Friends, itโ€™s here: the season to bake bake bake. Here are 25 Christmas cookie recipes to make and gift this holiday season.

This year Iโ€™ve added two new cookies to my Christmas cookie repertoire: white chocolate macadamia nut cookies and lemon-almond snowballs, both of which I find irresistible.

In the weeks ahead I will make a batch of this classic cream cheese cutout dough, which I will set on the table along with rolling pins and cookie cutters, and Iโ€™ll let the children go to town.

As always, I could never let the holiday season pass without making Kristinaโ€™s Molasses Crinkles, Simple Classic Shortbread, and Chewy Chocolate Sugar Cookies.

The below selection of cookies is organized as follows:

Classics

Peanut Butter Cookies

A plate of peanut butter cookies.

Soft and Chew Contest-Winning Peanut Butter Cookies: Sugar-crusted, soft and chewy, perfectly salty, and crinkly to boot!

Truffles

Chocolate Cookies

Shortbread

Cut shortbread in pan.

Simple Classic Shortbread: When it comes to effort-to-reward ratio, itโ€™s hard to beat shortbread. This simple recipe calls for 5 ingredients, does not require a food processor, and yields a super delicious, rich and buttery cookie, perfect for gifting (or eating) all season long.

PS: Gluten-Free Lemon-Thyme Shortbread

Dunkers

Two Dorie Greenspan Favorites

Stamped Cookies

Stamped Spiced Brown Butter Sugar Cookies with Maple Glaze

Stamped Spiced Brown Butter Sugar Cookies with Maple Glaze: These cookies are as beautiful as they are delicious. This is not one I would recommend making with children as the process requires a little finesse, but the effort โ€” when you have the time and patience โ€” is well worth the reward.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (+ Variations)

PS: Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Milk (or Dark) Chocolate Toffee

A stack of classic toffee.

Daley Toffee: A family recipe from a dear friend, this toffee is incredibly addictive. Great for gifting and having on hand around the holidays. If the idea of making toffee is intimidating, donโ€™t let it! Watch this video:

Linzers

Linzer Cookies. I contributed this linzer cookie recipe to King Arthur Flourโ€™s Sift a few years back. These require a little bit of work and patience, but: Is there anything more festive than a tray of confectionersโ€™ sugar-dusted, jam-filled linzers?

Bars