Some of my favorite Christmas memories have nothing to do with the presents under the tree. They come from the time I spent in a kitchen, surrounded by the smell of freshly baked cookies, listening to conversations, and watching people come together to celebrate the season.
When I was a little girl, my mom's next-door neighbor hosted an enormous Christmas cookie exchange every year. People from all over the community would show up carrying batches of their favorite homemade cookies. There were people of all ages, plenty of laughter, and more cookies than my young heart could have imagined.
But what I remember most isn't necessarily the cookies themselves. It's the time I spent helping her prepare for the party.
I was lucky enough to help decorate her home, and I spent countless hours in her kitchen baking alongside her. She had this enormous kitchen filled with all the latest appliances, which probably made it even more exciting for a little girl who enjoyed being part of everything.
She was the kind of down-to-earth country grandma who didn't mind getting covered in flour. In fact, she almost always had an apron on. Her kitchen was warm, inviting, and filled with the most wonderful smells.
Looking back, I realize how much those afternoons meant to me. At the time, I was simply having fun baking cookies and helping someone I cared about. I didn't realize I was making memories that would stay with me all these years later.
That's the funny thing about family traditions, isn't it? We don't always recognize how meaningful those ordinary moments are until we're looking back on them.
Those memories inspired me to put together this collection of more than 100 Christmas cookie recipes from talented bloggers. Whether you're hosting your own cookie exchange, baking with your children, or simply looking for something new to make this Christmas, I hope you'll find a few recipes worth trying.
And who knows? Maybe an afternoon spent baking cookies with someone you love will become one of their favorite Christmas memories, too.
How to Host a Christmas Cookie Exchange
If you've never hosted a Christmas cookie exchange, don't let the idea intimidate you. You don't need an enormous kitchen or a perfectly decorated home to bring people together. All you really need is a group of people who enjoy baking, a little organization, and somewhere to display all those delicious cookies.
Start by inviting a few friends, family members, or neighbors. Ask everyone to bring a batch of their favorite Christmas cookies, along with a copy of the recipe if they're willing to share it.
One easy way to organize the exchange is to ask everyone to bring enough cookies for each guest to take home a half dozen. For example, if six people are participating, each person could bring 30 cookies for the other five guests, plus a few extras for sampling.
Have everyone label their cookies, especially if they contain common allergens like nuts. Set out plates or containers so guests can take their selections home without making a mess.
And don't feel like you have to turn it into a big production. Put on some Christmas music, make a pot of coffee or hot chocolate, and enjoy spending time together.
After all, the best part of a Christmas cookie exchange isn't how many cookies everyone takes home. It's the memories you make while you're together.
I decided this year to join the iHomeschool Network with their 100 Things Linkup event to showcase 100+ Cookie Recipes from a wide-range of talented bloggers. If I were you I'd make time to get together with loved ones and create some of these delicious looking recipes. You never know when your time spent with them will be a lasting memory for them. They say sharing stories over a stove opens up the chance for lessons to be learned.
This year I have come up with my signature M&Ms cookie recipe that I've been trying to make for a long time. I hope you'll check it out too.
Chocolate M&Ms Cookie Recipe
These Chocolate M&Ms Cookies will melt in your mouth not in your hands and will get everyone running for the kitchen when they are done.
Cookie Recipes for Your Cookie Exchange
Talk to me in the comments:
Which one of these delicious looking cookies are you going to try first?
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Great list! I would love to make the Old Fashioned Snowball Cookies.
I’m glad that you found something worth trying.
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I stopped looking after the Pecan Toffee cookies. Pinning your post so I can add a few to my cookie rotation!
I’m glad that you found something worth trying. Thank you so much for sharing it on Pinterest!!
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I would just have to make the Almond Cookies – oh yum!
I’m glad to hear you found something on this list worth considering trying.
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The best gingersnap cookie sounds like something I definitely would love to try!
I’m glad to hear you found something on this list worth considering trying.
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I like most all of these, great for a cookie exchange. I really want to make the Mickey Mouse Pumpkin Patch cookies for Thanksgiving.
I’m glad you found something worth trying.
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Oh I have to try the Nutella Cornflake No-Bake Treats! Our family loves Nutella!
I’m glad that you found something worth trying to make.
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These all sound great but I would like to try the Easy Smores Cookies first!
I’m glad that you found something worth trying to make.
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I bookmarked the list of cookies. A lot of them sound delicious! I would love to try the Peppermint Mocha Chocolate Chunk Cookies and I have to try the Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies.
I’m glad that you found something worth trying.
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I’d try the Scottish Shortbread Cookies first!
I’m glad that you found something worth trying.
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Oh my gosh, this is a list to pin and keep!
Thanks for pulling it all together!
Mollie
Thank you for pinning it. I hope it provides you something worth making for your family/friends.
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Thank you for sharing at #OverTheMoon. Pinned and shared. Have a lovely week. I hope to see you at next week’s party too! Please stay safe and healthy. Come party with us at Over The Moon! Catapult your content Over The Moon! @marilyn_lesniak @EclecticRedBarn
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How great is this post!!!! So helpful. Can’t wait to start baking.
I’m glad that you like this roundup of cookie ideas. I hope you gained some new ones to consider making.
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What a great list! I’d like to try the M&M cookies, the almond joy shortbread cookies and the snowball cookies. This will be great for the cookie exchange this year. Definitely bookmarking.
I’m glad you selected my recipe. The other choices sound like great choices for sure.
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Snickers and cinnamon roll cookies?! Oh my goodness, I am so excited to make some of these! These are perfect for any holiday party. Thank you for sharing these ideas!
You’re welcome. I look forward to hearing if they were a success for you or not.
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I am definitely going to try making these cookies with my daughter for the upcoming holiday season!
I’m sure she’ll enjoy making memories with you as you make them.
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The Chocolate Walnut Brownie cookies and Lemon Stars sound especially good!
Both of those are great choices, but I don’t see you going wrong with any of these choices.
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Terrific list of cookie recipes for Christmas! I like having options.
I tried to ensure you had a wide variety.
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Wow! I cannot wait to make some *** a lot, haha!*** of these. Thanks!
LOL! I hope you have fun making some of these delicious choices.
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I just saved the page, because there are so many that I would love to bake.Because we are home so much more, I plan to bake, bake, and bake some more.
Have fun baking and making lasting memories. Hopefully, you won’t be forced to be home much longer though.
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Will have to try making some of these at Christmas.
Sounds like a great plan.
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Thanks for sharing. All sound delish but I would make the Easy Smores Cookies first for my kids.
That sounds like a delicious choice for sure. I can picture your kids gobbling them up as fast as you can make them.
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Im going to check some of these out. I had a great recipe for black forest cookies but now I can’t find it
I can help you with a delicious black forest cake, but I’ve never made it in cookie form. But that does sound delicious.
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I love making Christmas cookies and I am always looking for new recipes to make. And you have 100! Thanks.
You are more than welcome. I hope you found new ones worth trying off this list.
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I can’t get over the selection of cookie recipes! I’m definitely pinning this post and using these for the holidays! Thanks!
You are welcome. I hope you found something worth trying. Thank you for pinning this post.
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Christmas cookies are the absolute best! One of my fave parts of the season!
It is a great part of the holiday season for sure.
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Will definitely try to make some of these for Christmas.
I hope you find some new family favorites off of this list.
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Great selection of cookies.
I’m glad you found it to be a good selection.
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What a great round-up! I’m going to check out the Grain-Free Butter Cookies.
That’s an excellent choice. Of course, I don’t see how you could go wrong with any of the choices.
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Wow, so many recipes! I love baking cookies, sometimes the old favorites, and sometimes trying new ones.
I’m glad you like to bake. I hope there were some new ideas for you to consider on this list.
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Thank you for sharing this list! I’m looking for cookie recipe to make gluten free for my Mom. She bakes all of our cookies but can’t eat any herself so I want to find a recipe or two just for her. I’ve saved the link so I can look through all of them.
I do have a few gluten-free options on this list. I hope they were new ones for you to consider trying. I’ll definitely keep this in mind for my future roundups I have lined up to do.
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Great list of recipes! Brings back memories of baking Christmas cookies with my Mom!
I hope that’s a great memory for you. I hope you found something new worth trying out.
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Oh wow! What an amazing collection! There are so many great ideas in that list! (I saw one with Baileys – which caught my eye right away)
Thank you for the great list
Bailey’s is amazing isn’t it?? I love it!
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Thank you for this massive list of yummy cookies. We do an exchange each year & I am excited to try some of these out.
I hope they help make your Christmas cookie exchange even better this year.
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I think cookies are my absolute favorite! I am going to try the CHOCOLATE CAKE MIX COOKIES!!
Those sound like a delicious choice for sure.
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OMG! I would love to try every single recipe!
I hope you get the chance to make all of them.
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There are TONS of cookies here I want to try!
I’m glad you found many choices to consider.
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I don’t know if I’ll be baking this year since get togethers are not an option – but WOW, some great recipes here for next year!
I can understand holding off on baking this year. But if you get the urge, hopefully, these options will help you.
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i love cookie exchanges my cousin did some n it was a huge hit n u get to try so many new kinds this list is awesome
I love them too. I haven’t been a part of one since I was a little girl, but I think I need to start one up next year.
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This is an awesome collection of cookies! Thank you for sharing them!
I’m glad you liked these choices. I hope you found something worth trying to make that may be different for you.
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Lots of fun cookies. Cookie exchanges will be different this year.
So many cookies how do I choose just a few!??? I know Cookie Monster would be in heaven if we made all of these.
Love all of these delicious looking cookies. Cannot wait to try some of them out!
I’m glad you found some great choices.
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I’ve made several of these cookie recipes and they came out great.
I like most cookies – but, at this time of the year I prefer chocolate chips. the moist ones.
That’s a great choice in cookies. Simple and always a classic.
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I am a huge Christmas cookie baker. I usually make all my usual, but there are several here I think I am going to give a try this year to try to add some more variety. It might be tricky since I have some family members who have to be gluten free.
That sounds great. I just posted some gluten-free desserts for you to try out. 😉
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Wow, so many cookie recipes. I wish I could make them all. Thanks for posting!
That’s the good news is you can make them all over a course of time. 🙂 I hope you find some that become new family favorites.
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So many scrumptious cookies recipes to try out this season! These will make your whole house smell fantastic.
I agree completely that they would make your house smell heavenly.
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these look awesome my cousin had a couple cookie exchanges i love trying new and unique ones
I love making Christmas cookies!
great christmas cookies. love making christmas cookies
Making Christmas cookies is always fun. I hope you found some new options on this list to consider making.
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WOW!!! Talk about having your cookies and eating them to LOLL, I love all the different recipes here and so many delicious! cookies to try and bake with the family for the holiday season.
@tisonlyme143
I’m glad you found so many great choices on this list. I hope you have some fun making some of them.
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Having a baking day with my boyfriend’s family. This is perfect! Thank you so much!
You’re welcome. I hope you both found something worth making off this list.
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So love this time of the year ….all the scrumptious food….mmmm mmmmmm
I couldn’t agree with you more.
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I’ve never heard of some of these cookies and I can’t wait to give them a try! Thanks for joining us on #MischiefandMemories!
I was excited when I found some of them too. 🙂
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Oh wow, I don’t think I’ve come across that many different Christmas cookie recipes before. I have no excuse now to give a few a go! Thank you for joining us for #mischeifandmemories
So many types of cookie! Thanks for linking up with #MischiefAndMemories (please remember to add our badge or a text link and complete commenting on the required number of posts)
You’re welcome. I’m glad you found some possible inspiration here.
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Love how extensive this list is! I’m going to have to try to make a few of these!
I’m glad that you found this list intriguing enough that you want to make some of these.
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I will be trying a few of these this season!
Crystal, I pinned this to try later. so many wonderful choices I wonder which one I’m going to try first.
Thank you bunches for sharing this with Sweet Tea & Friends this month my friend.
I’m glad you found lots of choices to consider.
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This is totally the go to cookie post!! So many choices and great information – Thanks for sharing at our 2022 Great Cookie Exchange!
Oh be still my heart, this is superb, just what I needed as we will have our family Christmas baking in about 2 weeks and I am still hunting for awesome yum recipes, so now I can find them here.
Pinned it
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I’m glad that you liked this round up. There are so many awesome choices for sure.
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Wow, what a treasure trove. 🙂 Pinning! Thank you so much for sharing this post at the Will Blog for Comments #15 linkup. I hope to see you there next week, too!
Thank you. I’m glad you found this to be a treasure cove of ideas. I’m always open to new ideas that may be helpful to the readers. 🙂
I am glad I found your linkup. Thank you for hosting.
Oh my! What to try first. Lol.
Thanks so much for sharing these wonderful cookie recipes with Sweet Tea & Friends this month.
I hope you found some good ideas to consider making this year.
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