The 5 Best Holiday Cookie Recipes You Need to Try

The holidays are all about spreading love and cheer (& eating festive baked goods, right?!). What better way to do that then taking the time to bake a special holiday treat for the ones you love most? These 5 yummy and adorable cookie recipes will have everyone talking and wanting to recreate them next year. Preheat the oven and get to baking!

Melted Snowman Sugar Cookies

What you’ll need

• Sugar cookie mix
• Butter and egg called for on cookie mix pouch
• 1 pouch cookie icing in white
• 12 large marshmallows
• black and orange decorating gel

Directions

• Follow the preparation and baking directions on the sugar cookie pouch for making 12 large cookies.
• On cooled cookies, draw a “snow puddle” with white cookie icing.
• While the icing is still wet, immediately place a marshmallow to one side of the cookie.
• Once the icing and marshmallow have set, pipe two branches onto each cookie using black gel
• Dot two eyes with black decorating gel
• Allow cookies to set for at least one hour before serving.

Vegan Chocolate Reindeer Cookies

What you’ll need

• 115g of dairy-free butter (cubed)
• 140g of caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract
• 30ml of dairy-free milk
• 210g of plain flour
• 20g of cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
• 100g of Hu Chocolate Crunchy Mint (roughly chopped)
• 100g of dairy-free butter
• 150g of icing sugar
• 10g of cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint extract
• 20ml of aquafaba (chickpea brine)
• 50g of dairy-free white chocolate
• 80g of Hu Chocolate Crunchy Mint
• Handful of fresh cranberries

Directions

• Cookies

  Whip butter and sugar together until creamy. Add in peppermint, dairy-free milk, flour, cocoa powder and raising agents. Fold in the chocolate. Mix to form a cookie dough. Roll dough into balls and place on a greaseproof paper lined tray. Top with more chocolate, then bake and allow to cool.

• Frosting

  Whip butter in a stand mixer until pale and fluffy then add in icing sugar, cocoa powder and peppermint, whip to combine. Pour in the aquafaba and whip until light and airy. Transfer into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip nozzle. Pipe a swirl on top of each cookie.

• Decoration

  Melt some dark and white chocolate using a bain-marie. Transfer the chocolate into separate piping bags, pipe small buttons of the white chocolate, and pipe a dot of dark chocolate in the centre. This creates the eyes. Pipe antlers using the dark chocolate, chill until set. Press into the frosting. Press on a cranberry for the nose then serve.

Gingerbread Cheesecake Cookies

What you’ll need

• Unsalted Butter (make sure it’s softened, room temperature butter)
• Brown Sugar
• Molasses
• Egg Yolks- make sure they’re room temperature
• Vanilla
• Flour
• Baking Soda
• Salt
• Spices: ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves
• Granulated White Sugar
• Cream Cheese

Directions

• Add the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla to a small mixing bowl. Mix on medium-high speed with an electric mixer until the cream cheese mixture is fluffy and the sugar has dissolved, about 2 minutes. Scoop the cheesecake mixture into 18, 2 teaspoon portions onto a small parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Freeze the cheesecake balls until they are frozen and very firm.
• To make the gingerbread cookie dough, whisk together the flour, spices, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Then set aside the flour mixture.
• In a large bowl cream the softened butter and brown sugar together with an electric hand mixer on high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary with a rubber spatula. (You can also use a bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.)
• Add in the egg yolks, molasses and vanilla and mix for one minute on medium speed until fluffy.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and combine on low speed.
• Scoop the dough into 18 portions with a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop, then roll into balls. Press cookie dough to slightly flatten it out, then place a frozen cheesecake ball in the center. Then close the cheesecake ball in with the cookie dough and roll into a ball again. Make sure the cheesecake is completely covered in cookie dough. Roll the cookie dough balls in the spiced sugar.
• Transfer the cookie dough to a prepared baking sheet lined with a sheet of parchment paper. Bake 6 cookies at a time. Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer the baked cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Then serve!

Matcha Crinkle Cookies

What you’ll need

• 1 stick unsalted butter 1/2 cup
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 3 tbsp matcha 

For rolling:

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp matcha optional

Directions

Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies

What you’ll need

• 1 cup (220g) unsalted butter
• 2 cups (265g) all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup (200g) dark brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp molasses
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate (chips or chopped) + more for topping
• 1 cup pecan halves, roughly chopped + more for topping
• Flaky sea salt

Directions

• First, brown the butter. Add the 1 cup of butter to a saucepan over medium heat. Melt and continue to stir until it turns a rich amber color and gives off a nutty scent
• Pour into a large mixing bowl (making sure to scrape in the browned bits at the bottom of the pot) and set aside to cool.
• In a smaller bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
• Once the brown butter is no longer hot, add the brown sugar, sugar, and molasses to the bowl. Whisk to combine. You can either do so by hand or with an electric mixer. It should resemble the texture of a slushie.
• Whisk in the eggs and vanilla until fully combined.
• Pour in all of the dry ingredients and mix to incorporate. Switch to a rubber spatula to fold in the ingredients once the dough starts to thicken.
• Fold in the dark chocolate and pecans. At this point, the dough should be sticky and able to hold its shape when scooped. If it’s too thin, place it in the refrigerator uncovered for about 30 minutes to cool.
• But if it’s already at the right consistency, scoop out the cookie dough using a large 2oz scoop or 1/4 measuring cup. Place the scoops side by side on a plate or small baking sheet lined with wax or parchment paper.
• When ready, place 5-6 large cookies on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 350F for 13-15 minutes. If your cookies are smaller than 2oz, bake for 10-12 minutes. The cookies are ready when the edges are golden and the middle looks puffed, pale, and a bit underdone.
• When they’re hot from the oven, sprinkle the tops with a bit of sea salt and transfer to a cooling rack. If the cookies are too soft to move, let them sit on the cookie sheet for about 5 minutes and then try again.
• Bake the remaining cookie dough and dig in!

‘Tis the season! Cozy on up with some fresh baked cookies, a glass of milk, and a holiday feel-good movie to get in the festive mood!