Traditional Holiday Cookies Ranked From Worst to Best

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There’s nothing we love more than baking up dozens of Christmas cookies during the holiday season, and they seem to find their way into our carts at the grocery store of their own volition. They’re one of the easiest holiday desserts your kids can help make, and a lot of the store-bought ones are genuinely delicious. But we can all agree that some are definitely better than others, right? There are those we simply make do with and others we want to eat raw because the dough is so good before it’s cooked — even though the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention says no to raw dough (killjoys!). This very scientific, not-at-all-biased ranking will help you decide which cookies to enjoy this holiday season.

11. Biscotti

The truth of the matter is that there’s no such thing as a “bad” cookies, but biscotti is at the end of our list because you pretty much have to have a warm cup of cocoa, coffee, or tea on hand in order to dunk and enjoy. 

10. Pignoli Cookies

These Sicilian pignoli cookies may seem simple, but thanks to the price of pine nuts these days, they’ve been upgraded to holiday treat in many houses. The combination of buttery, sweet, almond-flavored cookie and slighly toasted, fragrant pine nuts is popular for a reason. 

9. Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles are the most vanilla of the Christmas cookies. Cinnamon and sugar are pretty basic (especially compared to something like gingerbread), and these cookies just get rolled up and baked. However, we still love and crave their chewy texture and mild, sweet flavor every year! 

8. Butter cookies

Butter cookies on their own could be kind of boring, but (!) they come in a variety of fun shapes, and they come in a tin that your family will use for the next 40 years to store sewing supplies, so they’re kind of an essential purchase during the holiday season.

7. Spritz cookies

Spritz cookies are buttery, sweet and a total pain to make. But there’s something magical about smooshing the soft cookie dough out of the cookie press and watching it turn into pretty pastries, and they get bonus points for being a vintage recipe classic.

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6. Linzer cookies

Linzer cookies are the fancy version of thumbprint cookies. Put them in a decorative tin, and you can definitely give them away as a gift. We also like how you can customize them based on which jam or spread you decide to use. 

5. Molasses cookies

Chewy molasses cookies, redolent with spices and topped with crunchy demerara sugar, are a holiday classic. Served with tea or coffee, they’re the fuel you need to finish wrapping those presents.

3. Russian tea cakes

Crumbly, nutty, buttery and covered in powdered sugar, Russian tea cakes (or Mexican wedding cookies, meltaways, or snowball cookies) are an old-fashioned sweet that stands up to the test of time. They’re buttery, nutty, and practically melt in your mouth. Just be careful with the powdered sugar — if you eat them too fast, you’ll inhale it and end up coughing throughout your family’s Christmas dinner.

2. Gingerbread man cookies

Almost nothing is as classic a treat as cutout gingerbread man cookies decorated with white royal icing with raisins for eyes. They’re usually a little crisp on the edges; a little soft inside; mildly spiced with ginger, cloves and nutmeg; and sweetened with molasses. Serve them with hot cocoa, and you’ll be in holiday bliss.

1. Cutout sugar cookies

All hail the Christmas cutout sugar cookie! These classic treats are the ultimate family cooking project. Adults and kids alike can work together to roll and cut out cookies, and once they’re baked, everyone can have a turn decorating. If you manage not to eat them all in one day, you can send them to friends and family far and wide. They’re sturdy enough to survive shipping, and their low moisture content means they last for weeks.

A version of this article was originally published December 2018. 

Before you go, check out our top foolproof holiday gifts for absolutely everyone on your list:

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