Easy Homemade Christmas Cookies

Treat your friends, family and relatives this year with a plate of colorful, easy, homemade Christmas cookies. Bright red-and-green M&Ms, tiny marshmallows and Christmas sprinkles sparkle in the glow of your holiday lights. These festive cookies take less than 30 minutes to make. They are crispy on the outside with a chewy interior!

The Best Christmas Cookies For Sharing

• They are one of the best options for bringing shareable treats to Christmas parties, potlucks and exchanges. They provide a fun, colorful, sweet bite after a joyous holiday meal and are easy to transport.
• Once you've made a batch for yourself, you can offer Christmas cookies as holiday gifts. Wrap a few cookies in plastic packaging tied with a bow, or stack them in a jar with a festive ribbon.
• Gift the cookies with tea, chocolate chip cookie mix in a jar or chocolate covered spoons so that your recipients can enjoy a hot drink with dessert.
• For parties, serve these cookies on a festive plate with other snacks, such as candy canes, chocolate coated coffee beans, old fashioned butter tarts and white chocolate cake pops.
• Best of all, these are freezer friendly. Make a large batch during the holiday season, wrap them well and then freeze them. Enjoy them all holiday long and possibly into the new year!

Ingredients

• butter - I love using butter in cookies for its rich, creamy flavor. It will give the cookies a slightly crispy texture around the edges.
• shortening - Shortening is 100% fat, unlike butter, which contains both fat and water, so it prevents the cookies from spreading flat and gives cookies a softer center. I like to do a mix of shortening and butter to create the ideal texture, flavor, and structure.
• white sugar - White sugar leads to crispier cookies than with brown sugar. It also adds neutral sweetness so that it doesn't interfere with all of those flavors coming from the Christmas candies added to the dough.
• eggs - I use large eggs.
• flour - I use all-purpose flour for these cookies.
• baking powder - To help them rise and become light and airy.
• salt - To enhance the flavor.
• red and green M&Ms - You should be able to find them in season in stores and online.
• mini marshmallows - The dehydrated kind that you see in hot chocolate mixes.
• Christmas sprinkles - If you do some searching, you can find elaborate sprinkles, such as edible glitter and sprinkles shaped like Christmas ornaments or sprinkles with festive colors.

*Check recipe card for ingredient amounts.

How to Make Christmas Cookies

Step 1. Make the cookie dough. Preheat oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, combine the butter and shortening with an electric hand mixer or stand mixer.

Add the sugar and combine until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs, one at a time.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir to combine. Mix in the m & m's, mini marshmallows and sprinkles.

Step 2. Bake the Christmas cookies. Scoop tablespoon-size balls of cookie dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, spaced at least 1" apart.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 to 11 minutes. They will be golden on the bottom and have a few cracks on top. Let them sit in the pan for 1 minute before transferring to a baking rack (so that they don't fall apart).

Let cool and serve!

Christmas Cookies FAQs

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