# What is the best Christmas cookie?

> Old recipes from Germany, Greece and Norway sit beside the American cookie-swap regulars, and several of them need a special iron or carved mould to make.

*By YPB Team · Published November 7, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/what-is-the-best-christmas-cookie*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Gingerbread Man** — score 1000/1000
   Cookie cut in a human shape from spiced gingerbread dough and usually decorated with icing.
2. **Sugar Cookie** — score 810/1000
   Rolled dough of butter, sugar and flour cut into holiday shapes and decorated with icing or sprinkles.
3. **Snickerdoodle** — score 636/1000
   Butter cookie rolled in cinnamon sugar before baking, traditionally made with cream of tartar.
4. **Vanillekipferl** — score 598/1000
   Crescent-shaped Austrian and German cookie made with ground nuts and dusted with vanilla sugar.
5. **Speculaas** — score 555/1000
   Spiced shortcrust cookie from the Netherlands and Belgium, stamped with images and traditionally eaten around St. Nicholas' Day.
6. **Gingersnap** — score 454/1000
   Crisp cookie flavoured with ground ginger and molasses.
7. **Spritz** — score 454/1000
   German butter cookie pushed through a cookie press into shapes such as wreaths, trees and stars.
8. **Rosette** — score 454/1000
   Thin, crisp Scandinavian cookie made by dipping a decorative iron into batter and then into hot oil.
9. **Krumkake** — score 454/1000
   Norwegian waffle cookie baked on a decorative iron and rolled into a cone while still warm.
10. **Pfeffernüsse** — score 454/1000
   Small spiced cookies, often with black pepper and a sugar glaze, eaten at Christmas in Germany and Denmark and around Sinterklaas in the Netherlands.
11. **Pizzelle** — score 394/1000
   Thin Italian waffle cookie from Abruzzo, pressed in a patterned iron and often flavoured with anise.
12. **Springerle** — score 394/1000
   Anise-flavoured German cookie with a picture pressed into the dough by a carved mould or rolling pin.
13. **Linzer Cookie** — score 394/1000
   Nut shortbread sandwich cookie with a cut-out top that shows the jam filling, modelled on the Austrian Linzer torte.
14. **Thumbprint Cookie** — score 394/1000
   Butter cookie with a hollow pressed into the centre and filled with jam.
15. **Lebkuchen** — score 394/1000
   German spiced honey cookie closely associated with Nuremberg, whose Nürnberger Lebkuchen has EU protected geographical status.
16. **Zimtstern** — score 394/1000
   Star-shaped German cookie of ground almonds and cinnamon with a meringue glaze.
17. **Biscochito** — score 394/1000
   Anise-and-cinnamon butter cookie that New Mexico adopted as its official state cookie in 1989.
18. **Peanut Butter Blossom** — score 324/1000
   Peanut butter cookie with a Hershey's Kiss pressed into the top, entered in the 1957 Pillsbury Bake-Off by Freda Smith of Ohio.
19. **Melomakarona** — score 324/1000
   Greek Christmas cookie made with olive oil, soaked in honey syrup and topped with chopped walnuts.
20. **Kourabiedes** — score 151/1000
   Greek almond butter cookie coated in powdered sugar and made for Christmas.
21. **Kolaczki** — score 151/1000
   Polish-style cookie of cream-cheese dough folded around a jam filling.
22. **Chocolate Crinkle** — score 151/1000
   Fudgy chocolate cookie rolled in powdered sugar before baking so the surface cracks in the oven.
23. **Mexican Wedding Cookie** — score 0/1000
   Crumbly butter cookie made with ground nuts and rolled in powdered sugar, also known as a Russian tea cake.
24. **Shortbread** — score 0/1000
   Scottish biscuit of butter, sugar and flour, traditionally baked for Christmas and Hogmanay.

Tags: christmas, desserts, food, baking, cookies