If your kitchen’s about to smell like Christmas magic, but you’re ready to bake something a little different this year, I’ve gathered a few cookie recipes that earned a spot on my holiday list. Every family has that one person who isn’t head over heels for chocolate—mine happens to be my partner. I, on the other hand, could live happily ever after with a plate of classic chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk. But love means compromise, so I’ve added a couple of chocolate-free options that are just as dreamy, plus a no-bake peanut butter cookie that might just steal the show.
Hi, I’m Mercae (pronounced Mer-say), a neurodivergent Seattle mother to one wild preschooler boy and a family, maternity and newborn photographer. I am deeply passionate about providing parents with tangible reminders of their families connection and love story because of my own challenging first years as a mother. Looking up at the wall, seeing myself at the heart of my beautiful family brings me so much light and joy and made even the toughest days of postpartum depression bearable. I know it can help other parents both in the moment of the session, taking time to be together, and after, when it comes time to mount their photos on the wall or thumb through their album again. Click here to learn more…
No Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Servings: 36 Servings
Peanut butter no-bake cookies are full of peanut butter flavor and rolled oat goodness. They only require a few simple ingredients, and are incredibly easy to make!
- Prep: 5minutes
- Cook: 10minutes
- Chill Time 15minutes
- Total: 30minutes
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- ¼ cup butter
- ½ cup milk
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups old fashioned oats
Instructions
- Cover a baking sheet with wax paper and set aside.
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, stir together sugar, butter and milk. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently and keep at a rolling boil for one minute.1½ cups granulated sugar,¼ cup butter,½ cup milk
- Turn off burner and stir in peanut butter until smooth. Stir in vanilla and oatmeal until combined.1 cup creamy peanut butter,1 teaspoon vanilla extract,3 cups old fashioned oats
- Working quickly, drop in desired sized mounds on wax paper.
- Allow to cool and set and then serve.
Notes
Sometimes I like to stir in a Tablespoon or two of ground flax seed with the oatmeal.
Because these cookies are no bake, you can make them whatever size you would like. I usually use either a small or medium cookie scoop to make portioning the cookies easier. The recipe makes 26 medium cookies (1 1/2 Tablespoons each) or about 40 small cookies (1 Tablespoon each)
Video
Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 45 minutes
- Yield: 16 XL cookies or 20 medium/large cookies
Description
These super soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies are the most popular cookie recipe on my website for good reason. Melted butter, more brown sugar than white sugar, cornstarch, and an extra egg yolk guarantee the absolute chewiest chocolate chip cookie texture. The cookie dough is slick and requires chilling prior to shaping the cookies. This recipe is also in my New York Times best-selling cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch*
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (170g/12 Tbsp) unsalted butter, melted & cooled for 5 minutes
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/4 cups (225g) semi-sweet chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
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Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt together. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until no lumps remain. Whisk in the egg and egg yolk until combined, then whisk in the vanilla extract. The mixture will be thin. Pour into dry ingredients and mix together with a large spoon or spatula. The dough will be very soft, thick, and shiny. Fold in the chocolate chips. The chocolate chips may not stick to the dough because of the melted butter, but do your best to combine them.
- Cover the dough tightly and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days. I highly recommend chilling the cookie dough overnight to prevent overspreading.
- Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. If the dough has chilled for longer than 2 hours, let it sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes.
- Using a cookie scoop or Tablespoon measuring spoon, scoop the chilled cookie dough, about 3 scant Tablespoons (about 2 ounces, or 60g) of dough for XL cookies or 2 heaping Tablespoons (about 1.75 ounces, or 50g) of dough for medium-large cookies. Roll into a ball, then use your fingers to shape the cookie dough so that it’s taller rather than wide—almost like a cylinder. This helps the cookies bake up thicker. Repeat with remaining dough. Arrange the cookies 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake the cookies for 13–14 minutes or until the edges are very lightly browned. The centers will look very soft, but the cookies will continue to set as they cool. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. While the cookies are still warm, I like to press a few more chocolate chips into the tops—this is optional and only for looks!
- Store tightly covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Allow to come to room temperature, then continue with step 5. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Wooden Spoon or Rubber Spatula | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Cornstarch: If you don’t have cornstarch, you can leave it out. The cookies are still very soft.
- Egg & Egg Yolk: Room-temperature egg + egg yolk are best. Typically, if a recipe calls for room-temperature or melted butter, it’s good practice to use room-temperature eggs as well. To bring eggs to room temperature quickly, simply place the whole eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes.
- Can I add nuts or different add-ins? Yes, absolutely. As long as the total amount of add-ins is around 1 to 1 and 1/4 cups, you can add anything including chopped nuts, M&Ms, white chocolate chips, dried cranberries, chopped peanut butter cups, etc. I love them with 3/4 cup (135g) butterscotch morsels and 1/2 cup (100g) Reese’s Pieces. You could even add 1/2 cup (80g) sprinkles to make a sprinkle chocolate chip cookie.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking success tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Thumbprint Cookies
(find the original recipe page here)
- A simple recipe for classic thumbprint cookies
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 11 minutes
- Chilling Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1hour
- Servings: 24 cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ⅓ cup (70 g) sugar
- ⅓ cup (70 g) light brown sugar, tightly packed
- 1 large egg yolk
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cup (280 g) all purpose flour
- 2 teaspooons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup sugar for rolling (optional)
- ⅓ cup (105 g) jam or preserves flavor of your choice — I used raspberry preserves for this recipe
Instructions
- Place butter in the bowl of a stand mixer (you may instead use a large bowl and an electric hand mixer) and beat until creamy.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add sugars, and beat, gradually increasing mixer speed to medium-high until ingredients are well-combined (about 30-60 seconds).⅓ cup (70 g) sugar,⅓ cup (70 g) light brown sugar, tightly packed
- Add egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat well.1 large egg yolk,¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt. 2 ¼ cup (280 g) all purpose flour,2 teaspooons cornstarch,½ teaspoon salt
- With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture to wet ingredients until completely combined. This dough will seem very dry and crumbly, so be sure to pause occasionally to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. If it starts to strain your mixer you can use your hands to finish working the dough together.
- Scoop cookie dough into 1 Tablespoon-sized balls and roll very well (so that the dough is round and there are no cracks/seams in the cookie dough — this will help keep your thumbprints from cracking).
- Roll in granulated sugar (if using) and place on a wax-paper covered plate or small cookie sheet. Use your thumb or the rounded back of a teaspoon to gently press an indent in the center of the cookie dough. Repeat until all of the dough has been used.½ cup sugar
- Transfer cookie dough to freezer and chill for 30 minutes.
- Once dough is done chilling, preheat oven to 375F (190C) and place your jam in a small microwave-safe bowl. Heat briefly (about 5-10 seconds) or until jam is not hot but is no longer firm and is easy to stir.⅓ cup (105 g) jam or preserves
- Spoon jam into each thumbprint, filling each indent to the brim.
- Once oven is preheated, place cookies at least 2″ apart on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and bake on 375F (190C) for 11 minutes or until edges are just beginning to turn golden brown.
- Allow cookies to cool completely on baking sheet before enjoying.
Italian Wedding Cookies
Ingredients
Original recipe (1X) yields 80 servings
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter room temperature
- ¾ cup confectioners’ sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1 ½ cups finely ground almonds
- 4 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup confectioners’ sugar for rolling
Directions
- Gather all ingredients. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C)
- Place butter, 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, and salt in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Mix in ground almonds and vanilla
- Blend in flour gradually until well-combined.
- Shape into balls (or crescents) using about 1 teaspoon for each cookie; place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
- Bake in the preheated oven until just browned, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Let sit until slightly cooled, about 15 minutes. Roll cookies once in remaining confectioners’ sugar while warm, then again while cool.
This year, our Christmas plans are all about slowing down and soaking it in. I’m picturing flour dust on little hands, the sound of carols floating through the kitchen, and trays of cookies cooling on every surface while we sneak a few warm bites before bedtime. There’s something so grounding about baking together, about those small, sweet moments that remind us what this season is really about. By the end of the day, the kitchen will be a beautiful mess, the tree will sparkle in the corner, and the house will smell like sugar and joy. That’s the kind of Christmas memory I want to hold onto.
