11 Christmas Butter Cookies You'll Bake Every Year

When it comes time to plan your holiday baking, cookies are a must. If you’re anything like us you’ll be baking up an assortment of gingerbread, nut and spice cookies and chocolatey treats. You may even add a few cookie bars and barks or a unique Christmas cookie or two to round things out. But, whatever you decide, your plate just isn’t complete until you’ve got a rich, buttery confection tucked in with the other holiday cookies. Butter cookies are a traditional Yuletide treat—and they feel like a true indulgence regardless of how you make them. If you’re looking for that one, perfect butter cookie that will stay in your recipe box for years, this is it. The finished cookies are crisp, yet tender and perfect alongside hot cocoa or eggnog. Plus, you have the choice to make drop cookies or a slice-and-bake version!

This satisfying shortbread is as easy as it gets. It's simultaneously crisp, crumbly and tender because we've added a little cornstarch to the flour. And granulated sugar gives the cookies their gorgeous golden color.

These staple Christmas cookies, often sold in a decorative blue tin at the grocery store, are similar to sweetened, crispy shortbread but with an unbelievable vanilla-almond flavor. Our homemade version is even better — soft on the inside, crispy on the outside, with a fresher, lighter and more delicate taste than the industrial made treats. You can serve them plain, or jazz them up with melted chocolate and sprinkles or a maraschino cherry in the middle to give you all the holiday feels.

These cookies instantly scream the holidays are here with their iconic shape and vanilla-mint flavor. Rather than tint all the dough red, small ropes of dough are rolled in white or red sugars and then twisted together for a crispy sparkling exterior.