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Favorite Holiday Cookie Recipes

Butter Cookies, Bourbon Balls, Shortbread, and More

By Diana Rattray, About.com

Here some of my favorite cookie recipes for the holidays, including a variety of delicious butter cookies, sugar cookies, the ever-popular Southern Bourbon balls, shortbread, spice cookies, filled thumbprints, and more.

1. Peanut Butter Shortbread Cookies

Peanut Butter Shortbread CookiesImage ©:2007 Diana Rattray
These cookies are easy to prepare, and they're egg-free. Drizzle melted chocolate over these shortbread cookies for the holidays. Use a food processor or electric chopper to chop the peanuts for this recipe.

2. Pecan Praline Cookies

Pecan CookiesImage ©:2007 Diana Rattray
These little cookies are packed with chopped pecans. Yummy buttery pecan cookies, made so simply with butter, brown sugar, and pecans, along with flour and vanilla.

3. Cranberry Orange Drop Cookies

Iced Cranberry-Orange CookiesImage ©:2007 Diana Rattray
These festive and delicious drop cookies are flavored with orange juice concentrate and filled with plump dried cranberries.

4. Raspberry-Filled Almond Cookies

Raspberry-Filled Almond CookiesImage ©:2007 Diana Rattray
These delightful cookies are made with a cream cheese cookie dough rolled in coarsely ground almonds, and they're filled with a dab of seedless raspberry jam. Feel free to substitute candied cherry halves for the filling in these cookies.

5. Sour Cream Cookies

Sour Cream CookiesImage ©:2007 Diana Rattray
Decorate these sour cream cut-out cookies with icing, colored sugar, or ground spices. Scroll down to see more Christmas cookie recipes.

6. Hazelnut Butter Cookies

Hazelnut Butter CookiesImage ©:2007 Diana Rattray
Delicious and easy hazelnut cookie recipe with butter, finely chopped hazelnuts, flour, powdered sugar, and vanilla.

7. Holiday Spritz Cookies

Holiday Spritz CookiesImage ©:2007 Diana Rattray
Butter cookies made with the cookie press, also known as Spritz Cookies. Spritz cookies can be challenging, but once your dough is the right consistency and you master the press, your cookies will be beautiful.

8. Snickerdoodles

An old-fashioned spice cookie made with sugar and cinnamon, shortening, vanilla, and eggs.

9. Peanut Butter Cookies

This old-fashioned favorite is made with peanut butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and other ingredients.

10. Thumbprint Cookies

Thumbprint cookies with brown sugar, rolled in chopped pecans and filled with jam or preserves.

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