Six easy cookie recipes for Christmas or any time of year

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Nothing brought my family together during Christmastime quite like plastic containers filled with homemade cookies. Each year we made oatmeal logs, chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter chip cookies, pizzelles, and kolaczki to pile into containers to give to neighbors and friends.

Our stand mixer got more work in the month of December than the rest of the year combined.

On Christmas morning, the cookies made their way out of the kitchen on a kitschy Santa-shaped platter that would be replenished as the day went on. For me, a habitual lunch-packer, I always cherished the first week of January and a mother who made double batches of already-large cookie recipes, because I knew I had a week of cookies to bring to school.

The cookie traditions look different now. I’m farther from home, and make my own batches to bring for the short time I’ll spend there. My mother won’t be making double batches of anything, and is holding all her baking until we make the drive in. It’s a holiday tradition I’ll always cherish.

Ring in the holiday season with these six easy, delicious cookie recipes. Don’t see your favorite cookie listed here? Send the recipe to me via email and it could be featured soon.

Hazelnut Biscotti

The best part of biscotti? The dry, nutty Italian pastry is perfect alongside your morning cup of coffee. It’s wonderful seeing what a home-baked treat does to start the day off right.

This recipe includes hazelnuts, although if you can’t find those easily, you can substitute for coarsely chopped almonds and a touch of almond extract alongside the vanilla.

Read the full recipe.

Naomi Judd’s Fruitcake Cookies

What’s a cookie tray without a pop of color? This recipe for fruitcake-inspired cookies came from Naomi Judd, and features a touch a smokiness from whiskey and tart sweetness from bright candy red and neon green cherries.

Even the biggest fruitcake skeptics are sure to appreciate this recipe. The balance from nuts, fruits and whiskey results in a delicious treat.

Read the full recipe.

Classic Chocolate Chip

This is my quintessential Christmas cookie. Warm chocolate chip cookies off the cooling rack are a comforting, perfect dessert to take your mind off hectic holiday errands.

Up your chocolate chip cookie game with this recipe, featuring shortening for a luxuriously soft and chewy texture.

Read the full recipe.

Molasses Cookies

These spiced cookies are an underrated star on this list. Molasses and warm spices blend beautifully in this recipe and yield perfectly chewy cookies.

If baking with kids, this is a great recipe to use cookie cutters for and bake into fun holiday shapes.

Read the full recipe.

Mexican Wedding Cookies

The cookie of many names: Russian teacakes, snowballs, and Mexican Wedding Cookies. Once these buttery, delicate cookies are coated with powdered sugar, they look like a bunch of little snowballs.

Great taste aside, these cookies are wonderful for the holidays because they only use five pantry staples, and they come together in about 30 minutes.

Read the full recipe.

Brownie and Cheesecake Bites

Get the best of both worlds with this indulgent recipe. Brownies meet cheesecake in this over-the-top dessert that is sure to become a favorite in your family.

Use a cupcake tin for these to have a uniform shape. The brownie will make a dense cup shape for the cheesecake to sink into. The result is an unbeatable, rich treat perfect year-round.

Read the full recipe.

This story was originally published December 14, 2022 8:00 AM.