A running list of cookies for my 2024 holiday cookie tins! I’ll keep it updated as I bake.
Rainbow Checkerboard Cookies
This recipe is from the one and only Smitten Kitchen. I always use rainbow sprinkles instead of sanding sugar, but you do you.
Now, they aren’t the most straightforward cookie to make. You make two doughs (although they start as one and you split them into two toward the end, so it’s not two totally different doughs) and you have to cut pieces and layer them.
It’s a bit tricky but mostly in a mental math kind of way. Like, when you have to ‘cut the dough the long way to make 2×10 strips’ and then you have to remind your brain what the long way means.
RecipeNo Bake Chocolate PB Bites (Buckeyes)
There are a thousand recipes online for buckeyes, any will work! Below is our favorite, though. It includes Rice Krispies for an unexpected crunch!
- Mix: 2 cups (475 g) creamy peanut butter (cough JIF) and ½ cup (113 g) softened unsalted butter, ¼ teaspoon salt.
- Add 1 ¼ teaspoon vanilla
- Add 3 ¼ cups (405 g) powdered sugar
- Add 1-2 cups Rice Krispies
- Roll into bite-size balls and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet
- Chill for 30 minutes
- Melt Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Melting Wafers according to directions. I use a 1 cup pyrex for this.
- Place a toothpick into the middle of a peanut butter ball and then dip the into melted chocolate. Place back onto the parchment to cool
- Repeat for all peanut butter balls
- Keep refrigerated (you don’t have to, but they are extra good this way!)
Linzer Cookies
I made this Linzer Cookie recipe for the 2024 holidays. The first batch browned a bit too much, so keep an eye on your oven temperature as you bake.
I started decreasing the temperature (to 300!) when I put them on to ensure they wouldn’t turn on to reheat mid-bake. I also took a minute or two off the bake time to prevent browning.
January 2025 update: these were okay but I think I’ll try new recipes for the 2025 holidays.
Chewy Double Chocolate Peppermint Brownies
Big fan of these! We drizzled the tops with melted Ghirardelli white chocolate melting wafers and then topped with peppermint bits. The recipe calls for topping with peppermint immediately following baking, but I felt like using white chocolate would help the bits stick better. Plus, it’s cuter!
January 2025 update: I didn’t find these very ‘peppermint-y’ so I’ll look for more recipes in the future.
Peanut Butter Cookies
Smitten Kitchen’s peanut butter cookies are perfect. No notes. We also love her chocolate peanut butter cup cookies but I felt like we had too many chocolate cookies and wanted to go with a classic PB one.
NYT Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies
Another great recipe from last year! It calls for cayenne pepper for a bit of a kick. I typically reduce it by half to make sure it’s not too spicy for the kids. It’s really good ¼ teaspoon of cayenne (I bet it’s better with the full ½ teaspoon it calls for, though!)
You can find the recipe in the comments on this reddit thread.
