We don’t have to tell you how much we love cookies — and we’re guessing you do, too. In our 12th annual issue devoted to the baked goods, you’ll find versions vegan or gluten-free, savory or spiced, made with teff flour or matcha tea, and of course, plenty with chocolate. All told, there are 27 cookies to browse — not to mention the more than 300 options in our Holiday Cookie Generator. Ready? Let’s bake.
Cornmeal Thumbprints With Tomato Jam: Their looks are holiday festive, but their corn bread sweetness and tang of tomato jam make them a great pairing with cocktails.
Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Cream Cheese Chewy Cookies: Rich-tasting and relatively low in fat.
Masala Palmiers: Using store-bought puff pastry means these spiced beauties come together in minutes.
Sesame Cashew Bars: Just the right balance of salt and sweet, with an addictive chew.
Halvah Fudge Bars: These satisfying bars — baked in a cast-iron skillet — use teff flour, date syrup and the dense sesame-paste candy called halvah.
Vegan Dutch ‘Butter’ Cookies: These surprisingly buttery bites use aquafaba (the cooking liquid from garbanzo beans) as a replacement for eggs.
Pocky Sticks: Inspired by the Japanese treats, this version is scaled up so that one cookie will satisfy.
Baci di Alassio: The classic combination of hazelnut and chocolate meets in these chewy one-bites.
Dorie Greenspan’s Sour Cream Everything Seed Knots: Savory and crisp, these are the perfect little nibble to accompany cocktails.
Chai-Spiced Snowdrops: Almond flour and a coating flavored with chai spices make for a unique twist on the Russian tea cookie or Mexican wedding cookie.
Cinnamon Pretzels (Zimtbrezeln): These crisp cookies, a German specialty, are great for dunking in hot chocolate.
Jam and Coconut Meringue Cutouts: These are best with a tart filling (think raspberry jam or leftover cranberry sauce) and their texture improves after a day’s rest in the refrigerator.
Reindeer Gingersnaps: The perfect cookie to decorate with kids.
Toasted Coconut Brown Butter Matcha Crispies: The Japanese green tea lends a slight bitterness, making the white chocolate seem more complex.
Crumbly Lemon Crème Bars: The sweet-tart creaminess of a lemon filling is an excellent match for the sturdy rolled-oats cookie base.
Dorie Greenspan’s Do-Almost-Anything Vanilla Cookie Dough: Cookbook author Dorie Greenspans says these are “full of vanilla flavor.” The recipe includes variations for White Chocolate and Poppy Seed Cookies; Vanilla Polka Dots; Double-Ginger Crumb Cookies; and Christmas Spice Cookies.
Teff Oatmeal Cookies With Whiskey Currants: Thick, chunky and soft-centered; the teff flour adds a malty flavor.
Gingerbread Almond Nuggets (Biberle): Gingerbread dough is wrapped around a thin log of almond paste.
Holiday Gems: These are light and not too sweet, with just a hint of festive candied fruit.
Gingerbread Chocolate Chunk Biscotti: A more healthful choice, these are made with olive oil, whole-grain flour and less sugar than most cookies.
Gingerbread Panels: A simple yet stunning project from Centrolina pastry chef Amanda Cook. Rows of tender gingerbread cookies can be attached and used as decorative pieces for a mantel or table centerpiece.
Salted Caramel Sandwich Cookies: You’ll have leftover buttercream filling, but it’s so good that we think you’ll find plenty of uses for it.
Smoky Hazelnut Chocolate Cookies: Smoked paprika adds depth to these addictive salted Nutella bites.
Sweet Potato Cookies With Maple Glaze: Top these caky, spicy cookies with crystallized ginger or candied ham (candying instructions included).
Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Dreams: The rich chocolate cookies are chewy on the inside and slightly crisped on the outside.
Vegan Molasses Pumpkin Streusel Bars: A molasses shortbread crust provides the earthy base for a layer of pumpkin and vegan “cream cheese.”
Tunisian Marzipan Flowers: You need only four ingredients to make these petits-fours-size treats.
