50 Classic Cookie Recipes

Traditional cookie jar filling

Few people can resist the pleasure of a warm, freshly baked cookie, whether it's peanut butter, shortbread, oatmeal, or snickerdoodle, crunchy sugar cookies or soft, chewy ones. This collection features all of our best recipes. Many are quite simple and will come in handy if you suddenly have a craving for cookies on a midweek evening. We have not only quick recipes but also more intricate ones, like cookie-flavored bars. And if we had to choose the most popular and coveted cookie of all time, it would undoubtedly be chocolate chip cookies. They contain two types of sugar: white granulated sugar for crunch and brown sugar for a chewier texture in the center. These cookies also store well (if there are any leftovers, of course).

Simple Chocolate Chip Cookies

These classic cookies are a versatile treat that's easy to make and easy to store (if you don't eat them right away). The recipe uses both granulated sugar for a crunchy note and brown sugar for a chewy texture.

Recipe: Simple chocolate chip cookies

Lofthouse Cookies

Lofthouse cookies are American-style, thick sugar cookies coated in a sweet, airy, pastel-colored glaze with colorful sprinkles. What makes them special is not only their distinctive appearance, but also their sponge-like texture. Two secret ingredients help achieve this texture: sour cream and special cake flour.

Recipe: Lofthouse Cookies

The Best Peanut Butter Flowers Cookies

If you're a peanut butter lover, you'll love these soft, chewy cookies with a warm, gooey chocolate center. This recipe makes about 48 cookies, making them perfect for big celebrations with lots of guests.

Recipe: The Best Peanut Butter Flowers Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies with cranberries and potato chips

"These cookies, as you might have guessed, are loaded with everything imaginable! They have dark and white chocolate chips, dried cranberries, potato chips, and salted pretzels. I love the combination of salty and sweet! I think you will too when you try my cookies," says Cardea Brown.

Recipe: Chocolate chip cookies with cranberries and potato chips

Cookies made from store-bought cake mix

You'll need just four ingredients to make these cracked cookies, a TikTok hit. They're not only beautiful, but also soft, chewy, and delicious. You can use any sponge cake mix as a base, such as vanilla, yellow, or chocolate.

Recipe: Cookies made from store-bought cake mix

The Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Do you like your cookies soft? Or crispy? Our recipe can be adapted for both! For firmer cookies, bake the dough immediately. For softer cookies, refrigerate the dough for at least 3 hours (preferably overnight) to allow the oats to absorb the moisture. Then bake for fluffy cookies. We add dark brown sugar for extra flavor and moisture, but the secret ingredient is honey. Baking immediately helps the cookies rise while remaining soft and moist. When the dough has rested, the oats and flour absorb the honey, creating a classic crusty texture.

Recipe: The Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Soft sugar cookies

Unlike traditional crispy sugar cookies, these cookies are softer. The dough is made from flour, butter, sugar, egg, and baking powder, while natural vanilla extract imparts a wonderful aroma. The resulting thick dough is rolled into balls and rolled in sugar before baking (you can use colored sugar for a festive treat). The finished cookies are moderately sweet, with a crunchy sugar crust that complements their soft texture.

Recipe: Soft sugar cookies

The best peanut butter cookies

We wanted to make the perfect peanut butter cookies, but realized that adding more than one cup of store-bought peanut butter would make the cookies sticky. So, we decided to grind salted roasted peanuts and add the flour to the dough along with the peanut butter to enhance the flavor without sacrificing the texture. Honey and melted butter also enhance the flavor, creating a soft interior and a deliciously cracked exterior. Sprinkle the dough with raw sugar, which will create a contrasting crunch after baking. Its sweetness perfectly balances the salted peanuts.

Recipe: The best peanut butter cookies

The best M&M's cookies

We took our favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and added more sugar to give the dessert a moist, soft texture. We then made the cookies larger to make it easier to add our favorite chocolate-covered candies. Save some of the candies to coat each cookie before baking. You'll create a treat that looks as delicious as it tastes!

Recipe: The Best M&M's Cookies

Cashew Coffee Biscotti

Dry and crispy Italian biscotti cookies are the perfect companion to coffee: you can dip them in your cup or just crunch them on the go. This biscotti recipe uses instant coffee and cashews in the dough, giving them a pleasant coffee-nutty aroma. These biscotti have a long shelf life, so you'll always have a treat on hand to go with your coffee or tea.

Recipe: Cashew Coffee Biscotti

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

What could be better than a delicious dessert made with ingredients you already have in your kitchen? No-bake cookies take just a few minutes to make; most of the time, you're just waiting for them to harden, transforming into a rich, chocolatey, nutty dessert.

Recipe: No-Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Soft Gingerbread Cookies with Molasses

Molasses adds sweetness and a chewy texture to every bite, while ginger, cinnamon, and cloves infuse a magical, spicy aroma that's sure to lift your spirits on a cool fall or winter day. Enjoy at least one cookie warm off the rack while they're cooling, washed down with a glass of cold milk.

Recipe: Soft Gingerbread Cookies with Molasses

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is a richly textured dessert: each cookie contains oatmeal, chocolate chips, and roasted pecans.

Recipe: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Vanilla whoopie pie with chocolate cream

Traditional American whoopie pie sandwiches soft chocolate sponge cake with white vanilla buttercream. This recipe reverses that: light vanilla cookies are held together with chocolate buttercream. Roll the creamy sides of the cakes in colorful sprinkles to make your whoopie pie bright and cheerful.

Recipe: Vanilla whoopie pie with chocolate cream

Brownie mix cookies

These 4-ingredient cookies are chocolatey and soft, a favorite for cookie and brownie lovers.

Recipe: Brownie mix cookies

Lemon Crack Cookies

These bright cookies are bursting with sweet lemon flavor, thanks to plenty of lemon zest, lemon juice, and a thick coating of powdered sugar. Before you begin rolling the dough into balls, it's important to chill it thoroughly. This helps slow down the spreading in the oven, allowing the tops to crack beautifully. Roll the chilled dough balls in granulated sugar before dusting them. This will help the powder adhere better, resulting in cookies that are sweet and crisp on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside.

Recipe: Lemon Crack Cookies

Honey Brown Butter Cookies

Trisha offers a foolproof recipe for cookies made with honey, brown butter, and a pinch of sea salt.

Recipe: Honey Brown Butter Cookies

Linz Fingerprint Cookies

If you love Linzer Torte, you'll definitely love these cookies. And if you haven't tried this famous Austrian dessert yet, just imagine a shortcrust pastry crust spread with sweet fruit jam and topped with a lattice of pastry—amazing, just like these miniature cookies, which are just as delicious!

Recipe: Linz Fingerprint Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies with mayonnaise

Mayonnaise is a rather controversial ingredient for sweet pastries and desserts, but it fits perfectly in this cookie recipe. Add mayonnaise to these already delicious cookies, and you'll transform the recipe from a "must-make" to a "family secret." Just think of mayonnaise as the perfect balance of eggs and butter! The cookies turn out fluffy, but just right, and sticky-soft, but not soggy. They stay moist and delicious even the next day.

Recipe: Chocolate chip cookies with mayonnaise

Chocolate chip cookies with peanut filling

Peanut butter lovers, this recipe is for you. Ree freezes the peanut butter filling, then folds it into gooey chocolate chip cookies before baking.

Recipe: Chocolate chip cookies with peanut filling

The best butter cookies

If you're looking for the perfect butter cookie recipe, this one is definitely worth checking out. These butter cookies are crisp and crumbly on the outside, yet soft on the inside—perfect with a cup of tea. They'll become your signature cookie, perfect for both holidays and special occasions. You can spoon the dough onto a baking sheet (a quick and easy option for everyday use) or roll it into a log and cut it into evenly sized cookies (a more festive option). Before baking, roll the tops in demerara sugar to coat them.

Recipe: The best butter cookies

Chocolate chip cookies

These chocolate chip cookies can be customized to suit any taste. Try a combination of chocolate chips and peanut butter chips, or add crunchy walnuts.

Recipe: Chocolate chip cookies

Snickerdoodle cookies

If you love cinnamon, then Snickerdoodle cookies are for you! The dense dough is formed into balls, then rolled in a sugar-cinnamon mixture and baked. As they bake, the balls spread, creating delicious cracks on the surface. Snickerdoodle cookies have a soft center and a crispy crust, making them a favorite among both adults and children.

Recipe: Snickerdoodle cookies

Oatmeal cookies with brown sugar

Brown sugar plays a key role in Ree's recipe: the cookies turn out dense and richly dark. Chopped nuts can be added for a crunchy texture.

Recipe: Amazing oatmeal cookies

Peanut butter cookies

These classic cookies are a true nostalgia treat. Kids will love rolling the dough into balls and flattening them with a fork to make marks.

Recipe: Peanut butter cookies

Sliced ​​cookies with jam

This cut-out version makes jam cookies even easier. Instead of making indentations in mounds of dough and filling each one, we form the dough into a log and immediately spread jam in the center. We used raspberry and apricot jam, but you can use whatever you have on hand. Once baked, let the cookies cool, then slice.

Recipe: Thumbprint Cookies: Bake and Slice

Chocolate Pinwheel Cookies

These cookies have very simple ingredients, but the chocolate and vanilla pinwheels look so vibrant and intricate, perfect for the holidays. Trisha Yearwood uses shortening instead of butter, as it helps the cookies form and pattern more accurately.

Recipe: Chocolate Pinwheel Cookies

The best sugar cookies for painting with icing

This sugar dough is easy to roll out and cut into any shape of any size. The cookies hold their shape while baking and are firm, perfect for decorating with icing. This recipe uses slightly less sugar than usual, so you can confidently decorate the cookies with icing and sprinkles.

Recipe: The best sugar cookies for painting with icing

Chocolate sandwich cookies

These chocolate sandwich cookies will be a hit with both kids and adults. Their rich chocolate flavor is perfectly balanced by the creamy buttercream. They're easy to make with simple ingredients. The dough can be made in advance and refrigerated for several days. The finished cookies will keep for up to a week. Try them, and you'll never go back to store-bought sandwich cookies!

Recipe: Chocolate sandwich cookies

Classic shortbread

This amazing shortbread is made with just four basic ingredients, and despite its simplicity, it captivates everyone with its flavor and extraordinary texture. The addition of cornstarch to the dough creates a crispy, crumbly, and tender texture. Sugar imparts a delicate golden hue.

Recipe: Classic shortbread

Chocolate chip cookies

Aina's recipe can be used for both soft blondies and crispy thin cookies. Whatever you choose, you won't regret it.

Recipe: Chocolate chip cookies with walnuts

Sliced ​​Italian Rainbow Cookies

This recipe transforms classic Italian rainbow cake into vibrant, eye-catching holiday cookies. Unlike the cake, it doesn't contain almond flour, but it retains the almond aroma and flavor. Dip the corner of each cookie into the chocolate-raspberry glaze and let it set, for an even more delicious and beautiful finish.

Recipe: Sliced ​​Italian Rainbow Cookies

Speculoos Paste Cookies

Cookie spread is a creamy, nut-free spread typically made from spiced Belgian cookies called Speculoos. It's sold in jars alongside peanut butter. Here, we've combined it with oats and eggs to make a quick and delicious three-ingredient cookie.

Recipe: 3-Ingredient Oatmeal Cookies

Danish butter cookies

Danish cookies, typically sold in pretty tins, are easy to bake at home. They'll be just as crispy and crumbly, with a wonderful vanilla-almond aroma, but with a fresher, more delicate flavor than store-bought ones. If desired, you can decorate them with a drizzle of melted chocolate. The holiday spirit is guaranteed!

Recipe: Danish butter cookies

Chocolate chip cookies

These are incredibly simple chocolate chip cookies. No special equipment or mixing required—perfect for making with kids. We love how versatile the dough is: it makes a great base for Rocky Road cookies.

Recipe: American cookies

Oat Milk Ice Cream Sandwich Cookies

Humble oats give a whole new twist to the classic cookie and milk combination. This oat milk ice cream is made without an ice cream maker and sandwiched between two oatmeal cookies—no need to dip it in milk!

Recipe: Condensed milk ice cream with homemade oatmeal cookies

Peanut Butter Cookies with Candy Filling

Ree offers the easiest candy cookie recipe. She uses store-bought cookie dough and peanut butter chocolate candies for a rich, chewy dessert that takes just minutes to make.

Recipe: Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Candies

The best soft chocolate chip cookies

This recipe for traditional American chocolate chip cookies uses dark brown sugar instead of white sugar, which makes the cookies softer and chewier, with just the right amount of sweetness. Plus, the dough is infused with just the right amount of chocolate chips, just enough to make these cookies the best. This recipe makes a lot of cookies, but is that a problem?

Recipe: The best soft chocolate chip cookies

Shortbread with maple syrup and walnuts

Maple syrup and walnuts are a winning combination for delicious baked goods when you're craving something different, not chocolate or vanilla. The shortbread with walnuts is baked as a single layer, then, once cooled, cut into convenient bars. Wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest overnight—the next day, it will be incredibly tender and crumbly.

Recipe: Shortbread with maple syrup and walnuts

Brownie cookies

Ree's recipe is a chocolate lover's dream. She uses melted chocolate and cocoa powder to create a rich, moist dessert that she calls "definitely chocolatey."

Recipe: Brownie cookies

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Claire's cookies require only five ingredients, but the sea salt gives them a wonderful salty flavor. Because these cookies are flourless, they're very tender, so let them cool slightly in the pan before baking.

Recipe: Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Fortune cookies

Fortune cookies are often associated with Chinese restaurants, but they're fun and easy to make at home. Molly uses a Mason jar lid to get the dough just the right size, then quickly folds the cookies and hangs them over the edge of a bowl, creating the classic shape.

Recipe: Fortune cookies

S'more bars

These bars are a combination of chocolate chip cookies and a classic campfire dessert. To get the most out of the marshmallow cream, coat the measuring cup and spoon with nonstick cooking spray or vegetable oil before measuring.

Recipe: S'mores bars with cookie pieces

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

This seasonal twist on the classic chocolate chip cookie is infused with pumpkin puree and warming spices like cinnamon and nutmeg to create a cozy, deep flavor.

Recipe: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Coconut macarons

Macaroons are simple coconut cookies traditionally made for Passover because they're flourless. But Aina serves this delicious treat year-round.

Recipe: Coconut macarons

Oatmeal Raisin Pecan Cookies

What's the secret to Ina's delicious oatmeal cookies? Salt. She uses it to bring out the nutty flavor of the oats, then adds toasted pecans, which further enhance the flavor.

Recipe: Oatmeal Raisin Pecan Cookies

Coconut Madeleine Cookies

Aina's elegant cookies are delicate and delicious. She adds coconut flakes for a subtle sweetness that pairs perfectly with afternoon tea.

Recipe: Coconut Madeleine Cookies

Double Chocolate Sablé Cookies

Sable means "shortbread" in French, and they are indeed very crumbly and shortbread-like. To maintain their texture, don't overwork the dough; it will be lumpy and crumbly, requiring patience to shape into a sturdy log for cutting, but trust me, it's worth it. The double chocolate, in the form of finely grated chocolate and cocoa powder, adds a unique flavor and aroma. For a richer flavor, use high-quality alkalized cocoa. A touch of sea salt perfectly enhances the flavor. Sables are great with tea or coffee, and are even more delicious as a sandwich with a scoop of ice cream between the two halves.

Recipe: Double Chocolate Sablé Cookies

Crispy chocolate chip cookies

Sugar provides the texture of cookies—that's why this recipe calls for fine granulated sugar. It will give you crispy cookies that are lighter in color than others.

Recipe: Thin crispy cookies with chocolate chips

Chocolate Mint Sandwich Cookies

If you think chocolate and mint are made for each other, this recipe is for you. Molly makes a buttercream filling with fresh mint and sandwiches it between two chocolate cookies for a sophisticated dessert.

Recipe: Chocolate Mint Sandwich Cookies