My winning holiday cookie lineup
All the cookies in this year's assortment—ranked
I’m 100% not a cold-weather person. While I’ve lived in the Northeastern U.S. for most of my life, I’ve never really liked the winters here. Every December, without fail, I reluctantly bundle up and immediately begin anticipating the spring thaw and the first buds on the trees. However, one of the things I do look forward to when the temperatures plummet is my annual holiday cookie bake.
This is one dedicated day when I put everything else aside to bake mountains and mountains of cookies. There are no other planned engagements, no distractions. Just baking, plain and simple, all day long. The results of these herculean efforts? Gift boxes bestowed upon a small handful of very lucky recipients (aka nearby family and friends).
Part of the thrill of this ritual is selecting which cookies I’ll make each year. My criteria are fairly straightforward: they must sound interesting (and delicious, naturally); they must be eye-catching and look pretty together as a collection; and they must offer a variety of flavors, textures and shapes that complement one another without being too similar. I might try to limit myself to one chocolate-based cookie or one shortbread. And I always try to include something fruity, gingery, and/or minty—flavors that capture the essence of the holidays.
Many of my recipes this year come from the New York Times Cooking app (I’ve shared some gift links from my subscription). Their holiday cookie offerings are extensive and unique, and I’ve discovered many favorites in their archives. I’ve learned, however, to always read the commentary, as some recipes can benefit from a few thoughtful adjustments.
2025 Holiday Cookie Extravaganza
I’m really proud of my 2025 holiday cookie assortment—all seven recipes are winners! And because I love a good list, I’ve ranked them in order of preference. Should you decide to make any, I’ve also included a few recipe notes (what worked for me, so you don’t have to pore through the comments) to help ensure the best results.
Know that it was hard to put any cookie in “last place,” since I enjoyed every single one and would recommend them all. But I ultimately went with my taste buds and chose what I’d reach for most often.
Let’s dive in!
#7: Mortadella Cookies (gift link), Claire Saffitz, New York Times Cooking.
These cookies, aptly named for their resemblance to the Italian deli sandwich meat, thankfully don’t contain any mortadella. A bit gimmicky? Sure. But I was intrigued by the strawberry and almond flavor combination, as well as the unexpected nut choice of macadamias and pistachios.
The cookies tasted much more strawberry-forward than I’d expected, somewhat at the expense of the almond flavor, but I enjoyed their fruitiness and got plenty of nuttiness from the macadamia nuts and pistachios.
Recipe notes:
I made the dough log two days ahead and refrigerated it until I was ready to bake. Unlike a number of commenters, I had no problem cutting them into slices, and they didn’t fall apart. Just tuck in any large nuts on the surface of the log (as recommended), keep the dough in the fridge for a little extra time, and use a sharp knife, and you should be fine. I also watched the accompanying video, which had some helpful tips.
Raw macadamia nuts were suggested for their pale color, which more closely mimics the fat specks in mortadella. I used roasted salted macadamias instead, which I prefer for their taste. I also found their saltiness nicely balanced the cookie’s sweetness— without affecting the desired appearance.
I laughed out loud at the recipe video, which referenced these cookies as “quick” and “low effort”, because they’re anything but! It’s a multi-step, more time-intensive recipe, but the cookies were a fun addition to the collection and worth the extra effort.
#6: Coconut Cake Snowballs (gift link), Samantha Seneviratne, New York Times Cooking.
These Coconut Cake Snowballs were touted as having the flavor of a cream cheese–frosted coconut cake in cookie form. When I snuck a very small taste of the cookie dough (no eggs in this one!), I immediately knew I was in for a treat. The rich coconut flavor stands out, and using the recommended richer European salted butter enhances it even more.
Recipe notes:
These cookies have to be frozen for at least an hour before baking, so I made mine a day in advance and popped them directly into the oven from the freezer.
The recipe recommends using a medium bowl for the cream cheese glaze, but with three cups of powdered sugar, I was enveloped in a white, hazy cloud the moment I turned on my electric hand mixer. 😬 All that to say, I’d use a large bowl. Also, don’t be alarmed if the initial cream cheese and powdered sugar mixture isn’t completely smooth. Mine was definitely on the grainy side, but it turned out fine once I added the liquid.
Some may find these cookies a smidge too sweet (my kids had no complaints!). To tone down the sweetness, try using unsweetened instead of sweetened shredded coconut. Also, given the recipe name, I expected a more cake-like texture. They did have a more tender, delicate crumb for a cookie, though, thanks to the European butter, almond flour, and powdered sugar. Delicious nonetheless.
#5: Cookie Bark, Sarah Fennel, Broma Bakery.
I’m a firm believer that everyday cookies like chocolate chip, oatmeal, and peanut butter do not qualify as holiday cookie contenders. However, I still wanted to sneak some sort of chocolate chip something into the mix. Enter cookie bark. Buttery, crispy, chocolatey shards of goodness that felt special enough to hold their own in a holiday cookie assortment.
Recipe notes:
The suggested 25-minute bake time was too long for my oven; mine were in for only 22 minutes and were a shade darker than I would have preferred. However, they were still pleasantly crispy—which is what you want here—and also delicious, so I didn’t mind.
The chocolate drizzle on the bark needs time to set. To speed things up, I put the whole piece of drizzled bark in the fridge for about an hour, then broke it into shards.
#4: Dark ‘n’ Stormy Cookies (gift link), Dan Pelosi, New York Times Cooking.
These cookies are inspired by a Dark ‘n’ Stormy, a refreshing and slightly spicy cocktail made with dark rum, ginger beer, and lime.
Despite the name and the rum-soaked candied ginger (plus a bit of rum in the glaze), these cookies aren’t boozy. They’re more ginger and lime forward, with a healthy dose of spice and just a hint of rum. But I’m a sucker for a ginger cookie (this was last year’s favorite), so it was no surprise that these fared well.
Recipe notes:
Despite the delicious outcome, I ran into a several issues with this recipe worth noting:
If prep time matters to you, these take way more than 15 minutes to make. I’d estimate more like 35–40 minutes, plus baking time. I’m guessing this was a typo.
Use a hand or stand mixer. Unless I’m missing something, I can’t imagine why anyone would need to vigorously beat brown and granulated sugars, molasses, and softened butter by hand with a wooden spoon for 4 to 5 minutes. After just 2 minutes of mixing, I thought my arm was going to fall off—and my mixture was nowhere near the “light” color it was supposed to reach. Eventually, the dough became smooth and cohesive (though still fairly dark), and I called it a day.
The recipe says to discard the rum the ginger was soaking in, but if you have any left, by all means use it to make a cocktail (or enjoy a small, flavorful sip)!
Then there was my math/spatial challenge…The recipe recommends placing the cookies about 1 inch apart on the baking sheets. With a 24-cookie yield and three sheets, that works out to 8 cookies per sheet, right? But at 1-inch spacing on a standard sheet pan, there’s plenty of extra room, and you might be tempted to add more. Don’t. These cookies spread quite a bit, and at 1 inch apart, they’ll meld into one big cookie blob. I recommend spacing them 2 inches apart instead and sticking to 8 per sheet.
Also, my dough made 30 two-tablespoon–sized balls, not 24—which is a good thing! Just know this required two separate bakes, with two sheets in the oven at a time, rotated halfway through.
Finally, don’t throw away your parchment paper after baking. You’ll need it again to put under the cooling racks when you’re icing the cookies. Still with me? I know that was a lot, but if you’re a ginger cookie fan, I’d recommend trying these cookies with my suggested updates.
#3: Peppermint Brownie Cookies (gift link), Vaughn Vreeland, New York Times Cooking.
Imagine if Thin Mints, brownies, and peppermint bark had a baby—these cookies are exactly that. Fudgy, chewy, dense, and wonderfully minty, they taste like the holidays. And the pan-banging cookie method makes them bigger and flatter, with a cool, rippled look.
Recipe notes:
I wanted more than the 12 cookies the recipe yields, so I made them 2-tablespoon–sized instead of ¼-cup portions. This may have lessened the “pan-banging” visual effect, since the cookies had less opportunity to spread.
#2: Matcha Black Sesame Shortbreads (gift link), Sue Li, New York Times Cooking.
This may be a controversial choice if you’re not a fan of matcha or black sesame, but I love them. Light, tender shortbread that’s not too sweet, with toasted black sesame seeds and bittersweet matcha—these cookies are my idea of perfection. Plus, these stunners instantly grab attention in the midst of a holiday cookie spread.
Recipe notes:
I made the dough two days ahead and chilled the log. When I was ready to bake, it came out of the fridge and sat for about 15 minutes (while the oven was preheating) before I sliced it into cookies.
#1: Peanut Brown-Butter Cookies (gift link), Sue Li, New York Times Cooking.
This sweet-and-salty cookie is absolutely delicious. It’s inspired by the Pay Day candy bar, with a peanutty nougat center wrapped in even more peanuts. I’ve never eaten Pay Day before, but I’m pretty sure I’d love it.
The cookie’s fudgy (almost brownie-like) peanut butter center, crunchy peanuts, and hint of saltiness make it a true delight both in taste and texture—one I would happily eat again and again. This was the recipe my kids practically begged me to make a second batch of, since they wanted more for themselves.
Recipe Notes:
There’s a small typo in the recipe, which lists 350 grams of roasted peanuts for the coating—far more than needed and well over the recommended 2½ cups, which was the perfect amount. I’d go with the volume measurement here.
Many commenters mentioned the dough’s crumbly, crackly consistency, especially when flattening the cookies just before baking. While the dough is indeed delicate, I found that forming the balls the day before and refrigerating them overnight helped them hold together. I let the cold dough sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before pressing, salting, and baking, which kept it cohesive and easy to handle.
You might not agree with my rankings (we all have our personal favorites), but that’s part of the fun! If you make any of these cookies—or have already tried them—I’d love to hear what you think. And if you have some tried-and-true cookies you make during the holidays, please share those too!
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Have a delicious week!
Kerry
This is true public service, thank you!
i made the nyt peanut ones and the mortadella ones and i thought both were really unique and delicious! i will definitely be making the peanut butter ones again soon. they had a great depth of flavor and i think the brown butter was a worthy addition.