20+ European Christmas Cookie Recipes (2024)

ByEdyta

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It’s the Holiday season and what a better way to celebrate it than with a cookie in hand. Europeans have plenty of different ways to make delicious cookies. I hope you’ll enjoy this collection of European Christmas Cookie Recipes and make one, two, or more of them for your holiday.

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Now I’ve lived here in NY for the last 14 years and haven’t had the chance to go back to Poland for Christmas yet (I’m hoping that the next year will be the year). In fact, this collection of European cookies makes me want to go there even more. Sipping mulled wine, all bundled up with a delicious cookie in hand, listening to Chrismas carols and enjoying the season is all I’m dreaming of right now.

To put you in a similar mood, I’ll show you how festive beautiful my hometown Wroclaw is during the Christmas season. 20+ European Christmas Cookie Recipes (2)Photo credit In Your Pocket

Without further ado, here’s my compilation of the most popular European cookies

1. 5 Ingredient Butter Vanilla Holiday Cookies are super easy to make. Butter, sugar, egg, flour, vanilla and just 20 minutes…that’s all you’ll need!Their taste reminds me of the butter vanilla cookies you can find in almost every European market during the Christmas season.

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2. Speculoos, also known as Speculaas orDutch Windmill Cookies, is a holiday cookie that is traditionally made for the Feast of St. Nicholas (Dec. 6th) in the Netherlands and Belgium.

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3. Brunkager is a Danish Christmas cookiewith a delicious spiced flavor, and a wonderful crunch. Perfect to add to your cookie plate.

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4. Bulgarian Honey Cookies Medenki Recipe – these soft, spiced cookies, dipped in chocolate will make the perfect sweet treat this holiday season.

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5. These German Marzipan Balls are the easiest Christmas Cookies ever! Vegan, gluten-free and only 2 ingredients needed!

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6. A European spin on a holiday classic! These traditional Polish gingerbread cookies use a sticky sweet substitute instead of the conventional molasses.

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7. Thin and crispy Moravian Molasses cookies. This recipe makes 7-8 dozen 2 1/2″ cookies (or more).

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8. These Pierniczki świąteczne, aka Polish Christmas cookies, are the perfect make-ahead festive treat. They are easy to make, with pantry ingredients and bake in just 8 mins.

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9. These no yeast lemon mini babkas (babeczki) are quick and easy. The recipe for these traditional Polish cakes is from the Wild Honey and Rye cookbook, by Ren Behan.

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10. This krumkake recipe makes light, crispy, delicate, golden wafer cookies that are rolled into a traditional cone shape. These Scandinavian cookies are traditionally flavored with cardamom and vanilla but can be made in many different flavors if you want to experiment.

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11. These simple Danish butter cookies are easy to make with children and brighten up everyone’s holiday.

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12. Medovníky are a deliciously spiced, decorated gingerbread-style cookie flavored with honey, cinnamon, and cloves. These festive cookies are often served at Christmas time in Slovakia and decorated with white icing swirls.

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13. German Pfeffernusse Cookies – A traditional spiced German cookie covered in powdered sugar. The perfect cookie for a Christmas cookie exchange!

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14. Canestrelli is a wonderfully delicious Italian Cookie. It’s an almost shortbread type cookie but with a crunch – fast and easy.

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15. Joulutorttu aretraditional Finnish Christmas Cookies made in the shape of the pinwheel and filled with a delicious prune jam. This recipe makes a big batch of cookies. Bake them for Christmas and freeze any leftovers.

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16. Goro (pronounced go-do) is a thin Norwegian cookie that is cooked on a special goro iron.

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17. Struffoli di Mamma are puffy balls of fried dough which are crispy on the outside, light and airy on the inside. These Italian honey balls (aka Cicerchiata) are then drenched in citrus-scented warm honey and decorated with sprinkles.

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18. Danish aebleskiver are a traditional holiday dish in Scandinavian countries, and they’re sold as street food during the busy holiday shopping season.

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19. Pfeffernusse are a popular cookie in Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark.

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20. Melomakarona Traditional Greek Christmas honey spice cookies are made with olive oil, spices and soaked in a honey syrup.

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21. These homemade jammie dodger biscuits are really easy to make and taste delicious. They’re also known as Linzer cookies, a popular Christmas cookie recipe.

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20+ European Christmas Cookie Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is Europe's favorite cookie? ›

Europe's favorite cookie with coffee since 1932. Biscoff Cookies are a type of shortcrust biscuit known as "speculoos", a Belgian specialty. Often served as a side to coffee, Biscoff Cookies are well-known for its unique caramelized flavor.

What is the least favorite Christmas cookie? ›

On the naughty list of cookies, Americans gave the lowest win records to anise cookies, which only won 29% of its matchups. Other low performers included chai sugar cookies (30%), pfeffernusse (31%), spritz cookies (32%), and meringue cookies (34%).

How long before Christmas can you make cookies? ›

You'll find that most of your favorite Christmas cookie recipes can be made anywhere from a month to six months before the 25th of December. (Consult this handy how-to guide to the matter.) Generally, most recipes will be best if baked and then frozen.

What is the famous cookie in Belgium? ›

Lotus and its speculoos or Biscoff cookies are a worldwide success. So much so, in fact, that it's the fifth most popular cookie in the world! The cookie was developed almost a century ago by Jan Boone, the grandfather of the current CEO of Lotus.

What is the best-selling cookie in Germany? ›

1 Lebkuchen: Germany's Favorite

We've come to the most popular German biscuit – Lebkuchen or known as gingerbread (“Lebkuchen” in English is “gingerbread”).

What is the number one cookie in the world? ›

Oreo is the best-selling cookie in the world. It is now sold in over 100 countries. Oreo was first produced in 1912 by the National Biscuit Company, now known as Na-Bis-Co.

Which Christmas cookies last the longest? ›

Shortbread cookies and spritz cookies are real holiday troopers, lasting a bit longer than the rest. These buttery and crumbly cookies are a great option for a holiday cookie. Shortbread is known for its rich flavor, while spritz cookies are often made with a cookie press.

What is in cowboy cookies? ›

They really are fantastic. Basically, for Laura Bush's Famous Cowboy Cookes you take traditional chocolate chip cookie dough and stuff it with oats, coconut, pecans and a sprinkling of cinnamon. Resulting in these oh-so-chewy, flavorful and delicious cookies!

What is Santa Claus's favorite cookie? ›

Chocolate Chip cookies

You can never go wrong with these classic, delicious cookies. Santa himself lists these as his favorites, and he prefers them soft and gooey with lots of chocolate chips. If you decide to leave these out for him, make sure there's a glass of cold milk nearby!

What is the favorite cookie in America? ›

America's favorite cookie and the one dubbed “the American cookie” is the Chocolate chip cookie. Chocolate chip cookie is simply tantalizing both in flavor and in texture. The chips of both milk and dark chocolate provide you with a rich and strong flavor while the butter makes the cookies velvety.

What is the 2nd most popular cookie? ›

Nabisco Oreo was ranked as the second leading cookie brand in the United States with generated sales of 778.8 million U.S. dollars in 2016. The dominating brands Nabisco Oreo and Nabisco Chips Ahoy are owned by East Hanover-based Nabisco.

How do you keep Christmas cookies from getting hard? ›

Keep Them Sealed

The key to keeping cookies fresh and soft is to seal them in an airtight container, like a resealable freezer bag. And here's a nifty little trick: add a piece of bread to the bag.

Should you refrigerate Christmas cookies? ›

Bakery or homemade cookies can be stored at room temperature two to three weeks or two months in the refrigerator. Cookies retain their quality when stored in the freezer for eight to 12 months.

What cookies freeze the best? ›

As a general rule of thumb, 'drop cookies,' which include oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies, and 'cut-out cookies,' such as gingerbread and sugar cookies, are freezer-friendly.

What is the world's Favourite cookie? ›

Oreo is the best-selling cookie in the world. It is now sold in over 100 countries. Oreo was first produced in 1912 by the National Biscuit Company, now known as Na-Bis-Co.

What do Europeans call cookies? ›

Hard or crisp cookies are called biscuits in the U.K. while the chewier dessert can be identified as a cookie.

Which cookie is very popular in France? ›

Macarons are the most popular type of cookie in Paris, but they are popular throughout the rest of the world as well, and they appear with different fillings and in various sizes, colors, and flavors.

References

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