The Christmas Cookie Box Everyone Wants to Receive: 17 Cookies That Travel Well and Look Bakery Made
A Christmas cookie box is the gift people remember long after the wrapping paper is gone. You open the lid and there they are: rows of shortbread trees, sugar-dusted snowballs, jam-filled Linzers and crackly chocolate crinkles, all tucked in parchment like a little bakery window. The best part is that every cookie in this list was chosen because it holds its shape, keeps for days and survives a car ride to Grandma’s house. Some are old church bake sale favorites, some are newer twists, and a few take only one bowl. Bake two or three kinds a weekend, freeze as you go, and by mid-December you will have a box worth showing off. Here is how to build it, cookie by cookie, plus the packing trick that keeps everything in one piece..
How to Pack a Christmas Cookie Box So Nothing Breaks
Before the baking starts, plan the box. A sturdy kraft box lined with parchment does most of the work. Put the heaviest, sturdiest cookies on the bottom and around the edges, like shortbread and crinkles, and save the delicate ones for the top layer. Stand round cookies on their edges in tight rows so they cannot slide. Fill small gaps with snowballs or wrapped candy. Keep soft and crisp cookies apart, or the crisp ones go limp by the next day. A Christmas cookie box packed snugly never rattles when you shake it..
You will need: 1 sturdy kraft or tin box with lid, parchment or waxed paper, mini paper cups, ribbon, a few sheets of tissue paper, small zip bags for very soft cookies.
How to make it: 1. Line the box with parchment. 2. Pack sturdy cookies on the bottom and along the sides. 3. Stand round cookies on edge in rows. 4. Put jam and frosted cookies in paper cups on top. 5. Fill gaps, add a sheet of tissue, close and tie with ribbon.
Shortbread Christmas Trees, the Christmas Cookie Box Classic
Every good Christmas cookie box needs a cookie that never breaks, and buttery shortbread is it. The dough is just butter, sugar and flour, so it bakes up firm, sandy and tender at the same time. Cut it into little trees, bake until barely golden, then pipe on green icing and a few sprinkles. They hold their shape in the oven because there is no egg and no leavening. Shortbread also keeps for two weeks in a tin, which makes it the perfect first cookie to bake when you are planning ahead.
You will need: 1 cup softened butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 2 cups flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla, green icing, sprinkles.
How to make it: 1. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy. 2. Mix in flour and salt. 3. Roll 1/4 inch thick and cut into trees. 4. Chill 15 minutes, then bake at 325°F for 12 to 14 minutes. 5. Cool completely and decorate.
Chocolate-Dipped Butter Sandies
A plain cookie turns bakery-fancy the second you dip it in chocolate. Butter sandies, rich with toasted nuts and powdered sugar, are just right for it because they are firm enough to handle and do not crumble in the coating. Dip half of each cookie, scrape the bottom on the edge of the bowl, and lay them on parchment to set. Milk chocolate is the crowd-pleaser, but dark chocolate looks more elegant in a box. Once the chocolate sets, these stack neatly in a Christmas cookie box and travel without smudging.
You will need: 1 cup softened butter, 1/3 cup sugar, 2 tsp water, 2 tsp vanilla, 2 cups flour, 1 cup finely chopped toasted hazelnuts or pecans, 8 oz milk or dark chocolate.
How to make it: 1. Cream butter and sugar, then add water and vanilla. 2. Mix in flour and nuts. 3. Shape into logs or ovals and bake at 325°F for 18 to 20 minutes. 4. Cool fully. 5. Melt chocolate, dip half of each cookie and set on parchment.
Peppermint Thumbprint Cookies
These little cookies look like they came from a holiday bakery case, and they could not be easier. Roll balls of soft butter dough in sugar, press a thumbprint into each one and bake. Once cool, fill the dip with a swirl of vanilla buttercream and a pinch of crushed peppermint candy. The candy stays crunchy for a few days, so add it close to gift time if you can. Pack them in mini paper cups on the top layer of the Christmas cookie box so the frosting stays pretty.
You will need: 1 cup softened butter, 2/3 cup sugar plus more for rolling, 1 egg yolk, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 cups flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 cup vanilla buttercream, 1/3 cup crushed peppermint candy.
How to make it: 1. Cream butter and sugar, then add yolk and vanilla. 2. Stir in flour and salt. 3. Roll into 1 inch balls, roll in sugar and press a thumbprint in each. 4. Bake at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes. 5. Cool, fill with buttercream and top with peppermint.
Gingerbread People With Simple White Icing
No box feels like Christmas without a few gingerbread people smiling up at you. Molasses, ginger and cinnamon make a dough that rolls out cleanly and bakes firm at the edges, so the shapes stay sharp. Keep the decorating simple with white royal icing faces and buttons, because hard icing does not smear in the box. If you love that warm spice as much as we do, our gingerbread treats that taste like Christmas morning have even more ideas for the season.
You will need: 3 cups flour, 1 tbsp ground ginger, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp cloves, 3/4 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 3/4 cup softened butter, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1 egg, 1/2 cup molasses, white royal icing.
How to make it: 1. Whisk the dry ingredients. 2. Beat butter and brown sugar, then add egg and molasses. 3. Mix in the dry ingredients and chill 1 hour. 4. Roll 1/4 inch thick, cut shapes and bake at 350°F for 8 to 10 minutes. 5. Cool and pipe on faces and buttons.
Linzer Cookies, the Christmas Cookie Box Showpiece
If one cookie makes people gasp when they lift the lid, it is the Linzer. Two thin almond butter cookies sandwich a spoonful of raspberry jam, and the top one has a little window cut out so the red jam shines through a snowy dusting of powdered sugar. They look fussy, but the dough is forgiving. The trick for travel is to dust the tops before assembling, and to let them rest overnight so the jam sets and softens the cookie just a little.
You will need: 1 cup softened butter, 2/3 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 cup almond flour, 2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam, powdered sugar.
How to make it: 1. Cream butter and sugar, then add egg and vanilla. 2. Mix in both flours, cinnamon and salt, then chill 1 hour. 3. Roll thin, cut rounds or stars and cut small windows in half of them. 4. Bake at 350°F for 9 to 11 minutes. 5. Dust the tops with powdered sugar, spread jam on the bottoms and sandwich.
Snowball Cookies for the Christmas Cookie Box
Snowballs, also called Mexican wedding cookies or Russian tea cakes, are the easiest cookie on this list and maybe the most loved. Buttery dough full of finely chopped walnuts or pecans is rolled into small balls, baked, then rolled twice in powdered sugar: once warm, once cool. That second coat is what makes them look so snowy. They are sturdy little things, which makes them the perfect gap-fillers when you pack your Christmas cookie box, and they keep well for a week.
You will need: 1 cup softened butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar plus 1 1/2 cups for rolling, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 1/4 cups flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans.
How to make it: 1. Cream butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar and vanilla. 2. Mix in flour, salt and nuts. 3. Roll into 1 inch balls. 4. Bake at 350°F for 12 to 14 minutes. 5. Roll in powdered sugar while warm, cool, then roll again.
Cranberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
Every Christmas cookie box needs one soft, chewy cookie, and this is the one that disappears first. Rolled oats give it a hearty bite, dried cranberries add bright tart color, and white chocolate chunks melt into sweet little pockets. The red and white flecks make them look festive without any decorating at all. Pull them from the oven while the centers still look a bit soft. To keep them chewy in a mixed box, wrap a stack of three in a small bag so they do not soften the crisp cookies around them.
You will need: 1 cup softened butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 2 tsp vanilla, 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp salt, 3 cups rolled oats, 1 cup dried cranberries, 1 cup white chocolate chunks.
How to make it: 1. Cream butter and both sugars, then beat in eggs and vanilla. 2. Mix in flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. 3. Stir in oats, cranberries and white chocolate. 4. Scoop onto lined pans. 5. Bake at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes and cool on the pan.
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Chocolate crinkles are pure magic to watch bake. You roll balls of fudgy cocoa dough in powdered sugar, and as they spread in the oven the surface cracks open into dark chocolate canyons against the white sugar. They look like they came from a fancy bakery, but they are made with pantry staples. The secret is chilling the dough well and rolling it in granulated sugar first, then powdered sugar, so the white coat stays bright instead of melting away. They also freeze beautifully, so bake them early for the Christmas cookie box.
You will need: 1 cup cocoa powder, 2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 4 eggs, 2 tsp vanilla, 2 cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1 cup powdered sugar for rolling.
How to make it: 1. Whisk cocoa, sugar and oil, then beat in eggs and vanilla. 2. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. 3. Chill at least 4 hours. 4. Roll into balls, coat in granulated then powdered sugar. 5. Bake at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes.
Butter Spritz Wreaths and Trees
Spritz cookies are the ones Grandma pressed out by the dozen with her cookie press, and they still earn a spot in every holiday tin. The dough is rich with butter and a little almond extract, tinted green for wreaths and trees or left golden for stars. Each cookie is small, crisp and pretty, and a single batch makes enough to fill several boxes. Press them onto a cool, ungreased baking sheet so they stick and release properly, then add sprinkles or tiny candy berries before baking.
You will need: 1 cup softened butter, 2/3 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/2 tsp almond extract, 2 1/4 cups flour, 1/4 tsp salt, green gel coloring, sprinkles.
How to make it: 1. Cream butter and sugar, then add egg and both extracts. 2. Mix in flour, salt and coloring. 3. Load into a cookie press. 4. Press shapes onto a cool, ungreased pan and add sprinkles. 5. Bake at 375°F for 7 to 9 minutes.
Pecan Tassies
Pecan tassies are tiny pecan pies baked in a mini muffin pan, and they make any Christmas cookie box feel special. The crust is a tender cream cheese pastry that you simply press into each cup with your fingers, no rolling needed. The filling is brown sugar, butter, egg and chopped pecans, and it bakes into a gooey caramel center. Because they are little tarts, they stand upright and pack neatly in mini paper cups. They are a Southern favorite for good reason, and they keep for days.
You will need: 1/2 cup softened butter, 3 oz softened cream cheese, 1 cup flour, 1 egg, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tbsp melted butter, 1 tsp vanilla, pinch of salt, 2/3 cup chopped pecans.
How to make it: 1. Mix butter, cream cheese and flour into a dough and chill 1 hour. 2. Press small balls into a mini muffin pan. 3. Whisk egg, brown sugar, melted butter, vanilla and salt, then stir in pecans. 4. Spoon into the shells. 5. Bake at 325°F for 25 minutes and cool in the pan.
Peanut Butter Blossoms for the Christmas Cookie Box
Peanut butter blossoms are the cookie kids help make every December. Soft peanut butter dough is rolled in sugar, baked, and then a chocolate candy kiss is pressed into the warm center so the cookie cracks around it. They look charming in a Christmas cookie box, but there is one rule: let the chocolate set completely before packing, or the tips smudge. If anyone on your gift list has a nut allergy, pack these separately and label them, so everybody can enjoy the box safely.
You will need: 1/2 cup softened butter, 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, 1/2 cup sugar plus more for rolling, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 3/4 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 36 chocolate kisses.
How to make it: 1. Cream butter, peanut butter and sugars, then add egg and vanilla. 2. Mix in flour, baking soda and salt. 3. Roll into balls and roll in sugar. 4. Bake at 375°F for 8 to 10 minutes. 5. Press a chocolate kiss into each warm cookie and let set.
Italian Rainbow Cookies, the Christmas Cookie Box Star
Italian rainbow cookies, sometimes called tricolor or seven-layer cookies, are the ones that make people ask which bakery you went to. Three thin layers of almond sponge, tinted red, white and green, are stacked with apricot or raspberry jam and covered top and bottom with dark chocolate. They take some patience, but one sheet makes dozens of tiny slices. Pressing the layers under a weight overnight is the secret to neat, flat stripes. Cut them small, because they are rich, and they travel perfectly.
You will need: 8 oz almond paste, 1 cup softened butter, 1 cup sugar, 4 eggs separated, 1 tsp almond extract, 2 cups flour, 1/4 tsp salt, red and green gel coloring, 2/3 cup apricot or raspberry jam, 8 oz dark chocolate.
How to make it: 1. Beat almond paste, butter and sugar, then add yolks and extract. 2. Mix in flour and salt, then fold in whipped egg whites. 3. Divide into three, tint red and green, and bake each in a lined 9×13 pan at 350°F for 10 minutes. 4. Stack with jam, weigh down and chill overnight. 5. Coat top and bottom with chocolate and slice.
Chewy Molasses Crinkles
Molasses crinkles are the cozy, old-fashioned cookie that tastes like a kitchen in December. Dark molasses, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon and cloves give them a deep spiced flavor, and a roll in coarse sugar makes the tops crackle and sparkle as they bake. They stay soft and chewy for a week, which is why church cookie walks have relied on them for generations. Bake them on the shorter side so the middles stay tender, and they will taste fresh by the time the Christmas cookie box arrives.
You will need: 3/4 cup softened butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 egg, 1/4 cup molasses, 2 1/4 cups flour, 2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp ginger, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp cloves, 1/4 tsp salt, coarse sugar for rolling.
How to make it: 1. Cream butter and brown sugar, then add egg and molasses. 2. Mix in flour, baking soda, spices and salt. 3. Chill 1 hour. 4. Roll into balls and coat in coarse sugar. 5. Bake at 350°F for 9 to 11 minutes.
Chocolate Sandwich Cookie Ornaments
These are the no-bake cookies that steal the show. Take plain chocolate sandwich cookies, dip the top half in melted red, green or white candy coating, and decorate them like tree ornaments with piped icing lines, sugar pearls and sprinkles. A tiny loop of icing at the top looks like the ornament cap. Kids can make a whole tray in an afternoon, and no two ever look the same. Once set, the coating is hard and glossy, so they stack well and add bright color to the Christmas cookie box.
You will need: 1 package chocolate sandwich cookies, 12 oz red, green and white candy melts, 1 tsp coconut oil, white decorating icing, sugar pearls, nonpareils and sprinkles.
How to make it: 1. Melt each color of candy melts with a little coconut oil. 2. Dip the top half of each cookie and set on parchment. 3. Add sprinkles and pearls before the coating sets. 4. Pipe icing lines and a small loop at the top. 5. Let set completely, about 30 minutes.
Cardamom Snickerdoodles
Classic snickerdoodles get a grown-up twist here with a pinch of cardamom in the cinnamon sugar. The cookies stay soft with crinkled, sparkly tops, and the cardamom adds a warm, almost citrusy note that makes people ask what your secret is. Cream of tartar gives them their signature tang and chewy middle. Keep them in a separate bag inside the box so their soft texture lasts. Snickerdoodles are sturdy, so you can stack them on their edges in a neat row.
You will need: 1 cup softened butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 3/4 cups flour, 2 tsp cream of tartar, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ground cardamom.
How to make it: 1. Cream butter and sugar, then beat in eggs and vanilla. 2. Mix in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. 3. Stir together the sugar, cinnamon and cardamom. 4. Roll dough into balls and coat. 5. Bake at 375°F for 9 to 10 minutes.
Raspberry Pinwheel Cookies
Raspberry pinwheels finish the Christmas cookie box with a swirl of color. Soft vanilla dough is rolled into a rectangle, spread with thick raspberry jam, rolled into a log and sliced into spirals. The jam caramelizes slightly at the edges in the oven, and the red swirl looks beautiful next to the white and brown cookies. Chilling the log until it is very firm is what keeps the spirals round when you slice. For more holiday baking inspiration, Taste of Home’s Christmas cookie collection is a fun place to browse.
You will need: 1/2 cup softened butter, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 3/4 cups flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 cup thick seedless raspberry jam.
How to make it: 1. Cream butter and sugar, then add egg and vanilla. 2. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt, then chill 30 minutes. 3. Roll into a 10×12 inch rectangle and spread with jam. 4. Roll tightly into a log and freeze 1 hour. 5. Slice 1/4 inch thick and bake at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes.
