Source: www.delish.com
Christmas is the time for bakers to shine. Let butter and sugar do the talking this year with an array of elegant Christmas cookies, beautiful enough to give as gifts around the office or to create a fancy cookie platter for your at-home holiday party.
For more outstanding cookie recipes, try slam-dunk cookies from Martha Stewart or 14 cookies to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Chocolate Pistachio Cookies
These chocolate-covered, chocolate-filled pistachio cookies look as pretty as they are delicious.
Recipe: Chocolate Pistachio Cookies
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Martha Stewart
Springerle Cookies
Bavarian cookies called springerle are known for their distinctive flavor. The dough is rolled onto a floured surface, imprinted with clean, floured rubber stamps, dried overnight, and then baked.
Recipe: Springerle Cookies
Photo Credit: Kirsten Strecker
Best Linzer Cookies
A pound of pecans goes into these tartlike treats, which are sandwiched with raspberry jam and dusted with snowy confectioners’ sugar.
Recipe: Best Linzer Cookies
Photo Credit: Kate Sears
Shortbread Bites
Shortbread is always a good option for Christmas, and this cube-shaped version is both easy to prepare and decorative.
Recipe: Shortbread Bites
Photo Credit: Rita Maas
Lemon-Pistachio Wreaths
Chopped pistachios adorn these lemony butter cookies in the shape of festive Christmas wreaths.
Recipe: Lemon-Pistachio Wreaths
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Martha Stewart
Peppermint Meringues with Chocolate Filling
You’ll need a small new paintbrush and a pastry bag to create these festive striped meringues.
Recipe: Peppermint Meringues with Chocolate Filling
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Martha Stewart
Apricot Pinwheels
These tender, cream-cheese-dough cookies are filled with apricot preserves and folded into a pretty pinwheel shape.
Recipe: Apricot Pinwheels
Photo Credit: Rita Maas
Pecan Lace Cookies
Baked thin and crisp then dipped in melted chocolate, these elegant cookies are ready in less than 20 minutes (plus a few minutes for cooling). Use a food processor to finely chop the pecans, which give these cookies their crunchy texture.
Recipe: Pecan Lace Cookies
Photo Credit: Mark Thomas
Cinnamon Spritz Sandwich Cookies
Spritz cookies are buttery Scandinavian sweets made by pushing dough through a press, creating fun shapes. These spritz cookies are sandwiched with fluffy meringue.
Recipe: Cinnamon Spritz Sandwich Cookies
Photo Credit: Quentin Bacon
Apricot-Almond Sandwich Cookies
Elegant and delicious, these cookies are the perfect addition to your holiday spread. For a variation, try them with jewel-toned raspberry preserves.
Recipe: Apricot-Almond Sandwich Cookies
Photo Credit: Ken Burris
Butterscotch Fingers
When butter and brown sugar are combined, there’s an almost magical transformation into the flavor we know as butterscotch. Here, pecans accentuate the richness.
Recipe: Butterscotch Fingers
Photo Credit: Ann Stratton
Chocolate-Mint Thumbprints
These thumbprints have mint chocolates mixed into the batter and a creamy, minty white-chocolate filling.
Recipe: Chocolate-Mint Thumbprints
Photo Credit: Quentin Bacon
Sarah Bernhardt Cookies
A rich chocolate coating hides a crispy almond macaroon cookie topped with creamy chocolate truffle filling.
Recipe: Sarah Bernhardt Cookies
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Martha Stewart
Baking Gifts from the Oven 