70 Best Cookie Recipes To Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth

If you're in the mood to whip up a batch of fresh cookies, we have tons of delicious, easy recipes to get you started. After all, is there anything quite like homemade cookies? Whether you like to break out the oven mitts or prefer no-bake treats, there are so many killer cookie recipes out there. 

These cookies are ideal for those moments when you want to treat yourself to a little something sweet. The beauty of these recipes is they're easy to make even for beginners, and they will give you consistently delicious cookies each and every time. And there's something for everyone, so chocolate lovers, people who can't get enough oatmeal, and anyone who wants to impress folks with their baking skills take note: Don't be surprised if folks start hitting you up for your recipes. From richly spiced cookies that conjure up cozy evenings by the fireside to all-time favorites and three-ingredient wonder recipes, these are the best cookie recipes to bake now.

We kick off our list with these ultra-classic bakery-style chocolate chip cookies. These classically delicious cookies are soft but chewy, lightly crisped around the edges, and feature plenty of indulgent chocolate chips. If there's one cookie recipe absolutely everyone should master, it's this one. Use dark or milk chocolate (or a combination of both!), and for a mind-blowing variation on this recipe, try browning the butter first — just make sure you let it cool before you start mixing your ingredients.

Recipe: Bakery-style chocolate chip cookies

Cookies you can have as a breakfast or dessert? Sign us up! These incredible no-bake oatmeal cookies are packed with amazing flavor, thanks to the addition of nut butter, raisins, and a hint of spice. The best part is you don't need to fuss around with the oven. Instant oats lend a chewier texture to oatmeal cookies, but you can use rolled oats and end up with equally delicious results. Just steer clear of steel-cut oats. No-bake oatmeal cookies are a wonderfully sweet way to start your day, or enjoyed as a healthy(ish) dessert.

Recipe: No-bake oatmeal cookies

While many of us may associate gingerbread with the holiday season, gingerbread cookies are fantastic any time of year. All that heavenly spice and the rich sweetness from the molasses take this recipe to the next level. They're amazingly chewy thanks to the addition of both baking soda and baking powder and miles away from the harder gingerbread used for making gingerbread houses. And it's easy to tinker with the spice blend to suit your palate. While this recipe calls for ginger and cinnamon, you could add a dash of clove or freshly-grated nutmeg for a spicier cookie instead.

Recipe: Gingerbread cookies

Speaking of the holidays, or any special occasion for that matter, if you've been looking for the ultimate Christmas cookie recipe that you can enjoy all year, we've got you covered. With a delicious vanilla-almond flavor that'll be a sure-fire hit, these cookies are so much fun to decorate, making them a fantastic baking project all year round. For the other 11 months of the year, use your favorite cookie cutters and decorate the cookies however your please, or break out this recipe for other holidays (think Halloween, Easter, Thanksgiving and frostings of all colors).

Recipe: Christmas cookies

This 3-ingredient Nutella cookie recipe might be one of the easiest out there. Pop the ingredients in a bowl, mix, form the cookies, and bake. You'll have phenomenal tasting cookies in less than half an hour. If you're feeling fancy, a sprinkle of coarse sea salt over the tops of the cookies will add a little texture and give them that stellar sweet-salty flavor. Of course, if you like your sweets extra sweet, you can also opt for sanding sugar or mix in some chocolate chips.

Recipe: 3-ingredient Nutella cookies

Who doesn't love an old-school sugar cookie? They're perfect in their simplicity, with just the right amount of sweetness and a delightfully chewy, soft texture. They make a great snack with a cup of tea or coffee to help break up your afternoon and also make a brilliant homemade treat in a packed lunch. If you want to go beyond the basic, jazz up your sugar cookies by decorating them with icing, rolling them in brightly colored sanding sugar, or sprinkles.

Recipe: Sugar cookies

Looking for a beginner-friendly cookie recipe? Try this recipe for shortbread. It's a super simple 5-ingredient creation you can knock together pretty quickly. If you have extra time, you can refrigerate the dough for an hour or so to firm up the butter and help prevent the cookies from spreading. Once you've perfected the art of baking the classic shortbread biscuit, you can start adding other ingredients to make flavored versions. Think lemon zest, orange essence, almond extract, lavender, cocoa powder — anything your taste buds crave.

Recipe: Shortbread cookies

Chocolate crinkle cookies are a must-bake for chocolate lovers. While these decadent powdered sugar-dusted cookies are usually associated with the festive season, we love them no matter the time of year. Now, this recipe yields 48 cookies (one reason why it's so great around the holidays), so you can either half it, freeze leftovers so you can have chocolate crinkle cookies on-demand, or gift extras to your nearest and dearest. We guarantee they'll appreciate it!

Recipe: Chocolate crinkle cookies

There's something so wonderful about the marriage of dried cranberry and orange zest in this delicious cranberry orange cookie recipe. The flavors are reminiscent of autumn and are seriously tasty, thanks to the winning combination of sweet and subtle tartness. They're an amazing antidote to chilly weather and will fill your kitchen with the scent of fall. Oatmeal makes these cookies thick and chewy, ideal for those moments when you want a more robust goodie. Don't be surprised if you find yourself grabbing more than one!

Recipe: Cranberry orange cookies

Heads up, peanut butter fans! Here's a recipe that absolutely must be on your radar: three-ingredient peanut butter cookies. These melt-in-your-mouth cookies are naturally gluten-free, and although they only contain three ingredients, they're packed with flavor without being overpoweringly sweet. It's also an easy recipe to build on — you can give the cookies a richer taste by adding an egg or swapping brown sugar for white. Nuts, chocolate chips, and even dried fruit are all delicious additions you can mix in for extra oomph.

Recipe: Three-ingredient peanut butter cookies

There's nothing like a classic chocolate chip cookie to cheer up your day. Our recipe for the best ones around was developed by baker Mark Beahm, who says his cookies will have "crisp edges, but a soft and chewy interior" after they come out of the oven. The secret ingredient? A little flaky sea salt is sprinkled on top, adding a little extra crunch. How could you possibly go wrong?

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sugar cookies can have a reputation for being a bit basic, but when they get decorated with colorful frosting and sprinkles, they can be as pretty as they are tasty. This recipe, which features a cream cheese frosting that recipe developer Laura Sampson says is "tangy and sweet and complements the cookie perfectly," is no exception. These sugar cookies are based on the Nazareth sugar cookie, an early form of the sugar cookie developed in the 1700s. When making the frosting, Sampson suggests adding the milk slowly to avoid adding too much and making an unnecessary mess.

Recipe: Easy Frosted Sugar Cookies

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies can serve as a tasty twist on a traditional chocolate chip cookie or a sweeter, more chocolatey version of classic oatmeal raisin. Either way, these cookies are sure to be a hit among family and friends, but we won't judge if you want to keep them all for yourself. What's great about this recipe is its flexibility. It calls for old fashioned-style oats, but quick oats can also be used. As for the chocolate chips, regular-sized, mini chips, or even chopped chocolate will work.

Recipe: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

These no-bake cookies are the perfect dessert to make when your oven is otherwise occupied with the rest of your dinner, or when you're simply looking for an easy cookie option that doesn't require cranking up the heat for too long. The cookies are made from ingredients like cocoa, oats, and creamy peanut butter, and, according to recipe developer Angela Latimer, the key to making the ideal cookie is boiling the butter and chocolate-based syrup for exactly (yes, exactly) one minute.

Recipe: Simple No-Bake Cookies

This particular oatmeal raisin cookie recipe is unique in that it yields a cookie that isn't "fluffy and puffy," says recipe developer Laura Sampson, but rather "snaps when you break it." The goal is to get the cookies to resemble a round, thin granola bar. Be sure not to over or under-cook them. If they're "doughy-looking" when you check on them, they need to cook longer, Sampson says, but you should also be careful to watch them in the oven, as they can easily burn.

Recipe: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

These chewy matcha white chocolate cookies are fairly self-explanatory and have all the characteristics of success: they're sugary, delicious, and unique. While these cookies are not your grandmother's classic chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin, they're sure to be a crowd pleaser for both more traditional-style cookie lovers and the adventurous types who appreciate creative ingredients. Enter matcha powder, which when mixed with sugar, flour, and other usual cookie ingredients, becomes the perfect complement to the white chocolate chips stirred into the batter.

Recipe: Chewy Matcha White Chocolate Cookies

This recipe for 5-ingredient chocolate caramel cookie bars is seriously easy. Just gather together a package of Betty Crocker Double Chocolate Chunk Cookie Mix — or a double chocolate chunk mix from a comparable brand — butter, one egg, sweetened condensed milk, and a bag of caramel candies and you're ready to bake! You'll create gooey layers of cookie dough, luscious caramel, and more cookie dough on top to create these delectable cookie bars.

Recipe: 5-Ingredient Chocolate Caramel Cookie Bars

Making these lemon shortbread cookies is easy peasy lemon squeezy. You only need five ingredients: butter, sugar, flour, salt, and, of course, lemons. Be sure to add the right amount of lemon juice, which recipe developer Jaime Bachtell-Shelbert says "not only adds flavor, but helps add moisture if the dough is too dry." Bachtell-Shelbert cuts the cookies with a special tool to create a scalloped edge, but we bet they'll taste just as yummy no matter how you cut them.

Recipe: Easy Lemon Shortbread Cookies

You all probably have the same question: what the heck is a hermit cookie? Turns out, while these cookies might be a good go-to treat for people who enjoy living in the woods alone, they're also a great snack or dessert for the rest of us who prefer mainstream society. The stars of the cookie are the raisins, dates, and walnuts mixed into the batter, along with a touch of cinnamon and nutmeg to spice things up. Recipe developer and registered dietitian Kristen Carli calls these cookies "a great quick energy-dense snack" because of the nutritious dates and walnuts.

Recipe: Hermit Cookies

Kolache cookies made their way into American kitchens in the 1880s; the recipe transversed the Atlantic with immigrants from Czechoslovakia (via NPR). Luckily for us, they're fairly easy to make and require only five ingredients. Any variety of your preferred flavor of preserves or jam will be perfect for the fruity centerpiece of these tiny morsels of heaven, so whether you're a raspberry jam fan or team apricot preserves, you're sure to pull a tray of cookies out of the oven that will be to your pleasing. Sprinkle some powdered sugar on top for extra sweetness.

Recipe: Easy Kolache Cookies

These old fashioned sour cream sugar cookies are based on a recipe passed down through the generations of recipe developer Angela Latimer's family, and you know when a cookie recipe has stood the test of time, it has to be good! No special, out-of-the-ordinary cookie ingredients are needed — just mix up your dough and refrigerate it for at least one hour — although Latimer recommends overnight, so plan ahead! Then, simply scoop the dough out onto a tray to create the individual cookies, sprinkle with some cinnamon sugar, and bake!

Recipe: Old Fashioned Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

Any type of cookie is a great treat anytime of the year, including these chewy molasses spice cookies. But as recipe developer Kristen Carli says, "these are ideal in the fall and winter" as they are "sweet but with a full-spiced flavor." Molasses is the key ingredient here, with Carli encouraging bakers to use either light molasses or dark molasses (blackstrap molasses is not recommended) depending on how sweet or spiced you want your cookies to come out.

Recipe: Chewy Molasses Spice Cookies

The five ingredients in these oatmeal cookies are fairly healthy, so you don't have to feel too guilty when you end up gobbling them all up. The cookies are made from almond butter, rolled oats, dried cranberries, and antioxidant-rich cacao nibs or chocolate chips. They get their sweetness from ripe smashed bananas — the riper, the better. You can also add some shredded coconut or a little vanilla if you're feeling fancy.

Recipe: 5-Ingredient Oatmeal Cookies

Black and white cookies may be a staple item in bakeries across New York City, but, luckily for us, recipe developer Maren Epstein has broken down how to make these treats that are equally as pretty as they are yummy right from the comfort of your own home. The secret ingredients for the contrasting frosting colors? Agave nectar, which adds to its sheen, and Dutch cocoa powder, which makes it softer than if you were to use regular cocoa powder.

Recipe: Classic Black and White Cookies

This lemon cream cheese cookie recipe is a fun and simple twist on a classic sugar cookie recipe with the addition of two important ingredients. You guessed it: lemon and cream cheese. Recipe developer Laura Sampson notes "the cream cheese adds its classic tang to these cookies, making them less on the sweet side," and the lemon juice and lemon zest added in takes that tang up a notch. Snatch them up and dig in!

Recipe: Easy Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies

Giddy-up! Time to saddle up your horse and don your boots with spurs because these cowboy cookies are worth a proper celebration. Former First Lady Laura Bush — who famously comes from Texas — won a presidential cookie bake-off with her version of the cowboy cookie recipe (via Southern Living). But even if you don't hail from the Wild, Wild West, you'll still fall in love with these creative cookies featuring oats, chocolate chips, walnuts, and coconut flakes. Yee-haw!

Recipe: Cowboy Cookies

Chocoholics rejoice! This rich double chocolate chip cookie recipe is what you've been searching for your whole lives. It has a chewy chocolate center, chocolate chips mixed in, and more chocolate chips sprinkled on the top for good measure, because as we all know, there's no such thing as too much chocolate. Bonus: these double chocolate chip cookies take under half an hour to make from start to finish, so when you run out of the first batch, it's easy to make more!

Recipe: Rich Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookie bars must be a lucky snack, because not only do they have seven layers, but they're also made from just seven simple ingredients: graham crackers, semi-sweet chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, shredded coconut, pecans, condensed milk, and some butter to hold it all together. If these ingredients sound like a recipe for success, there's more luck to go around, because they're super simple to make and only require five minutes of prep time before you can cook, cool, and dig in!

Recipe: Easy 7-Layer Cookie Bars

Cookies may be the last thing you expect to be handed when checking into a hotel, but at DoubleTree by Hilton, you'll not only receive your room key, but also the chance to dig into some sizable, chewy chocolate chip cookies. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hilton released the recipe for DoubleTree's cookies in an attempt to lift spirits. Turns out, there aren't any secret ingredients here, but rather, precise measurements of everyday ingredients like oats, chocolate chips, and walnuts that make these cookies such a treat.

Recipe: DoubleTree Cookies

Just think: In 20 minutes, you could have your kitchen smelling of delicious sugar cookies made from three ingredients you probably already have: butter, sugar, and flour. The finished product is similar to a shortbread cookie with a "soft and crumbly texture," according to recipe developer Lindsay Mattison. Of course, you can also spice up the recipe by adding other ingredients, such as vanilla or almond extract, and we're sure you wouldn't be disappointed by the taste if you added some homemade frosting or sprinkles to really make these cookies shine.

Recipe: 3-Ingredient Sugar Cookies

These little balls of joy, which get their name from a resemblance to the buckeye tree nut, are essentially peanut butter bites surrounded by a chocolate shell. Do we have your attention now? Good, because you're going to want to whip up a batch of these tasty morsels, and to do so, you won't even have to use your oven. Simply prepare the peanut butter batter, dip it in melted chocolate, and let the balls set in the freezer. Ta-da!

Recipe: Easy No Bake Buckeye Cookies

Cinnamon sugar cookies are the perfect combination of a little kick of spice and a lot of sweetness. Catherine Brookes' recipe, which calls for the dough to be rolled in a cinnamon sugar mixture, creates cookies that will surely be disappearing from the kitchen counter as soon as they cool. You'll have to chill the dough in the refrigerator for about two hours, but your patience will be rewarded when you pull these delights out of the oven after baking them for only 10 minutes.

Recipe: Cinnamon Sugar Cookies

Fans of the iconic ice cream flavor should rejoice, as you can now get that rich, chocolatey taste mixed with a touch of mint in these mint chocolate chip cookies. The key ingredients are cocoa powder, which provides the chocolate flavor, and a package of Andes mints candies to add that nice, refreshing mint taste. Recipe developer Mackenzie Ryan recommends saving some of the Andes mints for after baking to press into the top of the cookies for an extra-minty garnish.

Recipe: Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Honey may not be the first ingredient you think of when whipping up a batch of cookies, but trust us, it can be a sweet and delicious addition. The key to baking these chewy honey cookies to perfection is making sure you choose the right kind of honey. Lighter-colored honeys, says recipe developer Jessica Morone, have a more citrusy flavor, while darker-colored honeys will have a more traditional honey taste, so it's all up to what you're craving in the moment!

Recipe: Chewy Honey Cookies

Snickerdoodles are the ideal crowd-pleaser because there's something for everyone in this cookie. They're sweet, but have a slight kick of cinnamon; they're crispy on the outside, yet soft on the inside. Our version, courtesy of recipe developer Kristen Carli, is made with just eight simple ingredients mixed together to form a dough that is then chilled to prevent it from spreading while baking. But once you pull these out of the oven and let them cool, you'll have the perfect cookie for any gathering.

Recipe: Snickerdoodle Cookies

Who says you have to choose between cookies and brownies? Not us! This cookie recipe's main ingredient is a box of brownie mix, which, when combined with chocolate chips, eggs, and butter will leave you with one delectable cookie. Bonus: these cookies are exceptionally easy to make. You just combine the ingredients, scoop out the cookie portions onto a baking sheet, and bake! The only reason you'll want to come out of your cookie-induced chocolate coma is to make more.

Recipe: Chewy Brownie Mix Cookies

This recipe for soft sugar cookies is foolproof. In fact, recipe developer Kristen Carli says there are "no mistakes to look out for." You simply combine the dry ingredients, mix together the wet ingredients, combine the two bowls, scoop the dough out onto your cookie tray, and bake! Carli recommends baking the sugar cookies for about 10 minutes to achieve the soft center; however, if you prefer a little crisp, you can leave them in the oven for up to 15 minutes.

Recipe: Soft Sugar Cookies

What's even better than these butter pecan cookies mimicking the classic butter pecan ice cream flavor is that this recipe yields four dozen cookies, because once you make these cookies, you're bound to want more. You'll mix chopped pecans into the batter, but be sure to save some whole nuts for garnishing, which adds a touch of crunch to this otherwise mostly chewy cookie. And — this is a mind-blowing suggestion, get ready — you can even try these cookies broken up and mixed with butter pecan ice cream for a butter pecan overload. Whoa.

Recipe: Butter Pecan Cookies

Recipe developer Jessica Morone states that this recipe for Swedish thumbprint cookies "is pretty similar to the traditional Swedish recipe for hallongrotta," which Morone goes on to explain translates to "raspberry cave," which has us wondering how exactly raspberry caves are incorporated into a cookie. Turns out, it has everything to do with the thumbprint, which creates an indent in the middle of the dough that can be filled with raspberry jam, or any other filling of your choice. Thanks for sharing, Sweden!

Recipe: Swedish Thumbprint Cookies

Finally! A rich, chocolatey recipe that our friends and family members on gluten-free diets can enjoy! This mouthwatering recipe gets the "triple chocolate" part of its name from three kinds of chocolate chips: white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, and dark chocolate chips. Make sure you use a special gluten-free flour for these cookies; not just any gluten-free flour will do. "Using a flour blend that's been designed to replicate standard all-purpose flour is essential," says recipe developer Catherine Brookes.

Recipe: Triple Chocolate Gluten-Free Cookies

There's no sweeter time of year than Valentine's Day, and this cookie version of the classic conversation heart candies will trump roses any day. All you'll need is the traditional ingredients for a sugar cookie, a heart-shaped cookie cutter, and an edible ink food coloring pen to write out the message of your choice to your loved ones! But, just like true love, these cookies take some time, as you must be sure to let the cookies cool completely before applying the frosting.

Recipe: Conversation Heart Cookies

Need an addition to the Easter dessert spread, or perhaps a treat to tuck into festive baskets along with your favorite Easter candy? Well, look no further than these adorable Easter egg cookies, complete with chocolate chips throughout and Cadbury mini eggs on top. Recipe developer Ting Dalton describes the cookies as "crispy on the outside and gooey in the middle" and honestly, that's all we need to hear before grabbing several of these colorful cookies and digging in — even if the Easter Bunny has only just delivered them.

Recipe: Easter Egg Cookies

Chewy Coconut Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies. Say that three times fast! Phew! You'll be glad you practiced when you share these cookies with your friends and family and they're all asking for the recipe. The cookies are like an upgraded version of classic chocolate chip; recipe developer Mark Beahm even compares their taste to that of Almond Joy candy when the almonds and coconut are added. What's more? This recipe yields 36 cookies, so you'll have plenty for everyone.

Recipe: Chewy Coconut Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

We don't know what's better about these 3-ingredient Costco pirouette cookies. They're tasty, healthier than regular pirouette cookies, gluten-free, and made from only three ingredients that are all available at Costco! You'll create these little sticks filled with chocolatey goodness from Tropical Fields crispy coconut rolls that you'll fill with a chocolate ganache made from chocolate chips and heavy whipping cream. Another perk of this recipe? It utilizes the microwave, so it's perfect for those bakers prone to burning cookies in the oven.

Recipe: 3-Ingredient Costco Pirouette Cookie

Which do you prefer, chocolate or marshmallows? It's a tough question, but with these delicious chocolate marshmallow cookies, you don't have to decide! To make these little masterpieces, you'll combine ingredients like cocoa powder to give the cookies that extra-chocolately taste and look, then add in chocolate chips and marshmallows. Kids and adults alike will be asking for seconds of these s'mores-like cookies, and since the recipe yields just 12 cookies, you may want to double it!

Recipe: Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies

You'll feel like you have the luck of the Irish with you when you nail this easy shamrock sugar cookie recipe. The little leprechauns in your family will love these colorful, festive twist on the sugar cookie, plus, they're a cinch to make and super fun to decorate with homemade frosting dyed green with food coloring. You can even add small personal touches, like green and white sprinkles, to make these cookies even more festive.

Recipe: Shamrock Sugar Cookies

Rise and shine! You'll have no qualms about getting up in the morning when you're allowed to have cookies for breakfast, which we argue is perfectly fine when made with cereal, especially a deliciously sweet one like Lucky Charms. Recipe developer Eric Ngo says these Lucky Charms sugar cookies are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside with marshmallows both mixed into the batter and pressed into the top of the cookies for a pop of color and extra sugar rush.

Recipe: Lucky Charms Sugar Cookies

These spinning chocolate and vanilla old-fashioned pinwheel cookies have us so hypnotized, we're absolutely ready to have more than one. You'll prepare two square-shaped pieces of dough for this recipe (one chocolate, one vanilla), place one on top of the other, roll them up, and slice pieces off the end to create the swirling effect. Not into the chocolate and vanilla combo? Check out Kristen Carli's full recipe for alternative ingredients you can use to make an equally yummy creation.

Recipe: Old-Fashioned Pinwheel Cookies

It's a pie... It's a cookie... It's an apple pie cookie! And with just two required ingredients, it couldn't be easier to make. Simply roll out a thawed, pre-made pie crust (available in the frozen foods section), grab a can of apple pie filling, assemble, and bake! If you want to get fancy and add a bit of flavor, sprinkle some cinnamon on top. This is the perfect dessert for when you don't want to have to choose between apple pie and cookies. Who says you can't have the best of both worlds?

Recipe: Easy Apple Pie Cookies

These Grinch cookies are inspired by Mr. Grinch himself and his three-sizes-too-small heart, which we bet would be sure to grow once he saw how adorable these little green bites of deliciousness are. You'll start with a fairly traditional cookie recipe and add some green food coloring before baking. Once these cookies come out of the oven, then comes the cuteness factor: press in some red, heart-shaped sprinkles that are sure to add a little love to both the holiday season and all-year round.

Recipe: Grinch Cookies

No need to dirty a cookie sheet or even turn on your oven for this chocolate chip cookie recipe, as all the cooking is done in the mug in the microwave. Once you've melted the butter and prepared the batter, you'll pack it into a microwave-safe mug, add a few extra chocolate chips on top, because when is more chocolate too much? Finally, pop it in the microwave for a little less than one minute — it's as easy as that. Eat it plain or maybe add a fun topping like vanilla ice cream or whipped cream for a real treat.

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookie In A Mug

Perfect for autumn, or any time of year you're craving a maple-y treat, these frosted maple cookies pack a double maple punch with maple flavoring in both the batter and the frosting, thanks to the combination of maple syrup and maple extract. What's more, they're super easy to make and take less than half an hour. You'll need some extra time to account for the cooling time between baking and frosting, which is very important, but may feel agonizing since you'll want to dig into these amazing smelling treats immediately.

Recipe: Best Frosted Maple Cookies

You'll find yourself fa-la-la-la-laing your way to the dessert table to nosh on some of these Christmas star cookies after baking them for your family and completing the first taste test. Made from a few basic ingredients and spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger, these festive cookies are as yummy as they are pretty. Use a cookie cutter to create the star shape and a sweet icing made from powdered sugar to give them a shiny topping as white as snow.

Recipe: Christmas Star Cookies

Girl Scout cookie season comes but just once a year, but with this copycat Do-Si-Dos recipe, you can get your fix all year round. Many peanut butter lovers claim Do-Si-Dos as their favorite Girl Scout cookies — don't worry, we won't tell the ever-popular Thin Mint that you're seeing other cookies — and it's easy to see why. The sandwich-style cookies has peanut butter baked into the exterior, and a whipped filling made from even more peanut butter.

Recipe: Copycat Girl Scout Do-Si-Dos

This recipe offers a healthier alternative to your run-of-the-mill chocolate chip cookies, and they only require three ingredients. We'll let you guess what they are (hint: take a look at their name). The secret to success here is making sure your bananas are overly ripe and easy to mash. You'll need only five minutes to whip up these delectable cookies and just about 12 minutes to bake them, but since the recipe yields seven cookies, you'll certainly find yourself making extra batches to bask in the yumminess perfect for a snack any time of day.

Recipe: 3-Ingredient Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Why use almond flour to make this different, yet equally as delicious version of chocolate chip cookies? For one, almond flour is low in carbohydrates, perfect for those watching their waistline. It's gluten-free, making the cookies ideal for our gluten-sensitive friends and family. Plus, it contains prebiotic fiber. If you've never worked with a gluten-free flour before, recipe developer Catherine Brookes has various tips throughout the recipe that will help you in making the switch.

Recipe: Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe takes your classic chocolate chip cookies to the next level with the addition of hazelnut powder and chopped hazelnuts. The hazelnuts add an extra kick of sweetness and crunch, adding nuance to an otherwise traditional cookie. These cookies are ideal for an outing such as a cookout or office party where you want to surprise the attendees with a unique kind of cookie, or even to shake things up at your own family's dessert table.

Recipe: Best Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

These Cool Whip cookies are an interesting take on a traditional lemon cookie, and with just five necessary ingredients — including an eight-ounce package of Cool Whip and a box of lemon cake mix — they couldn't be easier to make. Rolling the dough in powdered sugar will give the cookies a contrasting yellow and white color scheme, tempting tasty onlookers with promises of both tangy lemon and sweet sugar flavoring. You'll most definitely find yourself reaching for seconds.

Recipe: Easy Cool Whip Cookies

Don't let the sheer amount of ingredients needed for this apple spice cookie recipe intimidate you; these fall-inspired cookies are actually fairly easy to make and worth every minute of prep and bake time. You'll simply mix the wet and dry ingredients separately, starting with the apples — recipe developer Hayley MacLean recommends using Granny Smith apples and has strong opinions on how to chop them for ultimate success — and then some walnuts, if desired. Then, it's off to the oven for these cookies, and, once you take them out, be sure to have some warmed apple cider ready to enjoy them with.

Recipe: Apple Spice Cookies

The joy of these pumpkin Hershey Kiss cookies is threefold: they look like tiny pumpkins, they taste like pumpkin spice, and to (literally) top it all off, a Hershey's Kiss gives the cookie a chocolatey touch. This recipe brings together pumpkin spice aficionados and chocolate fanatics alike to create the perfect cookie for fall. You'll follow the easy directions to create the pumpkin spice cookies and press in the Hershey's Kisses on top between bakings for an autumn delight like no other.

Recipe: Pumpkin Hershey Kiss Cookies

Now if the words "French" and "meringue" already have you nervous about this cookie recipe, don't run away just yet. We've collaborated with real-life French chef and recipe developer Eric Ngo who has broken down this two-ingredient recipe to make it as simple as possible. Ngo has two key pointers for making these cookies: the first is using plenty of the main ingredient and the other is patience, as these cookies will spend a whopping two hours in the oven. It'll all be worth it when they're done; one bite and your taste buds will be in Paris.

Recipe: French Meringue Cookies

According to Taste, in the 1930s, the dough for icebox cookies was made and rolled ahead of time, chilled in the icebox (what we now call a refrigerator) and sliced when ready to be baked. Our modern Mashed recipe from recipe developer Kristen Carli is similar, with one of the star ingredients being bittersweet chocolate chunks. Carli's tip? Store the dough in the freezer rather than the refrigerator, where it will last up to three months.

Recipe: Old Fashioned Icebox Cookies

What's a scotchie, you ask? Why, it's simply a cookie made with butterscotch, and this recipe from recipe developer Kristen Carli will have you begging for more. "I'm obsessed with butterscotch," Carli says, but adds if you're not a fan, you can simply substitute chocolate or other flavored chips. There are quite a few ingredients for these cookies, the most important being, you guessed it: oats and butterscotch chips. But don't let that deter you from making these little morsels of joy; they only require five minutes of prep time and 10 minutes in the oven before you can enjoy them.

Recipe: Chewy Oatmeal Scotchies

What could possibly make a classic snickerdoodle cookie even better? Why, adding some pumpkin, spice, and everything nice, of course! These pumpkin snickerdoodles would be the perfect twist for the fall season, but we bet you'll enjoy these cookies anytime of year you have a craving for some autumn-inspired comfort food. You'll need four spices: cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger to mix with other dry ingredients to make the batter, then coat the dough with some extra cinnamon sugar before you pop these babies in the oven. Bake 'em up, and yum!

Recipe: Best Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

What could be cuter than the adorable, creative Halloween costumes kids wear while trick-or-treating? These equally-adorable peanut butter cup spider cookies! There are two stars of the show here: the peanut butter cookies themselves and the mini peanut butter cups, which form the spiders' bodies and get pressed into the tops of the cookies. Drawn on the spiders' legs using frosting, and you have the perfect addition to any Halloween cookie spread.

Recipe: Peanut Butter Cup Spider Cookies

If these witch finger cookies don't make you cringe at first glance with their realistic-looking crooked shape and bloody fingernails, we don't know what will. But although they look gnarled and scary, these cookies are both fun to make and tasty to eat. You'll start with a sugar cookie dough, shape it into "fingers," and add Marcona almonds for the fingernails, around which you'll pipe red decorating gel for the blood. If we ever saw a spooky cookie, this is it!

Recipe: Witch Finger Cookies

These pineapple drop cookies are a cinch to make, taking only 15 minutes, plus cooling time before you add the icing on top. They're sweet with a pineapple tang that, if you close your eyes and concentrate on the taste, will take you to the tropics, albeit even if it's just for a second. Such an illusion of warm breezes and piña coladas comes thanks to the inclusion of pineapple chunks in the batter and pineapple juice in the icing.

Recipe: Pineapple Drop Cookies

Making gingerbread cookies is a go-to activity for families during the holidays. These festive cookies are perfect for both parties and leaving out for the big guy on Christmas Eve, just in case Santa happens to be on a gluten-free diet. After assembling the dough, just cut them out with a cookie cutter and pop them in the oven. After they've cooled, the fun part begins: decorating them with homemade icing. We're partial to gingerbread men in suits with buttons down the front, but get creative and make yours personal!

Recipe: Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies

These Halloween Oreo spider cookies are the perfect combination of salty, sweet and, depending on your level of arachnophobia, scary! Okay, maybe they're more cute than scary, as an Oreo-based dessert creation is more likely to attract you than repel you, no matter what your fears. You'll create the most delicious chocolate-covered Oreos for the body of these spider cookies and add mini pretzel stick legs and M&Ms for the eyes. Kids will be delighted with this innovative dessert, and adults will gobble them up, too.

Recipe: Halloween Oreo Spiders