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There’s so much to enjoy in December: gathering with friends and family, holiday movies you only watch once a year, and delicious food coming out of the kitchen. Whether your tradition is to make a holiday ham or to enjoy an eggnog cocktail, the holidays aren’t complete without eating one or two (if not many) cookies. Sure, you can buy pre-made cookie dough from the grocery, pop it in the oven, and the result is tasty (sometimes we even skip the oven step). But with cooler temps and shorter days, spending some time in the kitchen baking fresh, warm cookies from scratch is a true pleasure.

This list of homemade cookies ranges from simple sugar cookies to more complex, multi-layered Neapolitans (sure to earn you a Paul Hollywood handshake). Gift these cookies to friends, family, and neighbors, bring them to gatherings, or enjoy them yourself as you sit by the fire. 2022 is just around the corner, so be sure to enjoy a few of these cookies before those resolutions kick in.

If you’ve got kids, nieces, and nephews, or just like decorating cookies yourself, you’ll need a solid sugar cookie recipe to start from. With 11,182 ratings (averaging 4 stars) this Sugar Cookie recipe from All Recipes is tried and true. You will need a mixer (either a stand mixer or hand mixer will work), a rolling pin, cookie cutters, and a cookie sheet. Once your cookies are baked, use the recipe below to whip up a simple icing that you can dye with food coloring before decorating. My favorite thing about this icing from Pinch and Swirl is it doesn’t include any corn syrup.

Flavors of ginger, molasses, nutmeg, cloves; there’s really nothing like it. A good gingerbread cookie warms you from the inside. A few things to note, many recipes call for softened butter. This is different from melted butter. Leave your butter out on the counter for a few hours or give it a few blasts in the microwave. You can experiment for yourself, but you will notice a different cookie texture with cold butter, softened butter, and melted butter. You’ll also want to play around with the amount of spice in this recipe. If you don’t like the taste of cloves, leave them out entirely. If you really like cinnamon, add a little more. This recipe from Delish can serve as a template in your search for your perfect gingerbread cookie.

Slightly more advanced than the previous cookies, the Linzer Star Sandwich Cookie recipe from Alex Guarnaschelli is sure to impress this year. Her recipe calls for raspberry jam, which you can make yourself or buy at the store. You’ll need a mixer, rolling pin, and a star-shaped cookie cutter to achieve the image above.

A favorite at holiday parties, and for good reason, this classic combo of chocolate and peanut butter is mouthwatering. The Peanut Butter Blossom recipe from Betty Crocker is easy to follow even for those new to baking. Enjoy!

If you truly love eggnog, and have already tried these delicious spiked eggnog recipes, consider baking with eggnog. The Eggnog Meltaway Cookie recipe from Food Network is great. You can whip up the dough easily in a food processor, they only take 25 minutes to bake, and we promise, they go quick.

If you find the multi-tiered, colorful bakes on the Great British Baking show inspiring, this Neapolitan cookie recipe is for you. The batter for this recipe uses almond paste, sort of like a jaconde sponge. You’ll whip up a big batch and then use food coloring to achieve the different colors. Raspberry jam and apricot preserve flavor this bake with a nice layer of chocolate on top.

If this roundup of holiday cookies has your creative juices flowing, check out this New York Times cookie calendar with tons of recipes to keep you baking all winter long.

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