Top 10 Christmas Cookie Recipes from the Deseret News

The holiday season is known for many things, and healthy eating isn’t one of them. On cold winter nights, there’s nothing nicer than turning on Christmas music and baking cookies spiced with ginger or sprinkled with peppermint – and loaded with lots of sugar and butter.

In honor of the holiday, I asked my coworkers about their favorite Christmas cookies and compiled 10 recipes below. We hope you enjoy making and eating them this holiday season and wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Cranberry Chip Cookies

Most cranberry cookies I’ve tried contain dried cranberries, which I don’t always like. However, Holly Richardson’s recipe – with fresh cranberries, pistachios and semi-sweet chocolate chips – looks incredibly promising.

Holly says: “We LOVE these cookies! We love the mix of sweet/salty/sweet and sour flavors. Mmmm. You can use fresh or frozen cranberries, but dry frozen cranberries after chopping them and don’t overmix. Also, pick your fresh cranberries carefully – I throw out any squishy cranberries, even if they still look whole, because one rotten cranberry will ruin your whole batch. Believe me.”

Here is his recipe:

1 cup of white sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup softened butter
1/4 cup of milk
2 tablespoons of orange juice
1 egg
3 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 cups coarsely chopped cranberries
1 cup chopped pistachios
1 cup chocolate chips (or white chocolate chips)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix the sugars and butter. Add the milk, orange juice and egg. Stir in the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Gently fold in the cranberries, walnuts and chocolate chips.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Makes about 5 1/2 dozen. Oh, and you can’t double this one in a regular Kitchen-Aid – it’s too much for that.

Ginger Molasses Cookies/Soft Gingerbread Cookies

Margaret Darby says: “My favorite Christmas cookies are molasses cookies! They are very special because I only eat them once a year. I love their unique sweet, salty and spicy flavor. Every time I eat a molasses cookie, I think of my dad, who makes the best (in my opinion)!

Asia Bown also likes this type of cookie and she recommends this recipe from The Love of the Oven. She says: “Gingerbread cookies are a Christmas classic, so I can’t help but think of winter and Christmas when I eat them. For a little extra oomph, add orange glaze or candied oranges to these cookies.

No-bake cookies

Brigham Tomco makes them so often that he has the recipe memorized.

He says: “It’s not a diet disguised as dessert. No-cook meals are the ultimate high-calorie comfort food: a brick of butter, mounds of sugar, the aroma of bubbling chocolate filling your house? Yes please. And all this without turning on an oven.

Here is his recipe:

1/2 cup butter
2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of milk
3 tablespoons of cocoa powder
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla
3 cups of oatmeal

Bring the butter, sugar, milk and cocoa powder to the boil. Let boil for one minute, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat. Stir in the peanut butter, vanilla and oatmeal. Place small balls on a cookie sheet to cool.

Chokladbollar (Swedish chocolate balls)

If you’ve never tried them before, you’re in for a treat. Chokladbollar are deceptively easy chocolate oatmeal balls that you can make without an oven or stovetop.

Jay Evensen says, “Chokladbollar has been a family favorite for as long as I can remember. They are easy and quick to make. My wife usually makes them with different colored sugar sprinkles. She’s a piano teacher and these cookies are the highlight of her recital snacks. I guess if oatmeal is good for you, then about 10 of these should be good for you too.

Here is a good recipe for chocladbollar from Swedish Food. Most recipes call for a few tablespoons of strong coffee. If you don’t have one, you can use hot water or a coffee substitute like Pero.

Ginger cookies

Emma Pitts said: “Ginger biscuits are my favorite Christmas biscuits because they taste amazing, but also because they are very nostalgic for me. We always had them during the holidays.

Here is her recipe, titled “Anne Anderson’s Gingersnaps:”

2 cups of sugar
1 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup molasses
2 eggs
3 teaspoons of baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon allspice
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of ginger
4 cups of flour

Mix everything except the flour. Add the flour gradually. Form balls and roll them in the sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

White Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

Krysyan Edler says his family makes truffles for Christmas (and I can personally attest that his are delicious). However, she also loves white chocolate peppermint cookies.

She says: “This is an easy recipe for soft, delicious cookies that taste like Christmas. I’m not a great baker, but even I was able to follow this recipe and was very happy with how the cookies turned out.

Krysyan uses this recipe from Just So Tasty.

Hot chocolate cookies

When Valerie Jones told me about her favorite hot chocolate cookies – with real mini marshmallows – I knew I had to try them. You can go crazy with Christmas add-ons like candy cane pieces or mini M&Ms, but they’re also divine as is.

Here is the recipe from Love of the oven that Valérie uses.

White chocolate and raspberry cookies

Hanna Seariac is known among our colleagues for her culinary skills, so I knew she would offer something exciting to this list. I was right: not only did she send me an amazing recipe for a unique cookie I’d never tried before, but she added her own twist.

If you want to make them like Hanna, substitute orange for the lemon (the subtler flavor is more Christmas-like, especially with the cinnamon in the cookies) and add chopped macadamia nuts.

Here’s Hanna’s recipefrom Ana’s Baking Chronicles.

Peanut Butter Flowers

Saul Marquez says his family enjoys these peanut butter cookies every year. Here is his recipe:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 1/4 cup flour
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
10 ounce bag of Mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups or Hershey’s Kisses

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine peanut butter, butter, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl. Mix, then add the egg until well combined. Mix flour, baking soda and baking powder.

Gradually add to the creamy mixture. Mix until everything is well combined. Form 1-inch balls, roll in sugar, and place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for seven to nine minutes. Remove and immediately press kisses or mini peanut butter cups into the center.

Chocolate Chips

This recipe is recommended by yours truly. My mother has been making them for years and although I have tried other recipes, this one is still the best.

The original recipe comes from Family Fun magazine, which my family loved in the early 2000s, although it doesn’t seem to be in circulation anymore. In his honor, here is the Family Fun Chocolate Crinkle Cookie recipe:

3/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
6 ounces mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup icing sugar

In a large bowl, combine the melted butter, cocoa powder and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla extract. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture and whisk to combine. Add the chocolate chips.

Form the dough into 1-inch balls and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour. Roll the balls in the icing sugar. (For an extra Christmas touch, I like to press a red or green M&M on top of each cookie before baking.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Let cool for five minutes, then sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired. Appreciate!

Honorable mention: store-bought cookies

Suzanne Bates told me her favorite Christmas cookies were Harmon’s Snickerdoodles, and she makes a good point. Store-bought cookies can make this aspect of Christmas easier if you’re not a fan of baking, and even if you are, there are some fantastic store-bought cookies available.

For example, I have yet to meet a sugar cookie that I enjoy as much as the Lofthouse brand – maybe it’s a nostalgia thing, but somehow no other sugar cookie sugar doesn’t come close.

We hope that you will follow our recommendations and have a very happy holiday with your loved ones.