Sweet but not cloying, tender but not without bite, cookies are the holidays’ greatest gift — and what better time to celebrate them than Cookie Week, New York Times Cooking’s annual tradition, in which we create seven dazzling, delicious recipes and videos to accompany them. This year’s batch harnesses all of the season’s colors and flavors, like boozy almond, spicy ginger, buttery peppermint, but with a few surprises — lemony turmeric crinkles, gumdrop-studded fudge. Make one or all, but do get going. You’ve got some baking to do! (View all the cookies at NYT Cooking.)
Iced Peppermint Cookies
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Flavored with peppermint extract, Melissa Clark’s zingy treats — part black and white cookie, part candy cane — melt, then pop on the tongue, with their bright, buttery flavor echoed in the icing. Feel free to play with different colors, or even leave them plain. They’ll still shine.
Bûche de Noël Cookies
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Claire Saffitz’s rugelach-inspired Yule logs pack the visual punch of their bigger brethren, but are far easier to share. Crunchy cacao nibs and coarse sugar finish the outside to give these tiny, tender treats a little bit of crunch.
Lemon-Turmeric Crinkle Cookies
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Full of turmeric’s warmth and lemon’s brightness, these golden crinkled cookies from Eric Kim feel (and look) like sunbeams breaking through clouds. But don’t restrict their bright, sunny disposition to a specific time of day. Pair them with a glass of milk or a cup of herbal tea and enjoy as an afternoon pick-me-up or a not-too-sweet finish to any meal.
Holiday Rocky Road
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For her Cookie Week contribution, Sohla El-Waylly looked to Australia and Britain, where rocky road is closer to a fudgelike candy than ice cream. Packed with lots of holiday-evoking add-ins, like speculoos cookies, spice drops and pumpkin pie spice, these stunning no-bake treats welcome all sorts of bits and bobs — even gingerbread house leftovers.
Ginger Cheesecake Cookies
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Samantha Seneviratne’s humble cookies have some cheeky secrets: a hidden layer of cream cheese and three types of ginger (ground, fresh and crystallized) that make every bite blissfully sweet-tart. Skip the crystallized ginger, if you like, but it really makes them sparkle, as does a finishing roll in white sugar.
Matcha-Black Sesame Shortbreads
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Toasty black sesame and bittersweet matcha doughs are pressed and rolled together in Sue Li’s impressive, colorful slice-and-bake shortbread. They’re a cinch to prepare ahead: Make and freeze the logs whenever you like in advance of the holidays, then simply thaw and bake for effortless hosting.
Rum-Buttered Almond Cookies
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Vaughn Vreeland’s nutty, lightly boozy treats recall pillowy Italian pignoli cookies, but are made even richer with two brushes of buttered rum — once before baking and another round when they’re hot from the oven, which imbues them with even more richness.
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