Look no further, here it is: our favorite never-fail Christmas sugar cookie recipe.

What Are the Best Christmas Cookies to Bake with Kids?

We rounded up this list of cookies that are fun and easy to make with kids, without sacrificing taste. They’re cute enough for school parties, easy enough for toddlers to help with, and tasty enough to go first at every bake sale.

What makes a Christmas cookie good to bake with kids? Think non-fussy, easy to make dough, not a lot of prep, and always loads of fun decorating (without having much, or any, skill at decorating)! Here are our never-fail favorites.

10 Fun and Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes for Kids

1. Best Christmas Sugar Cookie Recipe: Martha Stewart’s Sugar Cookies

I am obsessed with these cookies. I love to experiment with baking, so I’ve tested dozens of other sugar cookie recipes. I’ve tried recipes with cream cheese, brandy, lemon juice, confectioners' sugar—you name it. And this good old Martha recipe is the best. My kids finally had to put their foot down with my experimenting, and we never stray from this recipe anymore.

2. Best Easy Way to Make Sugar Cookies: Spritz Cookies

The only drawback of my favorite sugar cookie recipe is that it’s really time consuming and messy to roll out, cut, shape, chill, and decorate the dough. Spritz cookies have the same buttery taste, but you put the dough in a cookie press that kids love squeezing. The only drawback is that you have to buy the cookie press, but I think it’s worth the investment. (You can get a good one for about $20 and a great one for $35.)

3. Cutest Christmas Cookie Recipe: Holly Jolly Santa Cookies

We discovered these cookies on Half Baked Harvest just in time for our final pre-pandemic cookie party, and my kids can’t wait to make them again this year. Not only are they adorable, but kids of any age can help shape them by rolling balls of cookie dough and squishing them together.

The secret ingredient? Find out below...

4. Best Gingerbread Cookie Recipe: Spiced Gingerbread Cookies

While a bad gingerbread cookie tastes like cardboard, a good one is divine. This one is transcendent. The secret? Black pepper, which really heightens the taste of the ginger. Your kids will get a kick out of telling people about the secret ingredient.

 
Easy to make, and so festive looking. Photo courtesy of the author

5. Best Easy Christmas Cookie Recipe

Here’s the recipe any kid can help bake: one box cookie mix, one stick melted butter, two eggs. Done. Or not … you can add any mix-ins you like. We sometimes add green food coloring and Christmas M&Ms to vanilla cake mix. Or crushed peppermint to chocolate cake mix. Let your kids come up with their own flavor combinations and mix-ins. (Bake at 350 for 9 minutes. And if your cake mix is only 15 oz., you will need to add ¼ cup of flour.)

6. Tastiest Christmas Cookie: Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is my secret weapon for cookie swaps. If you want everyone fighting over who gets to go home with your cookies, try making this. It’s a great chocolate chip cookie made with browned butter and stuffed with a scoop of frozen Nutella. Your kids will have a blast helping you stuff the cookies, and licking their fingers. And everyone will adore you for baking these cookies.

We have hosted an annual Christmas cookie party every year, so my kids are experts. Photo courtesy of the author

7. Happiest Christmas Cookie: Traditional Scottish Shortbread

Why? Well, with three ingredients (plus a pinch of salt), this is something you can whip up anytime. It’s easy: no chilling or rolling, and everyone loves them. Even if your son won’t touch peppermint and your daughter gags at raisins (or is that just in my house?), your pickiest eater or tiniest toothless one will happily gnaw on these. And finally, this is the Ted Lasso biscuit. And if you can think of Ted Lasso without smiling, you’re made of sterner stuff than I.

8. Best Gluten-Free Christmas Cookie: Peppermint Meringues

Looking for a lighter cookie? Or one that’s gluten-free? This easy meringue cookie is cute, sweet, easy, and tastes like a candy cane.

 
It’s easy to create adorable little reindeer! Photo courtesy of the author

9. Rudolph's Favorite Christmas Cookie: Reindeer Cookies

These are our favorite cookies to leave for Santa. You can have zero decorating skills, and with mini pretzels, chocolate chips, and red M&Ms, it’s easy to create adorable little reindeer. The peanut butter cookie base is delicious, too.

10. Best Hanukkah Cookie: Rugelach

We celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah at our house, and while Christmas gets the lion's share of cookie baking, it wouldn’t be the holidays without a few batches of rugelach. For fillings you can go crazy: try a traditional filling like walnut or poppyseed, use your favorite jam, or go with my kids’ favorite—chocolate.

How Can I Make Holiday Baking Fun and Safe for Kids?

Holiday baking is a fun family tradition, but it can also be stressful. It’s messy, it involves a hot oven and sometimes (knives). Here are some tips to keep your cookie cooking sessions organized, safe, and stress-free:

Give Age-Appropriate Tasks

Make sure no one feels left out, by giving everyone a job they can handle on their own.

• Toddlers can dump ingredients into a bowl, stir things together, and help decorate with sprinkles or candies on top.
• Preschoolers can do all of that, plus rolling out dough and using cookie cutters.
• Older kids can do anything, except pulling hot trays out of the oven!

Plan to Minimize the Mess 

You can pre-measure ingredients and use mixing bowls and measuring cups with handles so there aren’t big spills. You can also lay down easy-to-wipe down or shake out table cloths. And everyone can wear aprons or old holiday pjs that can go right in the wash. 

Safety First!

Keep hot trays, sharp tools, and stand mixers off-limits and in places where little people can’t reach them. Keep kids at the table, where they can only reach things they can be working on. 

Make It Fun and Educational

Baking is all about weights and measures; it’s very much a teaching and learning activity. Kids can practice reading recipes and measuring ingredients. Even the tiniest kind can count how many cups or eggs go into something, and you can talk about what animal an egg comes from, or how to make flour. For bigger kids, real science comes in the form of how ingredients mix and work.

Break It Into Steps

Cookie baking can be a multi-step activity, and each step can be fun, especially the decorating and taste-testing! Making the dough, baking the dough, tasting the cookies, decorating the cookies, tasting them again, arranging them on plates or in boxes to give away… each step can become a family tradition.

What Supplies Do I Need for Christmas Cookie Baking With Kids?

Cookie baking for the holidays, or any baking with kids, can be as simple as a boxed mix and a cookie sheet. Or, you can get a little more intricate with:

• Cookie cutters
• Rolling pin
• Cookie sheets
• Cooling racks
• Decorations like: frosting, sprinkles, edible markers
• Gift bags or gift boxes for giving your creations to friends, family, neighbors, and teachers
   

Can I Freeze Christmas Cookies or Make Them Ahead?

Absolutely! One of the best ways to keep holiday baking stress-free is to make Christmas cookies ahead of time or freeze cookie dough so you can bake in batches. Here are some tips for storing and then baking cookie dough:

Freeze Cookie Dough

Most cookie doughs—especially sugar, gingerbread, and chocolate chip—freeze beautifully.

• To freeze dough: Roll it into balls, logs (to slice and bake) or flat discs (to roll out), then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place in a labeled freezer bag.
• To bake frozen dough: Thaw in the refrigerator overnight or bake straight from frozen by adding 1–2 extra minutes to the baking time.
   

Freeze Fully Baked Cookies

Most baked cookies can also be frozen once fully cooled.

• Layer cookies between sheets of wax or parchment paper in an airtight container.
• Don’t freeze cookies before icing or adding decorations—freeze “naked” cookies and decorate (any decorations that you don’t add before baking) right before serving.

Storage Tips for Baked Cookies

• Store unfrosted cookies in airtight tins at room temperature for up to a week.
• Keep soft cookies (like chocolate crinkles) separate from crisp ones! This keeps the crispy cookies crisp!
• Store decorated cookies in a single layer after any icing has fully hardened.

How Do I Turn Cookie Baking Into a Family Holiday Tradition?

Cookie baking is my favorite holiday tradition! Anything becomes a tradition when you do it every year. But you can make it a big tradition by adding elements, like playing holiday music, wearing holiday aprons, clothes, or even Santa hats or reindeer headbands while you bake. Even just baking the same cookies every year with the same decorations makes it a tradition!

Then do something special with your cookies: have a cookie party or cookie exchange, box up your cookies as gifts for friends or family, or create recipe cards for favorite cookies you make every year as gifts.

FAQ for Holiday Cookie Baking with Kids

Q: What are the easiest Christmas cookies to make with kids?
A: Our Easy Christmas Cookie recipe is the easiest Christmas cookie of all time! But Sugar Cookies, Reindeer Cookies, and Scottish Shortbread are also very easy to make.

Q: How do I involve toddlers in Christmas baking?
A: Toddlers can dump in pre-measured ingredients, mix, stir, and help shape sugar cookies and decorate.

Q: What can I use instead of cookie cutters?
A: You can just use an upside down glass, cup measure, or clean jar lid!

Q: How do I make cookies healthier for kids?
A: Substitute some sugar with applesauce or honey. For flours, you can swap whole wheat flour for some of the white flour. 

Q: Can I make or bake Christmas cookies ahead of time?
A: Yes—freeze dough or baked cookies for up to three months.

This article contains some affiliate links, which means we might earn a small commission if you make a purchase. There is no extra cost to the reader. We only recommend products and services that we have personally used or have thoroughly researched. (I have both of the cookie presses linked to above and recommend them both! Honestly, you can also get one for about $9 that works fine, but it won't last multiple years or withstand a toddler who likes to take things apart. But if you just want to try it out this holiday season, a very cheap one will work!)