38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (2024)

Cookies can bring so much joy with just one bite, and we've gathered more than three dozen enticing cookie recipes for all kinds of occasions. Feeling celebratory? You can't go wrong with funfetti cookies. Something simple to enjoy with afternoon tea? Try brown-butter sablés. From classic chocolate chip cookies, snickerdoodles, and thumbprints, to holiday-worthy spitzbuben and gingerbread, here are our best cookie recipes to bake.

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Cardamom Shortbread Cookies with Dulce de Leche Peda Filling

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (1)

Adorned with edible flower petals and gold leaf, these spiced sandwich cookies, which blogger and cookbook author Hetal Vasavada makes for her Diwali celebration, are an occasion unto themselves. Store-bought dulce de leche enriches a filling inspired by peda, a creamy Indian milk fudge flavored with cardamom.

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Brown-Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (2)

Most traditional chocolate chip cookie recipes start by creaming softened butter with sugar. Here, the butter is first melted in a skillet until golden brown and nutty. This simple step does require a bit of extra time (mainly for chilling the butter), but the result is an intensely toasty butterscotch note that makes these thin, chewy cookies irresistible.

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Double-Chocolate Rye Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (3)

A mix of unsweetened cocoa and bittersweet chocolate bars gives these fudgy cookies a deep chocolate flavor. Dark rye flour adds a lightly savory note that balances the sweet intensity of dark chocolate well and plays off the crunchy sea salt garnish. The addition of light brown sugar makes these cookies extra chewy and helps to extend their shelf life.

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Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (4)

The secret to nailing these classic cookies is to bake them just until they're set but not browned. They'll finish cooking as they cool on the baking sheet, delivering a tender-chewy texture.

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Lemony Butter Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (5)

Using powdered sugar in the dough in place of granulated sugar gives these lemony cookies a light, delicious crumb.

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Brown Butter-Cardamom Spitzbuben

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (6)

German for "cheeky boys," these Bavarian cookies will be the star of your holiday cookie platter. Brown butter and cardamom make this simple cookie into a fragrant treat. Take the time to freshly grind the cardamom — the robust, citrusy flavor is worth it.

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Vanilla–Brown Butter Sablé Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (7)

Pastry chef Natasha Pickowicz loves simple vanilla cookies like these. Vanilla, a notoriously difficult product to grow and source, really shines in this recipe, so be sure to use the best quality you can find.

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Toffee-Apricot Oat Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (8)

These lacy cookies are studded with tart dried apricot, salty-sweet chunks of toffee, and sweet milk chocolate for the perfect combination of flavors and textures. Be sure to rotate the pans during baking to ensure evenly baked, perfectly crisp-chewy cookies.

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Triple Chocolate-Peppermint Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (9)

The peppermint bark in this recipe is simple to make and adds a beautiful pop of color and flavor to each cookie, though store-bought bark will work well here, too.

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Giant Chocolate Cookie with Cacao Nibs and Flaky Salt

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (10)

To make this oversized cookie even more festive, bring it to the table topped with scoops of your favorite ice cream so that everyone can share.

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Tortellini Dolci al Forno (Emilian Fruit-Stuffed Christmas Cookies)

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (11)

Not to be confused with the pasta of the same name, these classic Emilian Christmas cookies are made from a tender, flaky dough filled with a sweet-tart trio of fruit: cherry preserves, rich saba (cooked-down grape must), and candied citron.

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Thumbprint Cookies with White Chocolate-Espresso Ganache

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (12)

Baking legend Claudia Fleming based these melt-in-your mouth cookies on a recipe her mother used to make. They owe their texture to the perfect amount of cornstarch, which makes them exquisitely crumbly without being too dry. The buttercream-like filling is light in texture but stable thanks to the white chocolate.

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Chocolate Pretzel Crinkle Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (13)

By substituting flour with Glutino pretzels, this version of chocolate crinkle cookies is not only gluten-free, but also perfectly salty-sweet with the best-ever chewy center.

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Cardamom–Poppy Seed Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (14)

A generous ratio of butter to flour helps the dough spread in the oven, resulting in thin, crispy cookies with lacy golden brown edges. Chill the dough before baking to control spreading and concentrate the flavor of the cookies.

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Shortbread Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (15)

These crumbly, buttery cookies are a perfect treat with afternoon tea, or with ice cream, fruit, or chocolate for dessert.

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Thai Tea Crinkle Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (16)

These cookies have perfect chew and get their delicately spiced, sweet flavor from instant Thai tea powder.

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Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (17)

Peanut butter binds these supernutty flourless cookies from Southern cook Elizabeth Woodson, a former art director at F&W. The crowd-pleasing recipe takes less than 30 minutes.

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S'mores Linzer Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (18)

Linzer cookies are descendants of the linzertorte, named after the Austrian city of Linz. Swapping graham flour and hazelnut meal for the all-purpose flour and almond meal gives these linzer-inspired cookies the flavor of s'mores.

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Salted Tahini-Chocolate Shortbread

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (19)

These buttery, nutty, salty shortbread cookies have enough structure to hold together when you pick them up, but when you take a bite, they're meltingly tender. The salt complements the tanginess of the chocolate and brings out the nuttiness from the tahini. Marbling the dough creates a striking pattern.

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Lemon-Tahini Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (20)

The dough for these cookies can be made and frozen up to three weeks in advance — just let it thaw for 30 minutes first before rolling it in the sesame seeds.

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Gluten-Free Cacao Nib Meringues

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (21)

Made with chocolate, cacao nibs, and cocoa, these intensely flavored meringues have a delicate, crisp exterior with a soft, chewy, marshmallow-like interior.

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Triple Ginger Rye Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (22)

Hearty rye flour paired with three types of ginger — powdered, candied, and fresh — lends an earthy, lightly spicy flavor to these holiday cookies. The best part? You can store them in the freezer for up to three months, so you'll always have a snack at the ready.

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Salty Smoked Pistachio and Honey Shortbread Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (23)

"Finishing the cookies with a lemony honey and a pinch of flaky salt creates a subtly savory edge that's delicious with steaming mugs of tea, a nip of single-malt Scotch, or vanilla bean ice cream," cookbook author Paula Disbrowe writes.

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Lemon-Buckwheat Shortbread

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Lemon filling highlights the nuttiness of buckwheat flour in these shortbread cookie sandwiches from 2017 F&W Best New Chef Nina Compton.

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Funfetti Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (25)

Chewy and absolutely jam-packed with rainbow sprinkles, these funfetti cookies will add a festive touch to almost any occasion. Place a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream between two of them to make a colorful ice cream sandwich.

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Negroni Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (26)

These chewy cookies lean on orange zest–infused sugar and Campari icing to pay homage to the namesake co*cktail.

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Matcha Tea Cake Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (27)

These delicate cookies are made with oil, so they're moist and tender. Matcha gives them a light, toasty flavor and turns them a pretty green.

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Cardamom Thumbprints

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (28)

Adding cardamom to these crispy cookies gives them a subtle spiced flavor. If you don't have any of the jams listed, you can fill the thumbprints with other jams or with chocolate.

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Spiced Gingerbread Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (29)

Baker Julianne Jones' wonderfully zingy gingerbread cookies have a tender and cakey texture, yet they're sturdy enough to decorate. As an alternative to the icing, you can sprinkle the tops of the cookies with demerara sugar before baking for a nice crunch.

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Fudgy Chocolate-Walnut Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (30)

New York pastry chef François Payard's divinely gooey chocolate cookies are flourless, which makes them ideal for Passover baking.

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Sugar-Crusted Chocolate Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (31)

This is chef Jacques Torres's recipe for sablés, a classic French butter cookie with a sandy, crumbly texture (sablé means "sandy") — though this fabulously dense version is actually more like shortbread.

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Butterscotch Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (32)

Be the star of a cookie swap with these gorgeous sandwich cookies, filled with homemade butterscotch.

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Pecan Sandies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (33)

These cookies are unbelievably light, delicate, and crisp. The secret is to let the cookie dough chill overnight before slicing and baking.

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Melody Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (34)

Inspired by the cookies of her childhood, legendary cookbook author Dorie Greenspan developed these crisp, chocolaty shortbreads. They are lovely eaten as-is but also make for great sandwich cookies. The possibilities are endless: fill with speculoos spread, chocolate ganache, salted caramel, marshmallow fluff, or simple buttercream frosting.

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Candy Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (35)

These truffle-like cookies have an unexpected piece of candy in the centers. They're adapted from a traditional holiday cookie that cookbook author Renato Poliafito discovered during his travels in Germany.

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Nutty Chocolate Chip Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (36)

Should a chocolate chip cookie be chewy or crispy? This recipe, with its crisp crinkly top and chewy center, is both. We also give guidelines for anyone who demands a perfectly chewy or completely crisp version.

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Green Tea Fortune Cookies

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (37)

Chef Joanne Chang likes having fun with the fortunes she puts inside these large cookies. Shaping the tuiles while they're hot can be tricky, so consider using cotton gloves.

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Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Mug

38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (38)

In less than 10 minutes, you go from raw ingredients to a warm, soft chocolate chip cookie thanks to this quick, customizable recipe. Serve the cookie with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt and a scoop of your favorite ice cream.

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38 Cookie Recipes to Put on Repeat (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to a perfect cookie? ›

The key is to always use top-quality ingredients as they'll result in a better cookie; it really is that simple.
  • Always use butter.
  • Choose the right sugar.
  • Choose the right flour.
  • Check your flour is in date.
  • Choose the right kind of chocolate.
  • Cream the butter and sugar.
  • Beat in the eggs.
  • Fold in the flour.

What are 4 tips to keep in mind while making cookies? ›

  1. Freeze cookie dough balls before baking. ...
  2. Bang cookie sheets on the counter a few times before putting them in the oven. ...
  3. Place a wooden spoon or chopstick between the oven and door to prop it open slightly. ...
  4. Use brown butter instead of regular melted butter. ...
  5. Refrigerate finished cookies overnight before serving.
Aug 10, 2023

How to improve cookie mix cookies? ›

No one will even suspect they're store-bought (and we won't tell anyone!).
  1. Add brown sugar. ...
  2. Experiment with extracts. ...
  3. Mix in different candies and snacks. ...
  4. Add espresso or coffee grounds. ...
  5. Deepen the flavors by refrigerating the dough. ...
  6. Salt before baking the cookies. ...
  7. Reduce baking time for extra soft cookies.

What makes cookies chewy and not hard? ›

The science is simple: According to the flour authorities over at Bob's Red Mill, cornstarch can help “soften the rigid proteins of the flour, resulting in a light and chewy dessert.” “The cornstarch complements the flour in absorbing the liquids, but won't develop gluten structure like the flour will,” stresses ...

What is the key to chewy cookies? ›

Well, the long and short answer to chewy cookies is it's all about the moisture content. Cookies that are dense and chewy incorporate more moisture into the batter. This can be achieved by making substitutions with wet and dry ingredients, or even just changing the way you incorporate certain ingredients.

What does adding milk to cookie mix do? ›

The moisture contributed by the milk will also increase spread and hydrate more of the starches in the flour. These hydrated (gelatinized) starches support the structure of the air pocket wall, keeping the cookies from collapsing once cooled. By holding more water, they also help keep the cookies softer over time.

What makes cookie dough taste better? ›

Add spice to your dough.

You can upgrade your cookie dough by adding spices to it, said Tracy Wilk, lead chef at the Institute of Culinary Education. This can lead to a warm, spicy cookie. To do so, combine ground cinnamon, ginger, and sugar, and then roll your balls of cookie dough in the mix before baking.

What makes cookies rise better? ›

Baking Powder. The type of leavening you use in your cookies doesn't just help them rise while baking, it affects their texture and structure too. Baking soda in cookies yields a denser cookie with craggy tops, while baking powder causes cookies to rise higher during baking for a cakier texture.

Should I roll my cookie dough into balls? ›

Press the dough into a cookie scoop and scoop it, flat-side down onto your cookie sheet. The flat portion keeps the dough in place and the rounded top bakes into perfectly circular cookies. . 2️⃣ Press some of the filling into the top of the dough before baking.

What is the my tall cookie trick? ›

My tall cookie trick.

Roll your cookie dough into tall balls instead of perfectly round spheres. Taller balls of cookie dough ensure thicker cookies.

What makes a high quality cookie? ›

The Quality Ingredients

Ingredients like butter, eggs and sugar can either make sweet cookie perfection or something you wouldn't want to share with your friends and family. Always look for a cookie that's made with premium ingredients. If the cookie contains some organic ingredients even better.

What is cookie secret? ›

Cookie Secret is the secret used to encrypt and sign session cookies. If you don't provide a cookie secret, Pomerium will generate one for you.

What is the secret to making soft cookies? ›

For soft cookies, use:
  1. Brown sugar, as it has a high moisture content and retains moisture better than white sugar. ...
  2. Shortening instead of butter or in addition to butter. ...
  3. Baking powder instead of baking soda. ...
  4. Eggs, particularly egg yolks. ...
  5. Cake flour instead of all-purpose flour.
Oct 5, 2020

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