Whether gearing up for a holiday baking spree or just looking to add to a stable of tried-and-true recipes, you’re in for a treat. From chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodles to macaroons and rum balls, we’ve scoured the web for some of the best classic cookie recipes out there.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
If there’s one thing everyone can agree on, it’s that chocolate chip cookies will always be first on a long list of cookie classics. For a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, look no further than the Original Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. It’s a classic for a reason.
Recipe: Nestle
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
These are popular but polarizing: Some grouse that they look too much like chocolate chip cookies in disguise. On the other hand, a lot of people love them because they seem healthier than the average cookie. Whatever your stance, they’ll always be a staple.
Recipe: Genius Kitchen
Snickerdoodles
Cinnamon and sugar combine irresistibly, but keeping the texture pillowy soft — usually accomplished by putting cream of tartar in the dough — is key.
Recipe: Allrecipes
Peanut Butter Cookies
Sinking your teeth into a soft, dense peanut butter cookie is particularly pleasing, but most bakers know how easily they turn out dry and crumbly. Adding shortening and brown sugar can help combat that. Adding chocolate Kisses has become a classic twist in its own right.
Recipes: Betty Crocker and Pillsbury
Sugar Cookies
Sugar cookies are classic partially because they’re so versatile. Chewy drop-dough sugar cookies such as the Food Network’s are fantastic to gobble up on their own.
Recipe: Food Network
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White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
These offer a bit of everything: moist base, super-sweet white chocolate, and salty nuts.
Recipe: Taste of Home
Shortbread Cookies
Often overlooked in favor of sweeter counterparts, shortbread cookies remain a classic because of their simplicity. The oh-so-buttery and crumbly base can stand on its own, as it does in Genius Kitchen’s three-ingredient recipe.
Recipe: Genius Kitchen
Meringues
Meringue cookies rely on egg whites, sugar, and vanilla — no flour need apply — to create an airy, melt-in-the-mouth texture. Depending on the piping technique, they can look mighty fancy, and Cooking Light outlines this somewhat-fussy process step by step.
Recipe: Cooking Light
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Gingerbread Cookies
Well-spiced gingerbread cookies are a cold-weather classic for a reason: Ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon just smell like the holidays. A recipe adapted from The Joy of Cooking gets a thumbs-up from many reviewers, though many say the dough is easier to roll out if it’s chilled first.
Recipe: Genius Kitchen
Macaroons
Macaroons are a dense, flourless cookie made with dried coconut — just don’t confuse them with trendy French macarons, which feature ganache or buttercream between meringue cookies. Coconut-lovers relish a classic macaroon, but come springtime, you can channel your inner Martha Stewart and turn those macaroons into tiny nests to fill with Easter candy.
Recipes: Once Upon a Chef and Martha Stewart
No-Bake Cookies
No time or desire to heat up the oven? Not a problem. A classic cookie combines oats, peanut butter, and cocoa for a rich, chewy treat that is particularly good chilled, making it an ideal summertime dessert.
Recipe: Allrecipes
Thumbprints
Almost as beautiful as they are delicious, thumbprint cookies are a colorful staple on holiday dessert trays. A traditional thumbprint consists of a buttery base around a center indentation filled with jam.
Recipe: Epicurious
Spritz Cookies
Anyone who’s gone through an iconic blue tin of Royal Dansk Danish Butter Cookies knows why diminutive, buttery spritz cookies have carved out a place among the classics. A cookie press with plenty of discs will be needed to knock out all those fun little shapes, though.
Recipe: Wilton
Whoopie Pies
Are whoopie pies cookies? Cakes? Er … pies? Whatever you believe, these overgrown homemade Oreos are a treat. The classic puts creamy filling between two rich chocolate cookies.
Recipe: King Arthur Flour
Snowballs
Snowballs go by a lot of names: Italian wedding cookies, Russian tea cakes, Mexican wedding cakes, polvorons, even butterballs. Whatever they’re called, they’re powdered-sugar goodness with finely chopped nuts inside for texture and flavor.
Recipe: Land O’ Lakes
Florentines
Florentines are a thin, crispy, crunchy standout in a world of chewy cookies. Also called almond lace cookies, Florentines are delicate enough to be used as garnish on other desserts, but can also hold their own — especially when drizzled with chocolate.
Recipe: Food Network
Chocolate Crinkles
These might be the ultimate chocolate lover’s treat, with pretty powdered sugar atop a dense, sweet base perfect for enjoying with a glass of milk. Cook’s Illustrated recommends using both chocolate and cocoa powder for a deeper flavor, while a holiday version throws in mint and striped candy kisses.
Recipes: Cook’s Illustrated and Betty Crocker
Monster Cookies
Whether they’re called monster cookies, everything cookies, or kitchen-sink cookies, they’ve got something for everyone: peanut butter, M&Ms, chocolate chips, and oats. The raisins are optional.
Recipe: Paula Deen
Biscotti
There’s nothing like crunchy Italian biscotti to go along with a morning cup of joe. Epicurious has a recipe that one reviewer calls “the perfect blank canvas” — use it as a base and add nuts, chocolate chips, herbs, or berries.
Recipe: Epicurious
Rum Balls
Another seasonal favorite, rum balls won’t hog valuable oven space amid holiday baking. They’re filled with crushed cookies, nuts, cocoa, and yes, a splash of rum. They can also be finished off a variety of ways, including with powdered sugar or crushed vanilla wafers.
Recipe: Taste of Home
