Sugar cravings and the holidays go hand-in-hand, so why not satisfy your tastebuds — and be the star of your holiday get together — by whipping up one of these delicious cookie recipes? We sought out some popular food folks to see if they’d share a recipe with us, and we’re excited to report they did just that. Here are five holiday cookie recipes you’ll love. Enjoy!
Jam-Filled Thumbprint Cookies
“These jam thumbprints are ones I remember from childhood,” shares caterer Kristen Winston. “These cookies are perfect to make with young children, as they have so much fun doing the thumbprints!”
Jam-Filled Thumbprint Cookies | Image: Kristen Winston
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup assorted jam (I like seedless raspberry or apricot)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1-1/2 Tablespoons water
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a light or medium-colored heavy-weight baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Whisk flour and salt together in a bowl.
- In another bowl, beat together butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla extract. Add flour mix until incorporated and dough comes together.
- Form dough into 1-inch balls (approx. 1 T dough) and arrange on prepared baking sheet.
- Make indentation in the center of each cookie with your thumb or the back of a small spoon.
- Bake cookies for 10 minutes or until bottoms are just barely golden. Remove baking sheet from oven. If indentations look shallow, press them slightly with the back of a spoon and then fill each with a rounded ¼ teaspoon jam. Bake for an additional 4 minutes, or until jam melts slightly and edges of cookies are lightly golden. Let stand on baking sheet for 1 minute, then transfer to wire racks to cool.
- Whisk ingredients in a small bowl to combine. Drizzle over cookies
Chocolate Nemesis Cookies
This recipe comes to us from Nashville caterer Johnny Haffner. Chips of all chocolate flavors work in concert to create a delicious dessert. Plus, “They are soft and fudgie,” Johnny shares.
Chocolate Nemesis Cookies | Image: Johnny Haffner
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 11 oz bittersweet chocolate
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup of sugar
- 2 tablespoons vanilla
- ½ cup flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ baking powder
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup of white chocolate chips
- ½ cup of milk chocolate chips
- 1 cup of chopped pecans
- 1 cup of chopped walnuts
- Melt together 6 Tbs of butter and bittersweet chocolate.
- Mix together eggs, sugar, vanilla, flour, salt and baking powder.
- Fold melted chocolate in and add semi-sweet chips, white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, pecans and walnuts.
- Scoop onto parchment.
- Bake 8 minutes at 325.
- Let cool completely before you move them from the pan.
Healthy Snowball Cookies
By: Laura Lea Balanced
Snowball Cookies | Image: Laura Lea Balanced
- 1½ cups raw walnuts
- ¼ cup grassfed butter, room temperature
- ¼ cup coconut oil, room temperature (between liquid and solid)
- ¼ cup maple sugar (link below for brand)
- 1 cup spelt flour (sub whole wheat, gluten-free AP or AP)
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla powder (sub 1½ tsp extract, link below for brand)
- Add walnuts to a food processor and pulse until they form a fine crumble, slightly chunkier than flour. If you don't have a food processor, hand chop into very small pieces.
- In a standing mixer or with a hand-mixer, cream butter and coconut oil together on high until creamy and slightly fluffy, approximately 1 minute.
- Add maple sugar and mix, then flour, vanilla and sea salt. Mix everything until just incorporated, then finally add walnut meal until incorporated. Turn dough out onto saran wrap and wrap tightly in a ball. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove from fridge and roll dough into 16 1½ inch balls, spacing them 2 inches apart on baking sheet.
- Bake for 18 minutes or until the top is mostly solid to touch (it will harden as it cools). Cool 10 minutes before enjoying.
Cranberry Marzipan Cookies
By: Phillip Fryman of Southern FATTY
“These holiday cookies are a favorite of mine because they are a bit more unique than the traditional go-to bakes,” says Phillip Fryman of Southern FATTY blog. “They have a thin, buttery-rich shortbread cookie base with a tart cranberry citrus filling. The star of this cookie recipe that makes it the winner in my book is the toasted marzipan. Adding this almond ring gives you a beautiful festive look and leaves you with a warm flavor. It really has the best cookie elements all in one bite.”
Cranberry Marzipan Cookies | Image: Southern FATTY
- 2 sticks butter (16 tablespoons or 225 grams), unsalted, softened
- 1 tablespoon (12 grams) shortening
- 1 cup (200 grams) sugar, granulated white or Vanilla Sugar is a great option
- 1 plus ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or extract)
- 3 and ½ cups (440 grams) flour, AP
- ¼ teaspoon (~ 1 gram) salt
- 8 oz almond paste, chopped into pieces
- 1 and ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 egg white, beaten
- 1 cup cranberries, whole
- 1 cup sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 1-2 tablespoons orange juice, freshly squeezed
- orange zest, to finish
- Cream butter, sugar, vanilla in mixer.
- Add flour and salt after sifting well to prevent clumping.
- Mix on a low speed setting until incorporated into a dough.
- On a very lightly floured board, press out to a thick disc, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes in refrigerator.
- Preheat oven to 350 F while chilling.
- After chilled, remove and roll to ¼ inch thick dough sheet. Cut with round biscuit cutter.
- Place cookies carefully on paper of mat-lined sheet pan.
- Dock the dough by punching some holes in it with a fork. (See post images)
- Bake at 350 for 6 minutes. They will NOT be browned yet. (Note: The images in the post show the marzipan ring piped before baking. Mistake. Oops!)
- Remove to cool, leaving oven on.
- Increase oven temp to 400 F.
- In mixer bowl, add powdered sugar and chopped almond paste.
- Mix until fine texture, for a few minutes.
- Add egg white and mix until comes together in a dough-like paste.
- Place in pastry bag fitted with large star tip.
- Pipe rings around cooled shortbread cookie bases.
- Place piped cookies in refrigerator to keep cool.
- Add cranberries, sugar and water in saucepan.
- Over slightly above medium heat, heat until berries break and sauce starts to thicken.
- You may help this process along by smashing the berries with a silicone spatula along the way.
- Cook until reduced and thickened, about 5-10 minutes.
- Remove from heat to cool slightly.
- When cooled somewhat, fill cookie rings and immediately bake.
- Bake until marzipan is golden. I used a kitchen torch to give a bit of darker texture around the ridges after baking.
- Top with a bit of orange zest. Some rough sanding sugar would also be tasty.
- Enjoy with family and friends!
Cocoa Mint Cookies
By: The Perfect Little Life
“These cookies are some of my holiday favorites because they remind me of my grandma! I was very close to her and always spent the holidays with her baking all of her special cookie recipes! So every Christmas I make these to remember all the sweet times we shared!”
Cocoa Mint Cookies | Image: Abbey Moore of The Perfect Little Life
- 4 teaspoons instant espresso powder (dry)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 box Betty Crocker™ SuperMoist™ butter recipe chocolate cake mix
- ⅓ cup butter, softened
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
- Crushed Andes pieces
- Heat oven to 350°F. In small bowl, stir together coffee and vanilla until coffee is dissolved. In large bowl, mix cake mix, coffee mixture, butter and eggs with spoon until soft dough forms. Stir in chocolate chips.
- On ungreased cookie sheets, drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart.
- Bake 7 to 10 minutes or until surface appears dry. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Sprinkle Andes on cookies. Cool completely. Store covered.
Enjoy your holiday baking adventures!
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