg rounding out the taste.
Their snowy coating comes from confectioners’ sugar applied twice: first while the cookies are hot and again after they cool. The compact shape also makes them easy to tuck into a cookie tin.
6. Candy Cane Swirl Cookies
Difficulty: Intermediate | Time: About 3 hours, including chilling | Batch: Varies
Featured spices and extracts: McCormick All Natural Pure Vanilla Extract and Pure Peppermint Extract
Red-and-white spirals give Candy Cane Swirl Cookies plenty of visual appeal. Half of the dough is flavored with McCormick All Natural Pure Vanilla Extract, while Pure Peppermint Extract and Red Food Color transform the other half. The two rectangles are layered and rolled into a log before being coated with McCormick Candy Cane Finishing Sugar and sliced.
Prepare the log at least two hours ahead or leave it in the refrigerator overnight. When you’re ready to bake, simply coat, slice, and transfer the rounds to the baking sheet.
7. Cranberry Chocolate Chunk Air Fryer Cookies
Difficulty: Easy | Time: About 30 minutes per batch | Batch: Varies
Featured spices and extracts: McCormick All Natural Pure Vanilla Extract
When oven space is at a premium, Cranberry Chocolate Chunk Air Fryer Cookies offer another way to keep the baking going. Tart dried cranberries cut through the sweetness of dark chocolate; with McCormick All Natural Pure Vanilla Extract incorporated into the dough and toasted pecans available as an optional addition.
Skip the nuts if you prefer and increase the cranberries or chocolate instead. White chocolate chips can also be substituted for a sweeter variation.
8. Snickerdoodles
Difficulty: Easy | Time: About 2 hours, including chilling | Batch: Varies
Featured spices and extracts: McCormick Ground Cinnamon and All Natural Pure Vanilla Extract
Snickerdoodle Cookies deliver a cinnamon-sugar exterior with a crisp bite outside and chewy middle. McCormick Cream of Tartar introduces the subtle tang that distinguishes a snickerdoodle from an ordinary sugar cookie.
There are several ways to adapt the recipe. Holiday Cinnamon Snickerdoodles offer another old-fashioned version, while Pumpkin Snickerdoodles incorporate pumpkin puree and McCormick Pumpkin Pie Spice.
For a chai-inspired coating, use cinnamon with cardamom, ginger, and allspice.
9. Eggnog Thumbprint Cookies
Difficulty: Intermediate | Time: About 1 hour | Batch: Varies
Featured spices and extracts: McCormick Ground Nutmeg, All Natural Pure Vanilla Extract and Rum Extract
Eggnog Thumbprint Cookies trade the usual jam center for a smooth filling inspired by the seasonal drink. Butter, confectioners’ sugar, milk, McCormick Rum Extract, and Ground Nutmeg fill the indentation in each cooled cookie.
Chopped walnuts appear both inside the dough and around its exterior, providing a nutty crunch against the softer center. A final dusting of nutmeg can be added before serving.
10. Sugar Cookies
Difficulty: Easy | Time: About 3 hours, including chilling | Batch: Varies
Featured spices and extracts: McCormick All Natural Pure Vanilla Extract
A dependable Sugar Cookies Recipe leaves plenty of room for creativity. Vanilla and butter create the familiar base, while McCormick Cream of Tartar helps give the cookies a tender, chewy texture and maintain their shape. Keep them simple with a coating of granulated sugar or dress them for the occasion with colored or finishing sugar.
For more cinnamon, Double Cinnamon Sugar Cookies incorporate the spice into both the dough and coating. Spiced Holiday Sugar Cookies add McCormick Ground Cinnamon and Ground Nutmeg to cutout dough and finish the shapes with colorful icing. Colorful Sugar Cookies show how homemade tinted sugar can change the look to match the celebration.
Baking Tips for Holiday Success
If you’re tackling several batches in one day, start with doughs that need the longest refrigeration time. While gingerbread or crinkle dough chills, you can mix a quicker recipe, prepare decorations, or clear space on cooling racks.
Accurate measuring matters, particularly with flour. Too much can leave cookies drier than intended. Follow each recipe’s directions for creaming butter and sugar, and don’t rush refrigeration when it’s included in the method.
For back-to-back trays, allow enough room between cookies and rotate baking sheets when needed for even results. Avoid placing fresh dough onto a pan that is still hot from the previous batch, which may cause it to spread before baking gets underway.
If cookies are spreading more than expected, check whether the dough or pan has become too warm. If a batch seems dry, review the flour measurement and begin checking the next tray at the earliest suggested baking time.
New to cookie baking? 7 Easy Cookie Recipes to Feel Like a Baking Pro has more inspiration for building confidence in the kitchen.
Decorating, Gifting, and Serving Ideas
You don’t need elaborate piping skills to make homemade cookies ready for a celebration. Confectioners’ sugar creates the snowy surface on crinkles and pecan balls, chocolate drizzle dresses up gingerbread, and colored sugar can turn an uncomplicated cookie into an eye-catching addition to the tray. Chopped nuts, citrus zest, sprinkles, spices, and icing provide other ways to customize a batch.
For gifting, let everything cool completely before packing. Line tins or boxes with parchment and separate varieties when necessary so each maintains its intended consistency. Add labels with the cookie names and allergen information, then pair the assortment with tea, coffee, or hot cocoa.
When arranging a dessert platter, think about contrast rather than filling it with cookies that look alike. Place dark chocolate crinkles near pale pecan balls, add peppermint swirls for color, and use decorated sugar cookies to introduce different shapes.
You can expand a homemade gift box or sweets table with one of our Easy Holiday Bark Recipes.
Storing, Freezing, and Preparing Ahead
Holiday baking becomes much easier when you divide the work across several days. Doughs that require refrigeration give you a natural place to stop: mix them in advance, chill as directed and return to baking when your schedule allows.
Once the cookies have cooled completely, transfer them to airtight containers. Keep crisp and softer varieties separate when possible so they retain their individual textures.
For longer-term prep, cookie dough or fully baked cookies can be frozen when appropriate for the individual recipe. Wrap them securely and use freezer-safe containers to limit exposure to air and moisture. When you're planning a busy week, consider mixing and chilling first, baking on another day, and leaving decorating and packaging until the end.
Holiday Cookie FAQs
How do I choose the best Christmas cookies to make?
Think about where the cookies are going. Gingerbread, spritz cookies, pecan cookie balls, and sugar cookies are practical for tins and gift boxes. For a party platter, select options that differ noticeably from one another, such as cocoa-forward crinkles, striped peppermint cookies, cinnamon-coated snickerdoodles, and filled thumbprints.
Can I substitute one extract for another?
It depends on the recipe and the strength of the extract. Snickerdoodles are particularly adaptable: Orange, Almond, or Maple Extract can replace vanilla, while Rum Extract paired with cinnamon and nutmeg creates an eggnog-inspired version.
Can I make holiday cookies gluten-free?
Changing the flour can affect how a cookie spreads and holds its shape. If you want to adapt one of these recipes, choose a gluten-free baking blend designed as a substitute for all-purpose flour and follow the directions provided with that product.
What are some easy ways to change a cookie recipe?
Small additions can take a familiar cookie in a different direction. Pair citrus zest with chocolate, bring almond extract into a butter-based dough, use peppermint for a cooling note, or reach for cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and other spices when you want a warmer profile.
What should I serve with a holiday cookie platter?
Coffee, tea, milk, and hot cocoa are easy partners for an assortment of cookies. If you’re building a larger dessert table, add fresh fruit, chocolate bark, or another sweet with a contrasting consistency. Our guide to How to Make Whipped Cream can help with a homemade topping for pie, cake, cocoa, and other seasonal desserts.
From espresso-spiked gingerbread and cocoa-dusted crinkles to peppermint spirals and cinnamon-coated snickerdoodles, these holiday cookie recipes make it easy to build an assortment with plenty of contrast. Bake a few for the cookie jar, package some for friends, or make all 10 part of a new tradition, because there’s always room for one more cookies during the holidays.
