Hot cocoa cookies, peppermint meltaways and raspberry thumbprints give you three Christmas cookie recipes with different holiday finishes. Choose a chocolate cap with marshmallow beneath it, white peppermint icing with candy crunch, or a red jam center. They're three different ways to make a cookie plate feel ready for the holidays.
Sally McKenney, Emily of Foodie Fiber and John Kanell created the original recipes. You'll find direct links beside each choice. Their pages hold the full ingredients, methods and storage notes. Here, the useful part is choosing which finish and timeline fit your baking afternoon.
Choose a holiday cookie by its finishing step
Peppermint meltaways get a thin layer of white icing and crushed candy canes. Hot cocoa cookies have a marshmallow layer under chocolate. Raspberry thumbprints leave the jam center in view. Pick the part you'd most like to make, then check that recipe's full timeline.
The waiting stages differ, too. Sally's hot cocoa dough needs at least two hours of chilling. Emily's meltaway recipe includes a shorter dough chill plus time for the icing to set. Read John’s thumbprint shaping and chilling notes before choosing a start time.
For mint chocolate and filled oat cookies without a holiday theme, our year-round cookie recipes for a baking afternoon gives you another set to save.
Hot cocoa cookies with a marshmallow middle
Sally McKenney's marshmallow-surprise hot cocoa cookies at Sally's Baking have a cocoa base, a marshmallow half and a chocolate finish. Her method includes at least two hours of dough chilling, so check the full timeline before inviting someone over to bake.
Our hot cocoa cookie feature shows the chocolate-covered top and the white marshmallow layer beneath it. This is a useful choice when you want the finish to come from chocolate rather than a piped pattern.
Read Sally's notes for the chocolate choice and storage. Keep the recipe link with your baking plans so you can return to those details when the cookies are finished.
Get Sally McKenney's full Marshmallow-Surprise Hot Cocoa Cookies recipe.
Peppermint meltaway cookies with icing and candy crunch
Emily of Foodie Fiber’s peppermint meltaway cookies have a pale, buttery base, white peppermint icing and crushed candy canes. Choose these when you want mint without chocolate. The red-and-white candy gives the tops a little crunch and a holiday finish.
Her recipe makes 32 cookies and includes 30 to 45 minutes of dough chilling. After the cookies cool, leave another 20 to 30 minutes for the icing to set. That makes these a good pick for an afternoon with a few breaks between stages.
Get Emily’s full Peppermint Meltaway Cookies recipe at Foodie Fiber.
Raspberry thumbprints with a red jam center
John Kanell's thumbprint cookies at Preppy Kitchen make a buttery round with a well for fruit jam. Raspberry is one of his suggested fillings. Choose this one when you'd like the red jam center to be the decoration.
Our raspberry thumbprint cookie feature shows the plain raspberry finish on a holiday plate. Keep the cookie rim bare so the jam can stand out. Use John's own shaping, chilling and filling notes as you bake.
Get John Kanell's full thumbprint cookie recipe at Preppy Kitchen.
Pack each holiday batch with its recipe link
If you're sharing more than one kind, keep the batches separate while you check their storage notes. Icing, jam and a marshmallow topping each bring a different finish to the box. Let the recipe tell you when that finish is ready to pack.
Ask about food needs before picking the recipes. Share the full source links so each person can check the ingredients. A cookie name and creator credit can stay with each container, along with the link your friend can return to later.
For a small holiday plate, set out a few of each kind and keep the rest in the storage setup the creator recommends. Red jam, white peppermint icing and chocolate tops already give the plate plenty of color. Choose your favorite first and let that batch lead.
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