Christmas Cookies Baking Guide

We’re excited to share a Christmas baking guide that you can turn to for years to come. You’ll find all our best recipes for Christmas classics as well as recipes from around the world. Look out for ideas from our Test Kitchen on decorating the most beautiful Christmas cookies on the block. And learn how to store, package and mail your Christmas cookies, too.

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Our Best Christmas Cookie Recipes

We’ve tested hundreds of Christmas cookie recipes in our Test Kitchen, so we know a thing or two about good cookies. It was hard to choose the best Christmas cookies, but we did it.

Also, try these quick and easy Christmas cookies for stress free holidays.

Check ‘Em Out!

Picks from the Test Kitchen

• Best Cutout Cookie: It has to be this recipe for buttery sugar cookies.
• Best Classic Cookie: This legendary recipe for peppermint meltaways shows up at all of our potlucks.
• Best Brand-New Treat: It’s impossible to choose one of our brand-new Christmas cookie recipes!

Christmas Cookies from Around the World

Sydney Watson/Brianna Griepentrog/Taste of Home

The editors at Taste of Home have collected secret family recipes from all corners of the globe. Explore. Bake. Eat!

• Italy: Find our most popular recipes for Italian Christmas cookies, including pizzelle and biscotti.
• Germany: Check out recipes for German Christmas cookies like Pfeffernuesse.
• France: Learn how to make perfect French macarons.
• United States: Look through recipes for gingersnaps, thumbprints and other traditional Christmas cookies.
• Poland: Don’t miss recipes for Polish treats like rugelach and khruchiki.

Christmas Cookie Decorating Tips

Perhaps the most fun you can have with Christmas cookies (besides eating the batch!) is decorating them. Use the guides below to learn how to decorate cookies like a true Test Kitchen pro.

Must-Learn Techniques

• Know your royal icing: Find out if you’re making the most common frosting faux pas—and ways to avoid them.
• Find Christmas cookie decorating ideas: Here’s your how-to guide for glazing, marbling and more.
• Avoid common mistakes: Get decorating pointers from the experts.

The Best Gear for Baking Christmas Cookies

Just a few basic tools will have you ready to bake everything from spritz to gingerbread. Start with the must-haves below and you’ll be well on your way to making the best Christmas cookies ever.

Start Decorating!

How to Store, Package and Mail Cookies

via amazon.com

So, you’ve baked, frosted and decorated your cherished Christmas cookies, but the work’s not over yet! Learn how to store the cookies, find cute packaging ideas and discover our foolproof tips for mailing them so they don’t get crushed.

Storing Cookies

Storing Christmas cookies correctly is just as important as baking them well. If you went to the trouble of making and decorating delicious treats, you want to make sure everything stays fresh until the Christmas party.

Tips for Storing & Freezing

Packaging Cookies

Pretty Christmas cookies deserve pretty packaging. From classic cookie tins your friends will want to keep to unexpected packaging ideas, find all the best ways to package cookies.

Mailing Cookies

When you can’t be with family during the holidays, sending cookies is a loving way to show you’re thinking about them. Though it’s the thought that counts, you don’t want your cookies to arrive crushed. Follow our 10 foolproof steps to mailing Christmas cookies to make sure they arrive safe and sound.

Have a treasured family Christmas cookie? Send us your recipe!