47 Thanksgiving Cookie Recipes to Give Pie Some Competition
Put away that pie plate. These festive, warming Thanksgiving cookies raise the stakes for ways to use pumpkin spice and apple filling. While cookie-baking season might not kick off in earnest until December, there’s no reason to wait to bake a batch of festive cookies. In fact, we can’t imagine a better way to usher in the holiday season than with swirled rugelach, spicy ginger sandwich cookies, and shortbread dusted in sparkling sugar. Of course, we’ve got all the traditional Thanksgiving cookie ideas, like chewy molasses cookies and sugar cookies decorated like turkeys. But we’re also making room for new traditions with fish sauce-flavored shortbread and black garlic chocolate chip cookies. These Thanksgiving cookie recipes aren’t just for dessert: Biscotti and chewy oatmeal cookies can double as breakfast while watching the parade, and coffee-spiked malts provide an extra caffeine boost to power you through the long day.
Photograph by Victoria Jane, Food Styling by Mallory Lance, Prop Styling by Alexandra Massillon2/47Chewy Oatmeal Cookies
Ed Anderson4/47Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies, aka "The Nora Ephron"
The process is key to this peanut butter cookie recipe. It may take a little time, but patient bakers are rewarded with evenly baked, uniform cookies and a creamy peanut butter filling. If you’re looking for an even easier option, consider these 3-ingredient peanut butter cookies instead.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne5/47Coconut-Sugar Crinkle Cookie Sandwiches
Coconut sugar stars in these sandwich cookies, adding rich notes of caramel and molasses. We’d happily eat the cookies on their own, but you know what makes them even better? A silky white chocolate ganache filling.
Photo by Peden + Munk8/47Not-Quite-Bonnie's Rugelach
This recipe comes from renowned chef and cookbook author Yotam Olenghetti’s Canadian mother. The delicate, buttery pastries are filled with toasted walnuts and sweet-tart quince paste. The secret to uniformly shaping these fall cookies is to first slice the round of dough into quarters, then triangles.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by M. Pearl Jones11/47Grated Shortbread Bars With Rose Jam
Freezing, then grating shortbread cookie dough into a baking tray gives these jammy bars an airy, almost streusel-like crumb. Perfect for snacking on a few hours ahead of the big meal, ideally with a cup of tea.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich12/47Sesame Chocolate Rye Breakfast Cookies
Earthy rye flour, sweet dried cranberries, toasty pecans, and a seedy medley make these breakfast cookies taste like homemade granola bars.
Photo by Louise Hagger14/47Tamarind Millionaire’s Shortbread
This classic English bar cookie features the traditional layers of buttery shortbread, rich caramel, and chocolate ganache. The twist? The caramel is spiked with sweet-and-sour tamarind paste.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Katherine Sacks16/47No-Bake Butterscotch-Coconut Cookies
Want festive cookies in a flash? These butterscotch buttons set in just 10 minutes in the fridge. They don’t need to be baked, which means they don’t take up coveted oven space on Thanksgiving.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell17/47Pannelet Cookies With Sweet Potato and Coconut
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Ali Nardi18/47Triple-Ginger Cream Sandwiches
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Rhoda Boone19/473-Ingredient Hazelnut Cookies
A whipped egg white makes these hazelnut cookies crispy, yet airy. Wondering what to do with the leftover egg yolk? Here are 37 ideas.
Photo by Elizabeth Coetzee, Food Styling by Mira Evnine20/47Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Put a portable spin on pumpkin cheesecake with these pumpkin spice sandwich cookies, complete with bourbon-spiked cream cheese frosting and candied pecans.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Kat Boytsova21/47Salted-Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Using salted butter gives these chocolate chip cookies a savory edge, complementing the sweeter flavors. Mix and match add-ins if you choose, like butterscotch chips, pecans, or dried cranberries.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Ali Nardi23/47Pistachio Cardamom Butter Cookies
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Stevie Stewart25/47Stamped Calamansi-Fish Sauce Shortbread
Fish and fruit is a common pairing in the Philippines. In this shortbread cookie recipe, cookbook author Abi Balingit adds a splash of salty fish sauce to the sweet calamansi glaze.
John Kernick26/47Molasses Cookies
Chewy, spiced molasses cookies are a staple fall dessert, right up there with caramel apples. Rolling balls of cookie dough in a coarse finishing sugar, like turbinado or demerara sugar, adds crunchy contrast.
Evan Sung32/47Bacon-Fat Gingersnaps
If you’re frying bacon for Thanksgiving day breakfast, reserve the rendered fat to use in gingersnap dough. It gives the cookies an unexpected smoky flavor.
Photo by Paige Green33/47Jam Bars
To make this cookie recipe feel particularly appropriate for Thanksgiving, try swapping the jam for apple butter or pumpkin butter.
Photo by Dong Kim35/47Black Garlic Chocolate Chip Cookies
While regular garlic cloves are quite pungent, black garlic boasts a subtle sweetness, making it an unexpected counterpoint to semi-sweet chocolate in a batch of cookies. Bake these cookies, then read more about the culinary traditions of the Canadian prairie.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Anna Hampton36/47Flourless Almond Cookies With Cardamom, Orange Zest, and Pistachios
Photo by Sarah Kieffer38/47Lemon Oat Bars
With creamy, lemony filling and crumbly oat streusel, these lemon oat bars taste like your favorite sunshine-y pie, but in bar form. Make them in advance so that the filling has time to set in the refrigerator—as a bonus, it frees up valuable oven space come Thanksgiving day.
Photo by Tara Donne, Food styling by Liza Jernow39/47Gluten-Free Citrus Sugar Cookies
Winter citrus season is fast approaching. Build anticipation with these tender sugar cookies, each glazed with lemon, lime, or grapefruit icing.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne47/47Classic Sugar Cookies
A good sugar cookie recipe can be adapted to all holidays, from Halloween to Easter. For Thanksgiving cookies, decorate these with orange and red royal icing. Bonus points if you have a turkey cookie cutter.
