50+ of the Best Christmas Cookie Recipes for Baking with Kids

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These are the Best Christmas Cookies for Kids! Easy recipes that are fun to make and totally delicious. I love making Christmas cookies and celebrating the holidays by baking with my kids. But the key to making it a fun family activity is to make sure you are prepared. So in addition to these simple Christmas cookie recipes, you’ll also find all of the gadgets you need to make them.

Easy Christmas Cookies Kids Can Make

So you’re ready to bake up some Christmas cookies with your kids? I’ll be honest, I LOVE holiday baking, but it does tend to stress me out a bit. I like to do things a certain way and have them turn out just so… and when you have little boys, that doesn’t always happen. Here are my tips for baking with kids:

  • Throw all of those expectations out the window.
  • Have fun.
  • And you need to be prepared.

Once you have accepted that holiday baking with children will likely include a fair amount of chaos you’re golden! Embrace the mess, make memories and eat some tasty cookies in the end.

My husband always says that you always need the right tool for the right job, and the same holds true in the kitchen. Having the right tools, gadgets, and ingredients all ready for you means that the process will go smoother. You’ll turn out dozens of delicious cookies, regardless of how short the attention spans are of the mini sous chefs.

Best Gadgets for Baking with Kids

KitchenAid 5-Qt. Artisan Design Series with Glass Bowl

Photo Credit: www.amazon.com

For making the dough, a good stand mixer is key, just beware of little fingers.

KitchenAid 5-Speed Ultra Power Hand Mixer

Photo Credit: www.amazon.com

A hand mixer is fine for most of these recipes too.

Stainless Steel Measuring Cups And Measuring Spoons 10-Piece Set, 5 Cups And 5 Spoons

Photo Credit: www.amazon.com

My boys tend to be a bit impatient, so I like having lots of measuring cups and spoons on hand. I can either pre-measure everything beforehand and just let them dump it in, or at the very least I don’t have to worry about washing them between ingredients, especially if there’s a little licking or grabbing with sticky (or raw-egg-covered fingers) going on.

Nordic Ware Insulated Baking Sheet, Metallic

Photo Credit: www.amazon.com

You don’t want those cookies you worked so hard to make to burn or stick to the pan, so I sometimes use insulated cookie sheets.

AmazonBasics Silicone Baking Mat Sheet, Set of 2

Photo Credit: www.amazon.com

To keep cookies from crumbling, a silicone baking mat is always a huge help.

Wilton Excelle Elite 3-Tier Cooling Rack

Photo Credit: www.amazon.com

And stackable cooling racks do double duty for letting those cookies cool quickly without taking up a lot of space on your counter, and being a great place to get to work with icing or sprinkles.

Once you’ve got all the equipment you need, it’s all about picking the right recipes for Christmas cookies for kids. You can go one of two ways:

  • Pick easy Christmas cookie recipes that are simple and delicious so that there is an immediate payoff.
  • Choose a cookie recipe that is fun and interactive so that the kids can get their hands in there to make messes with rolling and cutting and frosting and sprinkling and drizzling.

I think I have some pretty tasty ideas for you right here.

Here are The Best Christmas Cookies for Kids!!

Now that you have a list of gadgets and gizmos to make your life easier, it’s time to talk about cookies. Here are more than 50 easy cookie recipes that will make your holiday baking adventures fun and simple!

A toffee white chocolate chip cookie on its side

Simple Drop Cookies

Drop cookies are typically made from a soft dough that is “dropped” on a cookie sheet. My mom and I used to use two spoons when we made chocolate chip cookies, but these days I much prefer using a cookie scoop. Also, when making the dough, a stand mixer might be a little too rough if you are folding in chocolate chips, candy or other mix-ins. For this reason, it’s probably best to use a rubber spatula to fold them in.

A stack of snickerdoodle toffee cookies with one on its side

Rolled or Pressed Christmas Cookies

As a kid, one of my favorite things to do was sprinkle Spritz with nonpareils before baking them or on top of cookies that have been drizzled with frosting or dipped in chocolate after baking. Not only were they delectable to eat, but now I have such fond memories of holiday baking with my family.

There are two kinds of cookies in this section: pressed cookies and rolled cookies. Pressed cookies, such as Spritz, as they are often known. These are made by pressing your dough through a cookie press.

Rolled cookies differ from drop cookies in that you typically take your dough and roll it in your hands to form a ball, and then often roll it in something like cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar before or after baking. This is why I like to make sure I have plenty of bowls on hand.

A stack of smores magic bars

Easy Bar Cookies

Bar cookies are super simple to make with kids because you just make your batter, dough, or crust, and put it in a baking pan or jelly roll pan. If you want to cut perfect squares, it’s always a good idea to line your pan with parchment paper so you can pull the bars out before slicing.

Cut-Out Christmas Cookies

Cut-out cookies might be the most fun of all the Christmas cookies for kids. What kid doesn’t love rolling out dough with a rolling pin, cutting them out with cookie cutters, and then getting to decorate them with frosting and maybe even some sprinkles?!

Flourless Reese's Peanut Butter Cookies

Dressed-Up Christmas Cookies

Maybe you want to have some fun making fancy cookies, but don’t want to deal with rolling and cutting. These Christmas cookies for kids are jazzed up with things like nutty toppings, candied fruit and jam, sprinkles, candy canes, mini marshmallows, and more.

And if you haven’t found what you are looking for in this list of fun Christmas cookies kids love, then pick up one of these cookbooks I recommend!

Happy holiday baking!

Best Cookie Cookbooks

My favorite cookie cookbooks of all time!

Betty Crocker's Cooky Book

Photo Credit: www.amazon.com

Mrs. Fields Cookie Book: 100 Recipes from the Kitchen of Mrs. Fields

Photo Credit: www.amazon.com

Sally's Cookie Addiction: Irresistible Cookies, Cookie Bars, Shortbread, and More

Photo Credit: www.amazon.com

Gluten-Free Christmas Cookies

Photo Credit: www.amazon.com
The Best Christmas Cookies for Kids - over 50 easy cookie recipes to bake with kids for the holidays, plus my favorite kitchen gadgets and goodies to make them. Santa approved!
9 Comments
  1. 21 Ideas for Best Christmas Cookies to Make - Best Round Up Recipe Collections
    Reply

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  4. Linda-bestoflongislandandcentralflorida
    Reply

    Thank you so VERY much for featuring the flourless oatmeal lace cookies.

    I love making cookies but my dear friend Elsie could never enjoy any of them until I made these. I was very careful when making them making sure nothing there was no cross contamination because she is on a strict gluten free diet she has to adhere to.

    With Elsie’s permission I can tell you she is 90 years old and is thrilled she is on the web and hopes many others will enjoy the cookies.

    Thanks again

    Linda

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Welcome to Cupcakes & Kale Chips, where I share gluten free recipes & kid-tested family favorites!

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