10 Unique & Easy Christmas Cookies

Most Christmas cookie trays are the same five cookies, and these are the ones that make people ask what they’re eating.

None of them need a piping bag or royal icing, and several are slice-and-bake or a single bowl.

Each one below has a pin so you can see what you’re aiming for, and a link to a recipe that has actually been made.

Ten of them.

1. Peppermint Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Crinkle dough is too soft to roll straight from the bowl, so it needs a few hours in the fridge before it can be shaped.

Use Dutch-process cocoa, which gives the darker color that makes the white cracks stand out.

Peppermint extract is strong, and half a teaspoon is enough for a whole batch; more tastes like toothpaste.

Roll each ball in granulated sugar first, then thickly in powdered sugar, because the sugar layer keeps the powdered sugar from melting into the dough.

Crush the candy canes fine in a zip bag with a rolling pin, or use crushed peppermint candy, and press it on right after baking.

Pull them while the centers still look soft, since they set as they cool and overbaked crinkles turn cakey.

The pin is KJ and Company’s chocolate peppermint crinkle cookies, which use melted butter, white and brown sugar, half a teaspoon of peppermint extract and Dutch cocoa, chill the dough, and finish with powdered sugar and crushed candy canes for 14 cookies.

2. Eggnog Snickerdoodles

Cream of tartar is what makes a snickerdoodle a snickerdoodle, giving it the tang and the soft, crackled top, so don’t skip it.

Real eggnog goes into the dough, along with extra egg yolks, which is what makes these richer than a plain snickerdoodle.

Nutmeg goes in twice, in the dough and in the cinnamon sugar, because that’s the flavor people read as eggnog.

Grate it fresh with a whole nutmeg and grater, since ground nutmeg loses its smell fast.

Roll the balls generously in the spiced sugar and bake until the edges are set but the middles look underdone.

They stay soft for days in a tin with a slice of bread.

The pin is So Much Food’s eggnog snickerdoodle cookies, which use a third of a cup of eggnog, a tablespoon of rum, an egg plus two yolks and cream of tartar, rolled in a cinnamon and nutmeg sugar, for about 18 cookies.

3. Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

Biscotti are baked twice: once as a log, then sliced and baked again until they’re dry all the way through.

The dough is sticky, so flour your hands, not the dough, when you shape the logs.

Let the baked log cool for about 20 minutes before slicing, or it crumbles under the knife.

Slice on the diagonal with a sharp serrated knife in one firm downward cut rather than sawing.

Dip or drizzle with white chocolate once they’re completely cool, and let it set before stacking.

They keep for weeks in an airtight tin, which makes them the cookie to bake first and the best one to give away.

The pin is Sally’s Baking Addiction’s white chocolate cranberry pistachio biscotti, which use brown sugar, cinnamon, cold butter cut into the flour, three eggs, pistachios and dried cranberries, baked at 350°F in two rounds and dipped in white chocolate, for 18 biscotti.

4. Gingerbread Thumbprint Cookies

These are soft gingerbread cookies with a dent pressed in the middle and a white chocolate filling poured into it.

Use unsulphured molasses, not blackstrap, which is bitter enough to ruin a cookie.

Roll the balls in turbinado sugar before baking for a crunchy outside against the soft middle.

Press the thumbprint in as soon as they come out of the oven, using the back of a rounded measuring spoon, while the cookies are still soft enough to dent without cracking.

The filling is white chocolate melted with a little cream and vanilla bean paste, spooned in once the cookies cool.

They need some fridge time for the filling to set before they can be stacked in a tin.

The pin is A Classic Twist’s gingerbread thumbprint cookies, which use molasses, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, roll the dough in turbinado sugar, and fill each one with a vanilla bean white chocolate ganache, for 24 cookies.

5. White Chocolate Chai Spice Cookies

Chai flavor here comes from the spices themselves, not tea bags, because loose tea leaves turn gritty in a cookie.

Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, cardamom and allspice together are the chai, and cardamom is the one you can’t leave out.

Brown the butter first, which gives the cookies a toasted, nutty flavor that stands up to white chocolate.

Let the browned butter cool before mixing it with the sugar, or the dough turns greasy and spreads.

Chill the dough 10 minutes, then scoop with a large cookie scoop into tall balls rather than flat ones, so they bake up thick.

Press a few extra white chocolate chips onto the tops as soon as they come out of the oven.

The pin is Baran Bakery’s chai white chocolate chip cookies, which use a brown butter and brown sugar base with six warm spices, white chocolate chips and chopped pecans, for nine big cookies.

6. Almond Joy Macaroons

Coconut macaroons are the easiest cookie on this list, and they’re naturally flourless.

Sweetened condensed milk and one egg white hold the sweetened coconut together, so there’s nothing to cream or chill.

Scoop them high with an ice cream scoop onto parchment, because a flat macaroon dries out before it browns.

Bake until the edges and tips are golden and the bottoms are just colored.

Let them cool fully, then dip the bottoms in melted dark chocolate, drizzle the tops, and press a whole almond on each one.

Bake one sheet at a time in the middle of the oven, since the bottom tray scorches before the tops brown.

The pin is Ciao Chow Bambina’s monster almond joy macaroons, which use one egg white, two thirds of a cup of condensed milk, three and a half cups of coconut and slivered almonds, baked at 325°F and finished with dark chocolate and a whole almond.

7. Maple Pecan Shortbread

This is a slice-and-bake cookie, so the dough gets rolled into a log, chilled, and cut into rounds whenever you need them.

The maple comes from real maple syrup in the dough, so use pure maple syrup, not pancake syrup.

Roast the pecans and chop them fine, because big pieces make the slices crumble.

Wrap the log tightly and chill until firm, then slice about a quarter inch thick.

Rotate the log a quarter turn every few cuts so it stays round instead of flattening on one side.

The wrapped log keeps in the freezer for a couple of months, so you can bake a dozen at a time all through December.

The pin is Jaja Bakes’ maple pecan shortbread cookies, which use just six ingredients, butter, a third of a cup of maple syrup, vanilla, flour, salt and roasted pecans, rolled into a log and sliced.

8. Red Velvet Snowball Cookies

A snowball cookie is a buttery, dense ball rolled in powdered sugar, and red velvet ones show a bright red inside when you bite them.

Use gel or a concentrated red food coloring, because the liquid kind adds water and still bakes up brownish.

A little cocoa and a teaspoon of vinegar are what make it taste like red velvet rather than a plain butter cookie.

Roll them in powdered sugar while they’re still warm so the first coat melts on, then again once they’re cool for the white snow.

Don’t overbake them, since they should stay pale and soft and not brown at the edges.

They keep for a week in a tin, and a quick extra roll in powdered sugar freshens them up.

The pin is Cookies and Cups’ red velvet snowball cookies, which use 14 tablespoons of butter, powdered sugar in the dough and for coating, cocoa, red food coloring, vanilla and white vinegar, for 24 cookies.

9. Lemon Rosemary Sugar Cookies

Rosemary in a cookie sounds strange until you taste it, and it’s the reason this one stands out on a tray of chocolate.

Chop fresh rosemary very fine, because a whole needle in a bite is like chewing a pine tree.

Rub lemon zest into the sugar with your fingers until it smells strongly of lemon, which pulls the oil out of the zest.

Roll the dough balls in that lemon sugar before baking, so the lemon hits first and the rosemary comes after.

A microplane zester takes only the yellow part of the peel and leaves the bitter white pith behind.

Bake them until just set, since they turn dry and crunchy if they brown.

The pin is The Hungry Pinner’s rosemary cookies with lemon sugar, a home baker’s review of a rosemary butter cookie made with fresh rosemary, butter, eggs and vanilla and rolled in lemon zest sugar.

10. Spiced Orange Molasses Cookies

A chewy molasses cookie with orange is the one that tastes like Christmas morning.

Melted butter instead of creamed is what keeps these chewy rather than cakey.

Chill the dough at least two hours, or overnight, because molasses dough is too sticky to roll otherwise.

A pinch of white pepper with the ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg gives them a little heat at the end.

Add finely grated orange zest along with the orange extract if you want the orange to come through more.

Roll the balls in sugar and bake on a silicone baking mat, pulling them when the tops crack but the centers still look soft.

The pin is Bakers Brigade’s chewy orange gingerbread cookies, which use a stick and a half of melted butter, a quarter cup of molasses, orange extract and five spices including white pepper, chilled at least two hours and baked at 375°F.

For the savory side of the same table, the Christmas finger foods post has ten bites that go next to the cookie tray.

And if some of these are going into tins as presents, the DIY food gifts post covers packing and what keeps.