Our Favourite Christmas Cookie Recipes (+How to make them FAST!)

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We LOVE baking in our house, especially when it’s CHRISTMAS BAKING! It’s such a fun and relaxing activity for me, and my girls enjoy it too. They’re all very interested in how recipes are put together, and they love to decorate cookies. After several years of Christmas baking, I’ve come to love a few recipes that we make year after year. These Christmas cookie recipes – gingerbread cookies, sugar cookies & whipped shortbread cookies – are staples in our home, and today I want to share our special recipes with YOU! I’ll also show you how I bulk bake them & get them done early so that you can relax over the holidays.

Our ULTIMATE favourite Christmas cookie recipes we do every year! Our ULTIMATE favourite Christmas cookie recipes we do every year!

I like to reserve an entire afternoon to go on a giant cookie baking spree with my girls. This year, I managed to bake all three of these recipes in an afternoon!

Our ULTIMATE favourite Christmas cookie recipes we do every year!

I love doing it this way because the prep and clean-up are a lot faster if you can make a few recipes at once, and I’m able to put all of the extra cookies in the freezer to decorate and eat closer to Christmas time.

Our ULTIMATE favourite Christmas cookie recipes we do every year!

Plus, a cookie-making spree like this is a great way to keep my very active little girls occupied for an entire afternoon.

Our ULTIMATE favourite Christmas cookie recipes we do every year!

The tool that has helped me the most with this batch baking process is my LG electric range with double oven from The BrickI’ve had it since last summer, and it’s been such a wonderful appliance! It’s perfect for large family dinners and batch baking like this.

Our ULTIMATE favourite Christmas cookie recipes we do every year!

When you’re making a few different recipes at once like this collection of cookie recipes, it’s handy to have the two different ovens to vary temperatures and baking times. I can keep a steady rotation of pans of cookies going in and out of the ovens for the whole afternoon! I’d definitely recommend this range from The Brick if you’re an avid baker and hostess like I am – it’s such a time saver.

Our ULTIMATE favourite Christmas cookie recipes we do every year!

Now, on to the cookie recipes! These are simple gingerbread cookie, sugar cookie, and shortbread cookie recipes, and I like to reserve some for my kids to ice as they please, and some for me to ice and use as decorations and gifts. They all freeze well, so making a huge batch of all of these is also a great time saver. Ready to bake?

Gingerbread Cookies
 
Author: Christina Dennis
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 3 dozen
This classic gingerbread cookie recipe is spicy and chewy.
Ingredients
  • 1/2 c shortening
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 2 c flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cloves
  • 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 tsp ginger
Instructions
  1. Cream together the shortening, sugar, egg, and molasses.
  2. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and spices.
  3. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
  4. Roll the dough out 1/4″ thick and cut it into shapes with cookie cutters.
  5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes.
  6. When cooled, decorate as desired.
 

 

Our ULTIMATE favourite Christmas cookie recipes we do every year!

Sugar Cookies
 
Author: Christina Dennis
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4 dozen
This classic sugar cookie recipe is perfect to roll out and decorate, and it’s chewy and sweet.
Ingredients
  • 3/4 cup softened butter
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
  1. Beat together the butter, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth. (I mix all of my baking by hand, but this also works well with a mixer.)
  2. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of flour. Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour.
  3. Roll the dough out to about 1/4″ thickness & cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters.
  4. Bake each batch of cookies for about 7 minutes at 350 degrees F until they are just slightly golden on the edges.
  5. Cool & decorate as desired.
 

 

Our ULTIMATE favourite Christmas cookie recipes we do every year!

Whipped Shortbread
 
Author: Christina Dennis
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 2 dozen
This classic whipped shortbread is melt-in-your-mouth delicious!
Ingredients
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
Instructions
  1. Cream butter and sugar together in a medium-sized bowl.
  2. Add flour and cornstarch gradually while beating.
  3. Shape into small balls, press a small indentation into the center of each with your thumb, and add a cherry.
  4. Bake at 375 degrees F for 12 minutes.
 

 

Our ULTIMATE favourite Christmas cookie recipes we do every year!

I hope you enjoy our family’s favourite cookie recipes, and if you have one that you love, please let me know in the comments below. I always like to try new cookie recipes!

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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by The Brick. As always, all of the opinions here are my own.

More Christmas Recipes

How to make a wreath out of gingerbread cookies. Great gift idea and great recipe!

I think this wreath is just as pretty as it is practical – you could hang it on a window or doorway and enjoy its festive look and scent, and then eat it when you want to! This would be a fun way to present cookies to your neighbor at Christmas, too.

TANTE BETTY’S PFEFFERNUSSE | GERMAN ICED SPICE CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Learn how to make my Tante (Aunt) Betty’s Pfeffernusse – a spicy, German cookie smothered in icing. They’re the perfect treat for the holidays!

Maple Pecan Tassies Christmas Cookie Mini Tart Recipe

MAKE MAPLE PECAN TASSIES (THE CUTEST TINY TARTS FOR CHRISTMAS!)

These rich but delicate maple pecan tassies are a delicious addition to your Christmas cookie roster this year! They look like tiny tarts and taste like a cross between a shortbread cookie and a slice of pecan pie.

5 Comments

  1. What a lovely way to spend an afternoon with your girls. Whipped shortbreads are my favourite. We had a double oven, well, I guess have, but the top oven stopped working. We miss it so much. It was all we needed most of the time. We’re definitely getting the same type of stove when we redo our kitchen.

  2. This is absolutely brilliant and made me realize I need to get new cookie cutters. The snowflakes are so adorable and perfect for the season. I am so excited to make these. Thank you for sharing and Merry Christmas!

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