• Cocktails & Caterers

^{get the recipe: Wholefully}

Christmas time is known for packing in tons of different traditions but one of our favorites is getting together with friends and family and baking up a storm. It might not be great for our waistlines but the warm fuzzies that we feel during and after this cookie baking sesh are more than enough to make up for it!

Not sure what to bake first? We will let you in on our list of Christmas cookies we shouldn't but really should bake up this holiday season with 20 delicious recipes that we can't wait to ruin our diets for! Keep scrolling to start the sweet torture of picking out what to bake first. 

1. Copycat Lofthouse Sugar Cookies

(Above) You know those AWEsome soft sugar cookies that you always want to buy at the grocery store but only cave in and devour once in a while… well, you may not want to know this, but we have a recipe for those exact cookies!!

Prep Time: 20 mins |  Cook Time: 7 mins |  Makes: 4 dozen

Visit Wholefully for the full recipe!

2. CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT GANACHE COOKIES

^{get the recipe: Two Peas & Their Pod}

Chocolate cookies, okay. Dip them in chocolate ganache, go on! Sprinkle it with a generous helping of crushed candy cane, quit talking and start baking!!! Seriously, why has the oven not been preheated yet!?

Prep Time: 15 mins | Cook Time: 10 mins | Makes: 32 cookies

Visit Two Peas & Their Pod for the full recipe!

3. Raspberry Almond Shortbread Cookies

^{get the recipe: Dear Chrissy}

There is something very grandmotherly about these raspberry almond shortbread cookies. They feel like the kind of treat she would have waiting for you as after an afternoon of playing in the snow. Well, now you can pass this tradition on to the children in your life… or maybe just keep them for yourself.

Prep Time: 30 mins | Cook Time: 10 mins | Makes: 36 cookies 

Visit Dear Crissy for the full recipe!

4. Peppermint Bark

^{Get The Recipe: Sugar Apron}

Alright you caught us, this isn’t technically a cookie, but needless to say, peppermint bark is a holiday staple. How many times have you looked at a half-eaten container of it and wondered who snuck in and stole all your delicious Christmas candy? Before you start interrogating your cat about this theft we have good news. You can make more!

Prep Time: 20 mins | Makes: One 9x9 pan

Visit Sugar Apron for the full recipe!

5. Salted Pistachio bRITTLE

^{GET the RECIPE: Cravings by Chrissy Teigen}

We just couldn't resist adding some brittle. You'll have to pull out your candy thermometer for this killer dessert, but we promise you it'll be worth the extra work! This not-so-sweet, but incredibly yummy brittle drives us wild, and it makes for an amazing gift. Win-win!

Prep Time: 20 mins | Cook Time: 7-10 mins | Serves: 10-12

Visit Cravings by Chrissy Teigen for the full recipe!

6.Orange Vanilla Cookies

^{get the recipe: Imperial Sugar}

Need something to go with that hot cocoa you are sipping? Let us recommend these old fashioned orange-vanilla cookies. With a bit of orange zest to brighten up your taste buds and the soothing taste of vanilla bean, you cannot go wrong this holiday season with these dainty looking cookies.

Prep Time: 10 mins | Cook Time: 12 mins | Makes: 3 dozen

Visit Imperial Sugar for the full recipe!

7. Peppermint kiss oreo balls

^{get the recipe: The First Year}

We admit that we haven’t had these before but you can't go wrong with an oreo + peppermint combo, and these look so yummy we might just try them this weekend. From the peppermint kiss in the center to the candy cane coating on the outside, we can’t wait to start baking!

Total time: 1 hour 30 mins | Makes: About two dozen 

Visit The First Year for the full recipe!

8. Homemade Samoas Cookies

^{Get the recipe: Just a Taste}

Those Girl Scouts really have us trained. Who else craves Thin Mints or Tagalongs around this time of year? Don’t you wish you could just go to the store and pick up a box? Well, now you can stick it to those Girl Scouts by baking up your own! These homemade Samoas look good enough to box up and sell at insane prices for people to hoard in their freezers for half the year.

Prep Time: 2 hours | Cook Time: 15 mins | Makes: 4 dozen

Visit Just A Taste for the full recipe!

9. Grinch Christmas Cookies

^{Get the recipe: Momdot}

Bright green and a single red heart-shaped sprinkle in the middle, these Grinch cookies caught our eye immediately. We know the kids in your life… and your child at heart will love these adorable themed cookies, even if you do spend this season hating Who’s.

Prep Time: 10 mins | Cook Time: 10-13 mins

Visit Momdot for the full recipe!

10. Classic Gingerbread Men Cookies

^{get the recipe: Sally's Baking Addiction}

Gingerbread Men are classic. What holiday cartoon special is complete without a few of these guys sprinkled throughout, and what kid hasn’t loved decorating their own every year. Classic holiday memories to go with a classic holiday cookie. Well, you may love the look of gingerbread men, but sometimes the cookie isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. This recipe is here to change that, soft in the center and crisp on the edges we want to gobble these all up right now!

Prep Time: 4 hours | Cook Time: 9-10 mins | Makes: 24, 4in cookies

Visit Sally's Baking Addiction for the full recipe!

11. Famous Soft Glazed Pumpkin Cookies

^{get the recipe: Chocolate With Grace}

Our culture is OBSESSED with pumpkin right now, but for good reason, pumpkin spice is such a wonderful taste that we can’t help adding it to everything, but one thing no one argues against is pumpkin cookies. And let us tell you these are some of THE BEST! Thick and soft with a delicious glaze, sign us up for 4 dozen!

Prep Time: 20 mins | Cook Time: 15 mins | Makes: 6 dozen

Visit Chocolate With Grace for the full recipe!

12. Eggnog Fudge

^{get the recipe: Baking Beauty}

Can you say heaven? We love eggnog and seeing it appear in stores gives us a little lift of holiday spirit every year! Now a few days ago we would have said their nothing you can do to make eggnog any more perfect, but that was before we saw this recipe for eggnog fudge!!! Waaaaaaaaaat? Heaven, meet perfection!

Prep Time: 5 mins | Cook Time: 10 mins | Makes: 24 pieces (or one giant plate for yourself)

Visit Baking Beauty for the full recipe!

13. Dark Chocolate Cherry Cookies With Almonds

^{get the recipe: Food, Forks, and Fun}

Dark chocolate AND cherry… we are listening. These dark little cookies have to be added to our list of things to bake soon. With some delicious potential, we can’t wait to chow down on these next to a roaring fire while it quietly snows outside our window.

Prep Time: 50 mins | Cook Time: 10 mins | Makes: 32 cookies

Visit Food, Folks, and Fun for the full recipe!

14. Christmas Wreath Cookies

^{get the recipe: The First Year}

These are a true remnant of our past as they always seemed to show up at holiday bake sales and Christmas parties. Simple enough most elementary school kids could help make these fun little wreaths, plus forget the frosting, decorating these suckers is a sinch. These are a must if you have kids!

Prep Time: 20 mins | Makes: 12-14 wreaths

Visit The First Year for the full recipe!

15. Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

^{get the recipe: Rasa Malaysia}

These chocolate crinkle cookies are always a crowd favorite at our house, but we also have nicknamed them funny albeit gross things like reindeer and/or snowman poop cookies. But whatever you call them, they will not last long.

Prep Time: 20 mins | Cook Time: 12 mins | Makes: 6 dozen

Visit Rasa Malaysia for the full recipe!

16. hOMEMADE SALTED CARAMEL

^{get the recipe: 12 Tomatoes}

Salted caramel!! Could this season get any more cheery? Our mouths are watering just thinking of this tasty treat and now you can cook up a batch right at home! P.S. These delicious morsels also make for a wonderful gift for friends and family, so share the love!

Prep Time: 30 mins | Makes: 4 dozen

Visit 12 Tomatoes for the full recipe!

17. Chocolate Dipped Cheesecake Cookies

^{get the recipe: Yellow Bliss Road}

Sweet Mary and Joseph! They have turned chocolate cheesecake into a cookie. There go all our dieting plans for the new year. Not that we are complaining, these chocolate-dipped cheesecake cookies look way better than the gym.

Prep Time: 30 mins | Cook Time: 10-12 mins | Makes: 2 dozen

Visit Yellow Bliss Road for the full recipe!

18. Buckeye Brownie Cookies

^{get the recipe: Taste of Lizzy T}

Who here has had a buckeye before? We encountered them a few years ago and were blown away by the rich peanut butter and chocolate flavor. It was like a peanut butter cup had kicked its game up 20 notches! Now add that to a fudgy gooey brownie cookie and your heart is sure to flutter for a few minutes before it shuts down from the sugar overload! Now that’s what we call a cookie!

Prep Time: 30 mins | Cook Time: 24 mins | Makes: 24 cookies

Visit Tastes of Lizzy T for the full recipe!

19. Apple Pie Cookies

^{get the recipe: OMG Chocolate Desserts}

If you could make your favorite pie bite-sized wouldn’t you? Unequivocally YES! That’s why when we saw these apple pie cookies we just stopped and drooled for a few minutes. Not only are they so pretty with their classic pie lattice tops but they also won us over in the taste category!

Prep Time: 1.5 hours | Cook Time: 20-30 mins | Makes: 16 cookies

Visit OMG Chocolate Desserts for the full recipe!

20. Peppermint Sugar Cookies + Cream Cheese Frosting

^{get the recipe: Cooking Classy}

We couldn’t close out a cookie slider without some classic peppermint sugar cookies, right? And these pink and white little devils are exactly that! Soft and chewy like the Lofthouse cookies, but with a heavenly hint of peppermint and topped with cream cheese frosting. Yes, yes, yes a thousand times yes!

Prep Time: 25 mins | Cook Time: 11 mins | Makes: 15 cookies

Visit Cooking Classy for the full recipe!