21 Easy Christmas Cookies for Gifting, Sharing and Cookie Swaps
Easy Christmas cookies have one job beyond tasting good: they have to survive real December life. They need to be baked ahead, packed into tins, carried to a cookie swap, posted to family, or frozen until the week they are needed — and still taste fresh when someone bites in. That is why every cookie recipe idea below comes with the practical details that actually decide what to bake: approximate yield, whether the dough needs chilling, how long the cookies keep, and whether they are sturdy enough for gifting and shipping.
You do not need all 21. Four to six well-chosen varieties — one cut-out, one spiced, one chocolate, one no-chill, and one showpiece — make a tray that looks abundant and tastes varied without a week in the kitchen.
How to Plan a Christmas Cookie Tray
- Variety of shape and colour matters more than quantity: a round, a sandwich, something dusted, something iced, and something chocolate reads as a generous tray even with modest numbers.
- Plan portions simply: for a swap or party, 3–4 cookies per person plus a few to take home is a workable guide; for gift tins, 8–12 cookies per tin looks full.
- Mix your textures: one crisp cookie, one soft, one chewy, and one buttery short-style cookie stops the tray tasting one-note.
- Work backwards from your freezer: slice-and-bake and cut-out doughs freeze for weeks, so make dough early and bake in the final week — see the guide after the list.
1. Classic Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
The centrepiece of most christmas sugar cookies traditions: a vanilla-scented dough that rolls cleanly, holds sharp edges, and bakes into a sturdy, flat canvas for icing. The dough is forgiving because it contains no leavening beyond a touch of baking powder, so shapes stay true.
Yield: about 36 medium cookies. Chill: Yes — at least 1 hour, or overnight; cold dough is what keeps reindeer from becoming blobs. Keeps: 1 week in a tin, undecorated, or freeze baked and undecorated for up to 3 months and ice after thawing. Best for: decorating with kids; good for gifting once the icing has fully set (allow several hours).
2. Gingerbread Cookies
Molasses, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves in a firm dough that rolls, cuts, and builds. The spices deepen after a day or two, so gingerbread is a rare cookie that genuinely improves with a little age. Pipe simple white icing lines rather than full decoration — it looks classic and dries fast.
Yield: about 30 cookies. Chill: Yes, 2 hours minimum; the dough is soft when first mixed. Keeps: 2 weeks in an airtight tin; excellent for shipping because the cookies are firm and the flavour travels well. Best for: cookie swaps and posted gifts.
3. Vanilla Shortbread
Three-ingredient simplicity — butter, sugar, flour, plus vanilla and a pinch of salt — pressed or rolled and cut into fingers, rounds, or wedges. Good shortbread depends on cold butter and a light hand, not on a long ingredient list, and it pairs with everything else on the tray.
Yield: about 24 fingers. Chill: 30 minutes before baking to keep the edges sharp. Keeps: 2 weeks in a tin — one of the longest keepers here. Best for: gifting and shipping; sturdy, plain, and almost universally liked.
4. Snickerdoodles
Soft, tangled-edged cookies rolled in cinnamon sugar before baking, with a gentle tang from cream of tartar. They need no chilling if your butter is cool, they bake in about 10 minutes, and the cinnamon coating makes them smell like Christmas the moment the tin opens.
Yield: about 30 cookies. Chill: Optional — 30 minutes if your kitchen is warm. Keeps: 4–5 days at their softest; refresh in a low oven for a few minutes. Best for: same-week sharing and swaps rather than shipping, because softness is their charm.
5. Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
Buttery rounds pressed in the centre and filled with raspberry jam — seedless jam gives the neatest finish. The jewel-like centres do your decorating for you, which makes thumbprints one of the highest-impact easy christmas cookies per minute of effort.
Yield: about 28 cookies. Chill: 30 minutes helps prevent spreading and cracking. Keeps: 1 week in a tin, layered with parchment so the jam centres do not stick. Best for: trays and gift tins; pack in a single layer or between parchment for posting.
6. Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
A brownie-like chocolate dough rolled in icing (confectioners’) sugar, which cracks into a black-and-white pattern as the cookies spread in the oven. The secret to bold cracks is a thorough coating of sugar and a properly chilled dough ball.
Yield: about 30 cookies. Chill: Yes — at least 2 hours or overnight; warm dough absorbs the sugar and loses the pattern. Keeps: 5–7 days in a tin. Best for: swaps and trays, where the contrast stands out; a little delicate for posting.
7. Linzer-Style Sandwich Cookies
Spiced, nutty (almond or hazelnut) rounds sandwiched with jam, the top cookie cut with a small window so the jam shows through, finished with a dusting of icing sugar. They look like bakery work but are simply two cut-outs and a spoonful of jam.
Yield: about 20 sandwiches. Chill: Yes, 1 hour; nut doughs are tender. Keeps: 1 week — the jam softens the cookies gradually, which many people prefer; assemble 1–2 days before giving. Best for: gifting, as the prettiest cookie in the tin.
8. Italian Christmas Cookies
Soft, cake-like vanilla or anise-flavoured cookies under a thin white glaze and a scatter of rainbow sprinkles — the cheerful, pillowy style found on Italian-American holiday trays. The dough is quick, needs no rolling, and is dropped or shaped into small knots and rounds.
Yield: about 36 cookies. Chill: Not required, though 20 minutes makes shaping neater. Keeps: 1 week in a tin once the glaze is fully dry. Best for: swaps and gifting — colourful, sturdy once glazed, and a generous yield from one bowl.
9. Peanut Butter Blossoms
A soft peanut butter cookie rolled in sugar, baked, and pressed with a chocolate kiss or chunk the moment it leaves the oven so the chocolate softens and sets into the centre. Few holiday cookies disappear from a swap table faster.
Yield: about 36 cookies. Chill: Not required. Keeps: 1 week in a tin. Best for: sharing and trays. Packing note: the chocolate point makes them awkward to stack for shipping — send them in a single layer in a rigid tin, or choose a sturdier cookie for posting.
10. Rugelach-Style Pinwheels
A cream-cheese pastry rolled around jam, cinnamon sugar, and finely chopped nuts or chocolate, then sliced into small spirals. Making them as sliceable pinwheel logs rather than individually rolled crescents keeps all the flavour with a fraction of the shaping time.
Yield: about 32 small cookies. Chill: Yes — the filled log needs at least 2 hours (or freezing) to slice cleanly. Keeps: 1 week in a tin; the unbaked log freezes for up to 3 months, so you can slice and bake fresh. Best for: gifting — small, rich, and a little different from everything else on the tray.
11. Slice-and-Bake Cranberry Orange Cookies
A buttery log studded with dried cranberries and orange zest, chilled, sliced, and baked. This is the planner’s cookie: the dough waits in the freezer for weeks and bakes from sliced rounds in about 12 minutes, so warm cookies are always 15 minutes away in December.
Yield: about 30 cookies per log. Chill: Yes — at least 2 hours, or freeze the log for up to 3 months and slice while firm. Keeps: Baked cookies keep 2 weeks in a tin. Best for: gifting, shipping, and last-minute baking alike; sturdy and long-keeping.
12. Spritz Cookies
Delicate butter cookies piped or pressed through a cookie press into wreaths and trees, then dotted with coloured sugar or a glacé cherry. The dough must be soft to press but the baked cookies are crisp and keep exceptionally well — the classic make-early cookie.
Yield: about 48 small cookies. Chill: No — chilling makes the dough too stiff to press; if it firms up, let it stand at room temperature briefly. Keeps: 2 weeks in a tin. Best for: filling out gift tins and trays with numbers; too delicate for loose posting, fine in a packed rigid tin.
13. Oatmeal Spice Cookies
Chewy oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a handful of raisins or dried cranberries in a brown-sugar dough. They bake up soft-centred with crisp edges, they are the least fussy cookie here, and they make a welcome change of texture next to all the butter cookies.
Yield: about 30 cookies. Chill: Not required; 30 minutes gives thicker, chewier results. Keeps: 5–7 days in a tin with a piece of parchment between layers. Best for: sharing and lunchbox-style giving; sturdy enough for shipping in a tin.
14. Soft Molasses Cookies
Dark, warmly spiced, and rolled in coarse sugar for a crackled, sparkling top — the soft cousin of the firmer gingerbread cut-outs in item 2. A little underbaking is the whole trick here: they should come out looking slightly soft in the centre and finish setting on the tray.
Yield: about 28 cookies. Chill: 1 hour makes the sticky dough easy to roll into balls. Keeps: 1 week in a tin, and the spice flavour deepens over the first few days. Best for: swaps and trays; pack flat for gifts rather than stacking high.
15. Peppermint Bark Cookies
A dark chocolate cookie base topped with white chocolate and crushed candy canes — all the flavour of peppermint bark in a hand-held round. Crush the candy canes finely rather than in chunks, so each bite gets peppermint without any tooth-threatening shards.
Yield: about 24 cookies. Chill: 30 minutes for the dough; the topped cookies also need 20–30 minutes for the white chocolate to set before packing. Keeps: 1 week in a cool place in a tin. Best for: gifting and trays — striking to look at; ship only in cool weather, as with any chocolate-topped bake.
16. Hot Cocoa Cookies with Marshmallow
A cocoa-rich cookie topped with a halved marshmallow in the last minutes of baking, so it toasts and slumps like the top of a mug of hot chocolate, finished with a drizzle of chocolate or a dusting of cocoa. These are the cookies children point at first on any tray.
Yield: about 24 cookies. Chill: 30 minutes helps the dough hold its shape. Keeps: Best within 3–4 days; the marshmallow firms up over time. Best for: parties and same-week sharing, not for shipping — bake these closest to the day they will be eaten.
17. Stained-Glass Window Cookies
Cut-out cookies with a centre cut away and filled with crushed hard candies, which melt in the oven into a translucent, jewel-coloured window. Use one candy colour per cookie for the cleanest glass effect, and bake on parchment so the candy releases easily.
Yield: about 24 cookies. Chill: Yes, 1 hour — the frames need firm dough to hold their shape around the window. Keeps: About 1 week in a dry tin; humidity softens the candy centres, so keep them airtight and away from soft cookies. Best for: showpieces and gifts (they can even be hung as decorations with a ribbon through a small hole baked in at the top).
18. Coconut Macaroons
Chewy, golden mounds of coconut bound with sweetened condensed milk or whipped egg white, optionally dipped in dark chocolate once cool. They are naturally flourless in most versions — check your specific recipe if you are baking for someone avoiding gluten — and they need no chilling and no special equipment.
Yield: about 24 macaroons. Chill: No. Keeps: 1 week in a tin; the texture stays pleasantly chewy. Best for: swaps and gifting — light, sturdy once the chocolate base sets, and a useful contrast to butter-heavy trays.
19. Almond Biscotti
Twice-baked Italian-style fingers: a firm almond loaf is baked, sliced, and baked again until dry and crisp. Biscotti are the marathon runners of christmas cookie recipes — they keep for weeks, shrug off shipping, and are made for dunking in coffee, tea, or hot chocolate.
Yield: about 30 biscotti. Chill: No, though a brief rest makes the loaf easier to slice neatly with a serrated knife. Keeps: 3–4 weeks in an airtight tin — the longest keeper on this list. Best for: shipping and early gifting; bake these first, in November if you like.
20. Vanilla Meringues
Crisp, feather-light shells of whipped egg white, sugar, and vanilla, piped into kisses and dried in a low oven. Meringues use up the egg whites left over from rich doughs, cost almost nothing, and their snowy whiteness makes every tray look more festive.
Yield: about 40 small meringues. Chill: No — but they need a dry day if possible; humidity is meringue’s enemy both in the oven and in storage. Keeps: 2 weeks in a truly airtight container. Best for: trays and table gifts in person; too fragile for posting.
21. Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies
Two thin, dark chocolate cookies sandwiched with peppermint cream, finished with a drizzle of white chocolate or a dusting of crushed candy cane. They look like a bakery showpiece, slice cleanly, travel well once set, and give the tray a proper finale cookie for anyone who saves the chocolate one for last.
Yield: about 18–20 sandwiches. Chill: Yes, 1 hour for the dough; chill the assembled cookies 20 minutes so the filling firms before packing. Keeps: 1 week in a tin, layered with parchment. Best for: gifting and swaps — sturdy, handsome, and a step up in richness from the everyday tray.
Make-Ahead, Freezing and Shipping Guide
Freeze the dough, not the finished cookie — usually
Most doughs on this list freeze better than the baked cookies: cut-out, slice-and-bake, crinkle, and drop-cookie doughs all keep for up to 3 months. Freeze drop-cookie dough in portioned balls on a tray, then bag them; freeze cut-out dough as flat discs. Bake balls from frozen with 1–2 extra minutes. Biscotti, shortbread, and spritz are the exceptions — these baked cookies keep so well at room temperature that freezing them is unnecessary.
Shelf life at a glance
Crisp cookies (biscotti, shortbread, spritz, slice-and-bake) keep 2–4 weeks in airtight tins. Soft cookies (snickerdoodles, molasses, macaroons, most drop cookies) are best within about a week. Store crisp and soft cookies in separate tins — together, the crisp ones absorb moisture from the soft ones and both suffer. A sheet of parchment between layers protects icing, jam centres, and chocolate tops.
Packing cookies to ship
Choose sturdy cookies (gingerbread, shortbread, slice-and-bake, biscotti, oatmeal spice), pack them snugly in a rigid tin with parchment between layers and crumpled parchment filling any gaps — movement is what breaks cookies, not the journey itself. Fill the box around the tin with padding, ship early in the week so the parcel does not sit in a depot over the weekend, and avoid chocolate-topped cookies if the parcel will travel anywhere warm.
Conclusion
The most reliable Christmas baking plan is a small one done in stages: biscotti and shortbread early, doughs into the freezer through November, and the soft, showpiece cookies baked in the final week. Start with the slice-and-bake cranberry orange log and a batch of cut-out sugar cookies, and you already have the backbone of a tray. And when the holidays are over and you want an everyday bake again, our 19 Soft Amish Chocolate Chip Cookies are the non-holiday favourite to come back to.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far ahead can I bake Christmas cookies?
It depends on the type. Crisp cookies such as biscotti, shortbread, and spritz keep 2–4 weeks in airtight tins, so they can be baked in late November. Most soft and iced cookies are best within a week. For anything softer that you want further ahead, freeze the unbaked dough — most doughs keep up to 3 months — and bake in the week you need them.
What cookies ship best without breaking?
Firm, low, and dry cookies travel best: biscotti, shortbread, gingerbread, slice-and-bake cookies, and oatmeal spice cookies. Avoid tall decorations, soft marshmallow tops, and delicate meringues. Pack snugly in a rigid tin with parchment between layers and no room to move, pad the box well, and post early in the week.
Can I freeze cookie dough instead of baked cookies?
Yes — for most cookies in this list, dough is the better thing to freeze. Portion drop-cookie dough into balls and freeze them solid before bagging; wrap cut-out and slice-and-bake doughs as discs or logs. Freeze for up to 3 months, thaw slice-and-bake and cut-out doughs in the fridge until workable, and bake drop cookies from frozen with an extra minute or two. Add glazes, jam fillings, and decorations after baking, not before freezing.
