While birthdays have cake and Thanksgiving has pie, Christmas is all about the cookies. What are some classic Christmas cookie recipes? Gingerbread and sugar cookies are traditional flavors that can be made into fancy creations. Try these gourmet cookie recipes to add a little something extra to your season of sweets.

Gourmet Cookie Recipes That Everyone Will Love

Though everyone has their holiday favorites, these gourmet cookies recipes all have a special twist to elevate their classic flavors. Even the most traditional baker won’t be able to deny that a little upgrade never hurts a good cookie.

1. Gingerbread Cookies

If Christmas had a flavor it would be gingerbread. The ginger, cloves, and cinnamon add unmistakable warmth while cookie cutter shapes and frosting allow creativity to shine.

Ingredients:

  • Butter
  • Margarine
  • Cinnamon
  • Cloves
  • Flour
  • Molasses

Gourmet cookie recipes don’t always utilize fancy ingredients. Rather, they can use traditional components in new ways to upgrade flavor, texture, and appearance. This gingerbread recipe combines both butter and margarine to make the cookies rich and crisp. Wolf convection settings or the convection bake function on any oven can also enhance crispiness and color, making the perfect base for the frosting.

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gourmet sugar cookie recipe

Image Credit: Sub-Zero Wolf

2. Toffee Cookies

Toffee is a traditional English sweet that caramelizes sugar and molasses with butter for a rich sweetness just made for cookies. This recipe takes it over the top with the addition of chocolate chunks.

Ingredients:

  • Dark brown sugar
  • Vanilla
  • Flour
  • Toffee bars
  • Chocolate chunks

Fancy cookie recipes like this one often call for browned butter, which involves melting the butter in a saucepan until it foams and begins to brown. When browned, the butter offers a warm, nutty flavor and color reminiscent of actual toffee. A sprinkle of sea salt on each cookie before baking keeps the sweetness of the toffee and chocolate beautifully in check.

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gourmet christmas cookie recipes

Image Credit: Sub-Zero Wolf

3. Jam Thumbprint Cookies

What turns traditional cookies into gourmet Christmas cookie recipes? Changing just one ingredient can turn up the volume. While jam thumbprint cookies traditionally have a raspberry filling, substituting red currant jam or even orange offers fresh and new holiday flavors.

Ingredients:

  • Butter
  • Sugar
  • Salt
  • Vanilla 
  • Your favorite jam

When adding the flour to the wet ingredients be careful not to overmix the dough. Doing so overdevelops the flour’s gluten, creating tough and chewy results. As for the thumbprint, it’s best to make a small depression in the center of each dough ball. The cookies will puff and expand during baking, making the center exactly the right size.

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fancy cookie recipes

Image Credit: Sub-Zero Wolf

4. Earl Grey Sugar Cookies

Looking for a new twist on a Christmas classic? This gourmet sugar cookie recipe uses loose Earl Grey tea grounds, infusing the cookie with a delightfully floral flavor and scent. A sugar glaze with the brewed tea provides additional color and flavor.

Ingredients:

  • Flour
  • Sugar
  • Butter
  • Loose Earl Grey tea
  • Grated lemon zest

The loose tea is mixed with the dry ingredients so it blends seamlessly into the cookie when combined with the butter, sugar, and egg. Meanwhile, a dash of lemon zest in the dough brings out the delicate tea notes. Don’t be tempted to skip the dough’s overnight chill in the fridge; doing so deepens the flavor of each ingredient during baking.

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earl grey cookies

Image Credit: Sub-Zero Wolf

5. White Chocolate Cherry Almond Cookies

The red and white colors of the dried cherries and white chocolate scream Christmas. But it’s the contrasting flavors of each that make this one of the most unique gourmet cookie recipes.

Ingredients:

  • Flour
  • Sugar
  • Almond extract
  • Dried cherries
  • White chocolate chunks

While white chocolate can be overly sweet, the tart-dried cherries curb the sweetness perfectly. If you’re not a fan of almond extract, adding chopped, toasted almonds with cherries and chocolate offer a more mellow nutty flavor.

Get the full recipe.

chocolate cherry almond cookies

Image Credit: Sub-Zero Wolf

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