Sneak Preview: Sixteen popular Christmas cookies for the holidays are collected here for your consideration. Don’t miss the gingerbread church house at the end.
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What makes a cookie the most popular cookie at your house around the holidays? Is it because…
They remind you of somebody who always made them. (What cookie will you be remembered for?)
Maybe they are part of a tradition you followed as a child. (Is it a tradition worth passing on?)
Perhaps they are too much trouble to make more than once a year. (Cut-out cookies come to mind.)
Whatever it is, there’s always room for another cookie on the tray. Right? Take a look and see what you might like to add to your holiday cookie tradition.
What makes a cookie a popular “Christmas Cookie?”
Do you know what the most popular Christmas cookie is in the United States? According to General Mills, it’s the peanut butter blossom. At least that recipe is visited more than any other, according to them. Interesting. Will you make them this year?
This is my criteria, but each cookie only has to meet one of them:
Look interesting or beautiful on a Christmas cookie tray.
The cookie is decorated with red and/or green colors.
It can be easy, like the Coconut Icebox Cookies, while others are quite a project, like the Gingerbread church house.
Slightly crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside, these cookies are filled with Raisin Bran Crunch cereal (or your choice of a flaky cereal), coconut, and pecans.
Meyer Lemon Greek Yogurt Bars (No Grating or Squeezing!)
These Meyer Lemon Bars with Greek yogurt start with a coconut shortbread base underneath a Meyer lemon layer. Greek yogurt makes it creamy. The recipe calls for using the entire lemon (minus seeds)–no grating or squeezing required.
These quick microwave brownies are rich, chocolatey, and come together in minutes using pantry staples. Kids can mix the batter by hand or with a hand mixer—no oven needed. Customize with optional nuts or chocolate chips, and enjoy warm, fudgy brownies any time a craving strikes.
These melt-in-your-mouth Lemon Snowdrop Cookies are studded with pecans and coated in powdered sugar for a delicate, festive finish. Perfect for gifting or adding to a holiday cookie tray.
Peanut Butter Pinwheel Cookies with Melted Chocolate Swirl
This Peanut Butter Pinwheel Cookie recipe combines peanut butter dough with a layer of melted chocolate. Roll the dough into a jellyroll shape before slicing.
Chinese Chews with Coconut: A Nostalgic Pecan-Packed Treat
Chinese Chews with Coconut combine a crisp, buttery shortbread crust with a chewy coconut-pecan filling. This easy-to-make bar cookie is perfect for holiday trays, potlucks, or anytime you crave a nostalgic, homemade treat.
Kid-favorites!! These cake-like, cinnamon-spiced cookies are soft and tender with just the right hint of nostalgia. Each one is topped with a rich browned butter icing that adds warmth and old-fashioned charm.
These buttery thumbprint cookies are filled with lemon curd and packed with chopped pecans. No chilling required, and you can finish them with powdered sugar or a simple glaze.
Simple Shortbread Cut-Out Cookies with Icing That Hardens
These buttery shortbread cookies are rolled out mess-free inside a zippered plastic bag, then cut and decorated with a simple vanilla or almond icing that hardens as it dries. Perfect for holidays, parties, or cookie trays.
Buttery shortbread, melted chocolate, and crunchy pecans—these Chocolate Toffee Shortbread Bars are the perfect no-fuss dessert. Quick to make and impossible to resist!
Parting thoughts: Our favorite Christmas cookies are the Christmas Thumbprints. Santa would be disappointed if he didn’t find them on the plate next to the fireplace on Christmas eve.
Need help troubleshooting? Please email me: Paula at saladinajar.com–photos welcome!
Paula Rhodes, owner
As a retired home economist, I created Saladinajar.com to share my belief that you don’t have to be a chef to find joy in creating homemade food worth sharing. Bread machines (used in an unconventional way), homemade yogurt, and quick microwave recipes are my specialty.