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Recipe Collections

Our 2023 Christmas Cookies Are Here—And You'll Want To Try Them All

We pored over every winter issue from our 95-year history to find our best-ever favourites—and added a new recipe to the mix, too.
an assortment of christmas cookies overlapping Produced by Chantal Braganza and Sun Ngo, Photography by Christie Vuong, Food Styling by Eshun Mott, Prop Styling by Nicole Billark.

Chatelaine has featured cookies in its pages every December since 1928. That’s almost a century of shortbread, bars, macaroons, gingersnaps, biscotti and so much more. We pored over every winter issue from the past 95 years to find our 10 all-time favourites—and added a new recipe to the mix, too.

Scottish shortbread for Christmas served on a pink plate, with one wedge out of eight removed

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This classic buttery cookie recipe was published in the magazine’s first-ever Christmas issue in 1928. We’ve dialed down the flour and added more citrus peel for a lightly sweet and crisp treat. Butter and candied orange are the two key flavours in this recipe; try to find the best quality of both. Get this Scottish shortbread recipe.

Seven date and almond macaroons in pink liners

A soft and nutty cross between a macaroon and Italian brutti ma buoni, these tender little treats from 1932 will win over even non-cookie lovers. Get this macaroon recipe.

A pile of Christmas refrigerator cookies with red and white icing on a blue tray

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We’d say candied cherries are deliciously retro, but glacéed fruit happens to be newly cool again, as it was when this roll-and-slice biscuit first appeared in 1949— and we couldn’t be happier about it. Don’t skip toasting the almonds; their nuttiness makes the cherry flavour sing. Get this refrigerator cookie recipe.

Honey peanut balls, rolled in colourful crushed cereal bits, on a lime green surface

The original 1957 version of these make-ahead bonbons were billed as a convenience treat. Sprinkling a bit of childhood-favourite sugary cereal overtop adds a bit of crunch, colour and fun. Get this peanut ball recipe.

Star-shaped gingerbread cookies arranged in a pink box with iced biscuits

Let’s go back to 1961 with a spicy and versatile version of classic gingerbread. Roll it out and cut it into shapes, or press beautiful patterns into it with a cookie stamp. Get this gingerbread cookie recipe.

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Iced layer cookies, topped with light blue icing and coloured sprinkles, served on a red tray

This marzipan take on empire cookies from 1972 is the most labour-intensive recipe of the bunch, but it also happens to be a favourite of our recipe tester. We veered from the original all-white colour scheme with a bit of food colouring and sprinkles for a far-out look. Get this iced layer cookie recipe.

Sugar-dusted mincemeat turnovers in a pink box beside pine needles and a pine cone

“My husband said these tasted like every Christmas open house of his childhood!” exclaimed food stylist Eshun Mott, who tested this recipe from 1985. While these keep well when made in advance, eating them freshly baked—still warm and emanating that orange-zest aroma—is an unbeatable experience. Get this mincemeat turnover recipe.

Diamond-shaped holiday nanaimo bars arranged on a lime green surface

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What makes this Canadian dessert standard a holiday knockout? Toasting the walnuts for extra oomph, adding a little salt to balance the sweetness and cutting it into sleek diamond shapes. These cute little bars appear here exactly as they did in our December 1995 issue. Get this holiday nanaimo bar recipe.

Five pistachio thumbprint cookies arranged on a golding serving mat.

These buttery shortbread-like bites from 2005 are the ideal make-ahead cookie, and they travel beautifully. Prepare and bake the dough, then fill with colourful jam or lemon curd just before serving. Get this pistachio thumbprint recipe.

Whipped shortbread cookies in assorted shapes and colours on a wide blue plate

These melt-in-your-mouth cookies are hands-down the most viewed recipe Chatelaine has ever published online: It has consistently held the top spot on chatelaine.com since it appeared in 2017. We’re not ones to mess with perfection, but we have a suggestion for an even more perfect result: If there were ever a time to pull out the kitchen scale for a cookie recipe, this is it. Get this whipped shortbread cookie recipe.

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A stack of matcha and ginger tea pinwheel cookies on a green plate.

These brand-new treats are a colourful and kicky spin on gingerbread. Don’t be intimidated by the spiral design: If you can roll a tea towel, you can roll these cookies. Get this pinwheel cookie recipe.

Cookie stamps (used for Gingerbread), $41 for 3, leevalley.ca. Shortbread pan (used for Scottish Shortbread), $59, leevalley.ca. Sprinkles and dragées (used in Iced Layer Cookies, Mincemeat Turnovers, and Whipped Shortbread Cookies), sweetapolita.com.

Assorted cookies on a pink background with the words in white "Find more Christmas cookie recipes"

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