28 Cookie Recipes Your Family Is Going To Love
Who doesn't love a fresh-baked, warm cookie straight from the oven? Whether you prefer your classic chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, or sugar cookie, or something a little more out of the ordinary, like a scrumptious spice cookie or a festive wedding cookie, everyone's got their family favorites.
But what do you do when the family's getting a little bored of the same ol' same ol'? Or if you're looking to impress your in-laws with something never-before-seen on the dining room table? If you've comfort baked more batches of grandma's secret butter cookie recipe than you care to count this year, it might be time to look for something new — whether you share the batch with the entire extended fam or hoard all this sugary goodness for yourself.
Here are 28 new-to-you cookie recipes that you and your family are going to love, from new takes on old favorites to internationally-inspired bites.
1. Old-Fashioned Butter Cookies
Ah, butter cookies. If you've ever opened up a royal blue tin of butter cookies only to be wildly disappointed at the sewing kit you find in place of a sweet treat, this recipe is for you. Never be disappointed by a lack of butter cookies again, thanks to this old-fashioned cookie recipe that requires minimal ingredients — all of which are probably already in your fridge and pantry if you're a frequent home baker.
2. Lemon Gooey Butter Cookies
For a cookie that's neither overly sugary nor tart, but just the right mix of light lemon flavor and delicate sweetness, look to these lemon gooey butter cookies. The promised gooey texture is made possible thanks to a package of cream cheese, while a burst of sunshine-y flavor from the lemon juice, lemon zest, and lemon extract makes for a taste reminiscent of summer. A batch of more than 30 cookies comes together in less than half an hour.
3. Reindeer Sugar Cookies
For something on the festive side, these reindeer sugar cookies deliver. However, these are not your average holiday sugar cookies. Rather than using some messy gingerbread-esque piping or colored sugar to create your festive aesthetic, this cookie recipe gives your classic holiday look an elegant upgrade, by decking reindeer-shaped sugar cookies in a layer of thin chocolate icing, topped with just a sliver of a white-chocolate antler. This is Rudolph for the adults.
4. Classic Snowball Cookies
For a festive wintertime treat without the Christmas connotations, these classic snowball cookies are the way to go. Covered in powdered sugar and dotted with chopped pecans, these cookies are somewhat similar to an Italian wedding cookie. You'll find these simple and sweet cookies make a little bit of a mess while you're chowing down, but that's just part of the snowy fun. Our recipe makes two dozen cookies in under half an hour, using ingredients you likely already have on hand.
5. Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
Kick those Oreos to the curb. The next time you're craving a chocolate sandwich cookie, make your way to your kitchen, where you can create an Oreo of your own. (We promise, it's a lot simpler than you think.) This recipe — adapted from one created by the cookie queen herself, Dorie Greenspan — shows you how to easily throw together a series of thin, crisp chocolate cookies, as well as a buttery sweet filling.
You'll want to chill the cookies after assembly — though we wouldn't blame you if you find yourself sneaking a few before the chill time is up.
6. Honey, Halva, and Cardamom Biscotti
If you've never made biscotti before, don't be intimidated. These sliced, crisp cookies are simple to make and look oh-so-impressive in a cookie jar. This recipe incorporates a few unique ingredients that really make these biscotti stand out from what you'll find in the grocery store. Cardamom, tahini, and honey combine in the batter, while the glaze mixes more honey with coconut butter and coconut milk. Sprinkle your glazed biscotti with sesame seeds for an even bigger upgrade.
7. Sqirl's Salted Chocolate Cookies
This recipe from Los Angeles restaurant Sqirl is a huge hit for anyone who loves rich dark chocolate combined with a touch of sea salt. This is one recipe that really relies on high-quality ingredients, so you'll want to invest in the recommended Valrhona chocolate and fleur de sel, but the extra trip to the grocery store will be well worth it once you bite into these lush cookies that are oh-so-decadent and luxurious.
8. Easy Christmas Shortbread Cookies
Shortbread cookies are delightful any time of year, but if you're hoping to create a scrumptious shortbread cookie with a bit of a festive twist, look no further. These cookies are sure to delight both the young and young at heart in your family. The traditional shortbread recipe makes for a light and crumbly cookie, but a dash of red and green sprinkles gives them a little holiday flair. Bake these cookies at a low temperature for just over half an hour and you have a delicious treat that pairs well with a frosty glass of milk.
Not in the holiday spirit? Simply swap the festive sprinkles with another color.
9. Chewy Molasses Gingersnaps
The warm, unmistakable flavors of molasses, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger combine in this easy chewy molasses gingersnaps recipe. These cookies come together in less than half an hour and our recipe makes a whopping near-50 cookies, more than enough to feed the entire family and then some. Enjoy these quintessential fall and winter flavors with abandon, as our recipe works out to fewer than 80 calories per cookie.
10. Ginger Cakes
If, though, you prefer your ginger without the side of molasses, opt for this ginger cake recipe that swaps out the molasses and cardamom for healthy helpings of ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Soft, sweet, and adapted from a recipe first developed by Raleigh Tavern Bakery in Colonial Williamsburg, these cookies are more than just cookies. They're a mixture of everything you love about gingersnaps combined with everything you love about a gingerbread cake. They're the perfect resolution when you can't decide between the two!
11. Homemade Dunkaroos
What was your favorite cookie as a child? If you can answer, without a single doubt, "Dunkaroos," then you need this cookie recipe in your life right now. These homemade Dunkaroos are one of the easiest copycat recipes that you'll ever come across and for just a little effort, you'll get 75 tiny cookies to dunk to your heart's content. We even tell you how to make the frosting. All you have to do is get in the kitchen and start baking.
12. Easy Chocolate Chunk Cookies
This chocolate chunk cookie recipe was developed by Bluestem Brasserie in San Francisco and was part of a Simpsons-themed dessert menu, but you don't need to be familiar with either the restaurant or the show in order to love these cookies. A classic chocolate chip cookie recipe is leveled up with a pound of rough-chopped, bittersweet chocolate and a sprinkling of sea salt, for a grown-up take on a long-time, childhood favorite.
13. Cream Cheese Christmas Cookies
Who doesn't love (a) Christmas cookies and (b) cream cheese? This recipe combines both for a refrigerated sugar cookie that's extra creamy and chewy. You can bake these cookies and serve them as is, right out of the oven, or go the extra mile and top them with a simple powdered sugar icing and some cheery red and green sugar sprinkles. Whatever you do, we're sure you'll want to make these extra-soft cookies a part of your holiday traditions for years to come.
14. Extra-Large Chocolate Chip Cookies
Feeling like your normal chocolate chip cookies are a little lackluster? Feel like they're just too ... tiny? Oversize your chocolate chip cookies with this recipe from Jacques Torres Chocolate. The entire recipe only makes five cookies, but you'll really only need to eat a single cookie in order to get your fill. The recipe calls for special chocolate discs only sold at Jacques Torres Chocolate, but you can swap them out for 60% cacao fèves, if needed.
15. Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
If you're feeling a bit creative recently, or even a little artistic, but you're also tempted to get in the kitchen and bake up a classic cookie, make the most of your time by channeling all that artistic creativity into this sugar cookie project. Everyone knows and loves a sugar cookie, but it's the royal icing here that really makes for a fun baking experience, allowing you to decorate and design for any occasion or holiday.
16. Everything Chocolate Chip Cookies
Wish your average chocolate chip cookie had just a little more pizzazz? Look no further, because we've got you covered with this Everything Chocolate Chip cookie recipe from The Cookie Book by Rebecca Firth. The butter? Browned. The chocolate? Dark. The batter? Filled with tasty add-ins like puffed quinoa, tart cherries, and pecans, for a blend of interesting textures and flavors. There's nothing classic about this chocolate chip cookie — and that's exactly the way we like it.
17. Chocolate Tahini Cookies
Dreaming of delicious chocolate chip cookies, but need something gluten-free and/or dairy-free? These chocolate tahini cookies from The Living Kitchen cookbook by Tamara Green and Sarah Grossman fit the bill. They use almond flour instead of regular flour for a gluten-free batter without sacrificing texture, and the tahini takes the places of your butter. Just make sure to purchase dairy-free chocolate for a fully dairy-free cookie (this recipe recommends 70% dark chocolate).
18. Chocolate Stout Cookies with Irish Buttercream
Booze just makes baking more fun, and with this boozy recipe you'll get double the fun, thanks to a healthy helping of stout beer in the cookie batter and a few tablespoons of Irish cream liqueur added into the buttercream. (We recommend Guinness and Bailey's for an Irish-themed boozy treat.) While this cookie recipe is just the thing for St. Patrick's Day, it's really delicious any day of the year, no green attire or shamrocks required.
19. Christmas Wreath Cookies
No flour? No problem! If you find yourself craving some Christmas cookies on Christmas Eve (or really any day), long after the stores have closed, you can whip up these Christmas wreath cookies with nary a cup of flour, cup of sugar, or even an egg in sight. Butter, miniature marshmallows, and cornflakes make up your cookie base, flavored with a bit of vanilla and colored with green food coloring, and then you simply top your wreaths off with a few M&Ms.
20. Cakey and Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
People can get pretty particular about their chocolate chip cookies. Some like them super-thin and crispy. Others like them all fluffy and cake-like. So what do you do when you have a family that's split into multiple chocolate chip cookie camps? You make these chocolate chip cookies that can either be cakey or crispy, all using the same batter. All you have to do is change up your butter temperature and oven temperature depending on which batch you're making — cakey or crispy. Now, the only fight will be who gets their cookies baked first.
21. Tahini Shortbread Sandwich Cookie
Have too much tahini on your hands? Is there such a thing? Regardless as to what exactly is too much tahini, if you have some in your pantry, you can put it to good use in your next baking project when you whip up a batch of these tahini shortbread sandwich cookies. Tahini gives a rich nutty flavor to the delicate shortbread cookies, while adding an extra level of fatty, smooth, creamy goodness to the chocolate ganache filling.
22. Maple Chocolate Chip Cookies
The late-winter month of March is maple season in the Northeastern United States, and what better way to celebrate than by whipping up a batch of maple chocolate chip cookies? There's no need to drive to Vermont to get ahold of the fresh stuff, though, because this recipe uses maple sugar, a somewhat underutilized ingredient that's easy to sub for granulated sugar in just about any baking recipe. These cookies will remind you of your favorite brunch sweet treat (and you might just be tempted to eat them for breakfast, too).
24. Wedding Cookies
Wedding cookies are a part of so many different cultures, but no matter where they really came from, we can all probably agree that they're delicious. These small, butter-filled cookies typically contain nuts and are covered in confectioner's sugar, for a small, sweet bite that melts in your mouth. And that citrusy note you taste? We make achieving the traditional flavor easy with a splash of orange juice and a few teaspoons of orange zest.
25. Christmas Cookie Butter
Okay, okay — so this recipe isn't technically for a cookie. It's for cookie butter. But, if you've made it this far in our lineup of the best cookie recipes to try out on the fam, then we know you're a true cookie connoisseur and you'll likely appreciate this addition. Made from just five ingredients — store-bought or leftover cookies, milk, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice — this cookie butter is the perfect holiday-themed addition to your dessert spread (because you can literally spread it on anything). Add it to toast, sliced apples, whatever your heart desires.
26. Passover Macarons
There's absolutely no need to wait for Passover in order to enjoy these delicious Passover macarons, which just so happen to be gluten-free. You may need to make a stop at the specialty grocery store, though, to pick up halvah, a traditional Middle Eastern candy made out of sesame paste, as well as amchoor, a powder made from dried and ground unripe mangoes (though you can substitute cardamom for the amchoor if needed).
27. Hazelnut Meringue Cookies
Another Passover-approved recipe, these hazelnut meringue cookies are likewise gluten-free. The meringue cookies alone come together as would any traditional meringue cookies, but it's the Manischewitz-rhubarb conserva that goes atop the cookies that really shines. Blending Manischewitz wine with toasted coriander and anise seeds, as well as diced rhubarb and lemon, the conserva is good enough to eat all on its own. Plus, this recipe isn't just gluten-free; it's also dairy-free as well.
28. German Spice Cookies
Adapted from Luisa Weiss' Offenbacher Pfeffernusse recipe, these German spice cookies are sure to be a hit at any holiday party (though we wouldn't be upset to see them at parties year round). You'll need to create your own spice blend first (or lebkuchengewürz, made with cinnamon, cloves, allspices cardamom, ginger, mace, and star anise) and then add that into your dough. As the dough bakes, it puffs up into circular domes, which you'll then glaze with a simple mixture of sugar, lemon juice, and water.
29. Peanut Butter Thumbprints with Strawberry Lambic Jam
Last up, but certainly not least, are these thumbprint cookies that are such an upgrade over your traditional peanut butter cookies you'll never consider returning to your old go-to recipe. They pack in all the nostalgic goodness of a peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich into a miniature, portable bite. You'll make your own jam for this recipe, but trust us — it's not as difficult as it sounds and is absolutely worth it. The entire jam and cookie-making process can be done in under an hour and produces 40 scrumptious cookies.
Recipe: Peanut Butter Thumbprints with Strawberry Lambic Jam