Christmas Cookie Box 2024

Gifting Christmas cookie boxes are one of my favorite things to do during the holidays. They are so fun (and delicious) to make and so rewarding! The perfect way to express your gratitude and love to friends, family, and coworkers. If you receive a cookie box from me, know that you are extremely loved because there's no one else that I'd stay up to midnight baking cookies for. Because it doesn't matter how much I prepare every year, I always end up staying past midnight to finish the cookie boxes. Every year. I never learn. At this point it's part of the process.

This year, I'm so happy with my lineup! Here are my Christmas cookie box cookies (labelled):

🍪 How I choose cookies for cookie boxes

Whenever I make cookies for cookie boxes I try to choose sturdy cookies that don't require refrigeration. To make a cohesive, vibrant, and diverse cookie box I try to make sure I have at least one cookie for each of these categories:

• Colorful: the lemon shortbread cookies are glazed with yellow lemon glaze and are very eyecatching.
• Crisp texture: chocolate cherry linzers and the lemon shortbread
• Soft texture: Molded gingerbread cookies, peppermint brownie cookies, raspberry thumbprints, and vanilla chocolate blossoms.
• Shortbread: The lemon shortbread stars fit the bill!
• Citrus and/or fruity: The lemon shortbread, raspberry thumbprints, and the cherry chocolate linzer cookies bring acidity and balance.
• Classic holiday flavors: I went with molded gingerbread cookies and chocolate peppermint brownie cookies.
• Chocolate: I have two chocolate cookies - the peppermint brownie bark cookies and the chocolate cherry linzers.
• A super easy, "filler" cookie: This time I went with raspberry thumbprint and vanilla blossom Christmas cookies. They're a no chill cookie recipe that you can customize however you like!
• A showstopper, statement cookie: The molded gingerbread cookies are so beautiful, have a vibrant zesty gingerbread flavor, and are filled with a surprise apricot jam.

And here are the Christmas cookie boxes all packaged up. I used metal cookie tins that I found at the dollar store to seal them tightly so that they don't dry out.

Pro Cookie Box Tip: Don't forget to wash the tins and line them with parchment or wax paper. If you use cardboard boxes - make sure you line them as well so that the cookies don't taste like cardboard.

🐿️ Molded Gingerbread Cookies with Jam

These cookies are very large and take a little longer to mold and fill than your average cookie, so each box only got one "statement" cookie on top.

Thick Gingerbread Molded Cookies with Jam Filling

These ultra thick, soft and chewy molded gingerbread cookies are spiced, made with fresh ginger and orange zest, and are filled with jam. They're molded with wooden cookie molds and glazed with a simple orange glaze. The jam filling and glaze keep the cookies soft, moist, and chewy for days, so these are the perfect cookie to make ahead - especially during the holidays! These cookies are inspired by popular Eastern European spiced honey cookies.

Check out this recipe

🍋 Lemon Shortbread Cookies

Since I was already including a linzer cookie, I decided not to fill these with lemon curd. I rolled them out twice as thick, cut out little star shapes, poked them with a fork in the center for a classic shortbread look, and dipped the tops in lemon glaze colored with yellow food coloring. Voila! Festive lemon star cookies.

Tip: If you don't have enough lemons, you can throw in some grated orange zest. It's so delicious.

Zesty Lemon Shortbread Cookies

These lemon shortbread cookies are buttery, tender, zesty, tangy, and (optionally) filled with gooey lemon curd. They have a melt in your mouth texture. They're packed full of lemon flavor even without the lemon curd! The shortbread cookies come together very quickly and easily - and turn out super buttery and tender crisp. They’re dipped in a two ingredient lemon glaze and are the perfect holiday and summer cookie.

Check out this recipe

🍬 Peppermint Bark Brownie Cookies

These cookies are so quick to whip up! You only need a handheld wire whisk so you can give your electric mixer a break. I baked and dipped them the week before and froze them in a large freezer bag until I was ready to assemble the cookies boxes.

Peppermint Brownie Bark Cookies

These peppermint brownie crinkle cookies have crisp edges, soft and fudgy middles, shiny crackly tops, and a delicious chocolate peppermint flavor. To make them even more festive, I dipped the tops halfway into white chocolate and crushed peppermint candy canes - like a classic peppermint bark! They're one of the most festive cookies you could make for the holidays. And you could make them ahead of time and they store great so they're perfect for including in cookie boxes and cookie exchanges for the holidays!

Check out this recipe

🍒 Chocolate Cherry Linzer Cookies

I had the forethought to make two batches of these cookies two weeks ahead of time and popped them in the freezer so that I was prepped and ready! Unfortunately (or... fortunately) they are so delicious that we kept snacking on them and I had to remake them right before assembling the cookie boxes. The chocolate almond cookies are packed full of buttery cocoa almond flavor, and the jam is tart and sweet. It's my favorite combination and it is so balanced!

Chocolate Almond Cherry Linzer Cookies

These are rich, chocolate almond linzer cherry cookies. The cherry jam filling is easy to make and full of bright and tart cherry flavor. The cookies themselves are super chocolatey, slightly salty, buttery, and crisp with the perfect melt in your mouth sandy texture. The almond flour and cocoa powder in the cookie dough makes them extra tender, almost shortbread like. They're perfect for cookie boxes because they're absolutely delicious and hold up so well!

Check out this recipe

🎁 Christmas Thumbprint Cookies

Every cookie box needs a classic, easy cookie that you can rely on. I keep this recipe in my back pocket every time I make cookie boxes. They're a no chill recipe and are so quick to whip up and you can make so many different flavors!

I made a double batch and turned one batch into vanilla blossom cookies and the second batch into vanilla raspberry thumbprint cookies. I had enough chocolate cookies in this cookie boxes so I didn't make any chocolate thumbprint cookies this time.

Christmas Thumbprint Cookies

These Christmas thumbprint cookies have crisp buttery outsides, are super soft inside, and are so easy to make! The best part is you can customize the flavors to make a variety of cookies using only one batch and one recipe! There’s no chill time, they stay soft for days, and aren’t fragile - making them the perfect cookies for Christmas cookie boxes. If you’re looking for a cookie recipe that you can customize with a huge variety of flavors, you need to make these cookies! I filled up a huge cookie box with just one batch of these cookies - and there are so many flavors to choose from!

Check out this recipe

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🎄 More Christmas and holiday cookie box recipes