Our 5 Favorite Holiday Cookie Recipes - Learning Liftoff (2024)

‘Tis the season for holiday baking. What better way to get the kids involved than to whip up a batch of holiday cookies? Round up your little bakers, and try these five delicious recipes guaranteed to educate, amuse, and satisfy everyone’s sweet tooth.

Tricolored Peppermint-Striped Cookies

A good cookie must melt in your mouth and look appealing. These tricolored peppermint-striped cookies fit the bill. To make these, you will stack three different types of dough. Kids will enjoy the process of transforming them into a single cookie. It’s an interesting lesson in teamwork. Kids also learn the value of giving heartfelt homemade treats. These cookies store for ten days and can be shipped to loved ones or given as teacher gifts.

This recipe contains 11 ingredients, making it rather complex to make. However, the ingredients can be easily substituted to meet any dietary needs. Use gluten-free flour for those concerned about gluten intake. Substitute egg alternative and vegan butter to suit vegan diets.

Almond Cookies

If you’re a fan of almond cookies, these are easy and even kid-approved. Almond cookies are a great choice for holiday parties to change it up from the usual sugar or chocolate chip cookies!

The recipe at allrecipes.com calls for crushed almonds, but we made these with just the almond extract and added an egg for extra richness.

We also think tasty almond icing adds to the enjoyment. To make the frosting, use 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 Tbsp milk, and 2 drops of almond extract. If you prefer a softer frosting, use cream cheese, butter, sugar, and both almond and vanilla extracts. Once cookies are frosted, sprinkle with raw sugar or holiday sprinkles.

Peanut Butter and Banana Drops

Around the holidays, it’s hard to find time to shop for cookie ingredients. The best recipe is one that uses minimal ingredients and is easy to make. That’s why peanut butter and banana drops are so perfect. They use only four ingredients.

These gems combine peanut butter cookie dough, banana chips, chocolate pieces, and sugar to create a moist yet crunchy treat that’s easy for little hands to make. Kids will enjoy kneading the ingredients together. As with any recipe, they will also learn more about how to measure and bake.

Snowman Cookies

They’re not technically cookies, but snowman cookies will be a hit with the youngsters, fostering their creativity as they create their own snowman. Doughnut holes dipped in warm vanilla icing create a perfect model on which kids can make their own snowman come to life.

This recipe suggests chocolate icing for the face, dried papaya for the nose, a fruit leather for the scarf, and chocolate sandwich cookies for the hat. However, the possibilities are endless. See if you and your kids can come up with other creative options to decorate the snowman. Try adding pretzel stick arms to create a sweet and salty flavor. With no need to bake, these cookies are also ideal for classroom projects.

Gingerbread Ornaments

Gingerbread is the classic holiday cookie. It is also one of the most versatile cookie varieties and is always a hit with children. Have you ever noticed how much your children love drawing pictures of their family and friends? Create traditional gingerbread people and have kids decorate them in the likeness of their family and friends. Kids can also create edible ornaments with this sturdy gingerbread recipe. They’ll enjoy seeing their handiwork on the tree. Even better, they will love snacking on them after guests leave.

No matter which recipe you choose, each one will provide an educational experience for your child. If you want to add a new holiday tradition, try making a classic gingerbread house by following this guide. By baking several projects such as these, you’ll create memories and traditions they’ll cherish as they grow older.

Check out our other holiday articles to help you savor the season, in the kitchen and everywhere!