A Collection of Christmas Cookies

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It’s Cookie Week around here which simply means that we’re spending the whole week talking about cookies and only cookies. If you haven’t checked out Monday’s brand new biscotti recipe, hop on over and give it a read and add them to your cookie baking list too.

Christmas cookies are especially fun to make (and enjoy) because usually, they are little crunchy works of art. Here are a few of my very favorite holiday cookie recipes from the blog.

You can go directly to each of these recipes by clicking on the corresponding photo.

And because any cookie can be a Christmas cookie if you just believe, you can browse all of my cookie recipes here.

Brown Sugar Cookies with Rosemary Butter Glaze

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These easy, shortbread-like cookies are soft and chewy thanks to the addition of brown sugar. They are stamped and dipped in a rosemary butter glaze.

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This may be an unpopular opinion, but sugar cookies hang out near the bottom of my “favorite Christmas cookie” list. They’re often a bit fussy, not holding the cute little Christmas tree and snowflake shapes that you painstakingly cut out of them. They usually taste solely of sugar, butter, and royal icing, which isn’t bad but I think we can do better. They are fine cookies, just not anything special, but they are a holiday classic so I set out to gussy them up a bit.

how to make the best brown sugar cookies

First off, get rid of the ‘sugar’ part and sub it with brown sugar. I did this for a few reasons. 1) FLAVOR. Brown sugar is just granulated sugar with a little molasses added to it, so it gives a deeper, more spiced flavor to an otherwise semi-bland cookie. (And if you are interested in all things sugar, you can read my ingredient deep dive here.) 2) TEXTURE. Brown sugar has extra moisture (from that added molasses), which means it creates a slightly fluffier, chewier cookie—a texture I am very much into.

Next, stamp these babies! My cookie cutters have been gathering dust since I got myself some cookie stamps. They are much easier, read: no gingerbread men with lost limbs, and they have a more mature, antique-y vibe in my opinion. Very fun and very fancy. **And if you don’t have cookie stamps, find a fun textured glass or vase and roll that on the dough before cutting out circles.

Last, scratch the royal icing and replace it with a rosemary butter glaze that can be eaten straight from the spoon. Simply melt butter with a few sprigs of fresh rosemary, let it steep, and then whisk in powdered sugar and a splash of heavy cream before brushing onto the warm cookies. It’s a perfect ending to a sweet little cookie.

Yield: makes 18-20 cookies
Author: Anna Ramiz
Brown Sugar Cookies with Rosemary Butter Glaze

Brown Sugar Cookies with Rosemary Butter Glaze

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 10 MinInactive time: 12 HourTotal time: 12 H & 25 M
These easy, shortbread-like cookies are soft and chewy thanks to the addition of brown sugar. They are stamped and dipped in a rosemary butter glaze.

Ingredients

for the cookie dough
  • 8 tbsp (113 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 cups (240 g) all purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
for the glaze
  • 2/3 cup (80 g) powdered sugar, sifted
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary
  • 6 tsp heavy cream

Instructions

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt. Set aside.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter and brown sugar. Beat for 1-2 minutes, until throughly combined. Add the egg yolk and beat again for one minute, until homogenized. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
  3. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients. When everything is added, increase the mixer speed to medium. The mixture will look crumbly, but that is okay. Continue mixing until the a dough begins to form a cohesive mass.
  4. Transfer the dough to a work surface and pat into a disc. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour, and up to 12 hours.
  5. When you are ready to bake, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let rest at room temperature for 20-30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375° F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
  6. Place the disc of dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out until 1/4” in thickness. Dip cookie stamps or a round cutter in a bowl of flour and cut out or stamp cookies into the dough. (If using a cookie stamp, be sure to press firmly or the shape will bake out in the oven.)
  7. Transfer cookies to your prepared baking sheet and let chill in the freezer for 5-10 minutes before baking. Bake cookies for 8-9 minutes, until just beginning to turn golden around the edges.
  8. While the cookies are baking, make your glaze. Place butter and rosemary in a small saucepan and set over medium heat. Cook until butter is melted and rosemary is fragrant. Remove rosemary and pour melted butter into a small mixing bowl. Whisk in powdered sugar and 4 tsp heavy cream and mix until smooth. Add more heavy cream if needed to reach your desired consistency. Brush cookies with glaze while they are still warm and let cool until glaze sets.

Similar Recipes

Chamomile and Apricot Linzer Cookies

Saffron and Dulce de Leche Shortbread Cookies

Fig Butter and Blue Cheese Rugelach

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Chamomile and Apricot Linzer Cookies

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Happy Christmas Dessert Day 6! No Christmas cookie box is complete without Linzer cookies. There are a million recipes for Linzer cookies out there on the inter-webs, filled with everything from traditional berry jams to dulce de leche to chocolate. I actually even saw a recipe on Instagram the other day for matcha chocolate Linzers and that sounds like match made in heaven. Traditional Linzer cookies come from the town of Linz in Austria and are the same as a Linzer torte made bite-sized into cookie form. Two shortbread cookies, one with a little window cut out, sandwich a filling of your choice. They are pretty and festive and make a great addition to any holiday cookie box.

Technically speaking, true Linzer cookies have some sort of nut flour in them. (Since they are derived from the Linzer torte and if you remember my recently released expose on tortes, nut flour is a characteristic that distinguishes a torte from a cake.) These are flavored with chamomile and filled with a bright, floral apricot jam.

A few little tips to help make these successful for you: use cold dough! When working with shortbread of any type, butter melts quickly and chilling your dough frequently will save you lots of headaches. Chill the dough after mixing, and then while rolling and cutting, anytime the dough feels the tiniest bit soft, pop the whole sheet in the freezer for a few minutes, trust me on this! If your jam is thick and doesn’t seem pipe-able, just microwave for a few seconds to loosen it a bit.

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Chamomile and Apricot Linzer Cookies

makes 18-20 cookies 

recipe adapted from Susan Spungen

Ingredients

2 cups (250 g) all purpose flour

1/2 cup (50 g) almond flour

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp loose chamomile tea, from two tea bags

1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup (135 g) granulated sugar

2 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp buttermilk, at room temperature

About 1/2 cup apricot jam*

Procedure

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together all purpose flour, almond flour, salt, and baking soda until no lumps remain. Set aside.

  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter, sugar, and chamomile tea. Cream on medium speed for 2-3 minutes, scraping down the bowl once or twice, until the mixture is light and fluffy.

  3. Add the egg yolks and vanilla and beat again, for 1-2 minutes, until completely combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again and make sure that the mixture is homogenous.

  4. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in two additions, alternating with the buttermilk. Mix just until the dough starts to come together around the paddle and no dry streaks of flour remain.

  5. Divide the dough in half and pat each portion into a disc. Wrap each disc tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour, until the dough is firm.

  6. After the dough has chilled, place one disc between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out until dough is around 1/8” in thickness. Remove the top piece of parchment paper, slide the bottom piece of parchment paper along with the rolled out dough onto a sheet pan and transfer to the freezer for 10 minutes. Repeat the entire process with the other disc.

  7. When you are ready to cut the cookies out, flour two round cookie cutters of your choice, one larger (around 2-3”) and one smaller (1-2”). Punch out cookies using the large cutter, then go back with the small cutter and punch out windows in half of the cookie rounds. Place dough back in the freezer to chill for another 5-10 minutes. Use a small offset spatula to remove excess dough (I found this is much easier when the dough is straight from the freezer), and then chill one last time while the oven preheats.

  8. Preheat oven to 350° F. Bake cookies on their parchment lined baking sheets for 6-7 minutes, until just beginning to turn golden brown on the edges. Remove and let cool completely on the baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.

  9. To fill, place the apricot jam in a piping bag. Place the cookie bottoms on a piece of parchment paper and pipe a dollop of jam (about 1 tsp) in the center of each cookie bottom. Immediately sandwich the tops of the cookies with a windowed cookie top and press down gently. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

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