Skip to Content

55 Thanksgiving Cookies That Deserve A Spot On Your Holiday Dessert Table

Thanksgiving doesn't have to just be about pie!

By
triangular spiced shortbread cookies coated in orange icing, beige frosting, and a vanilla meringue cookie
PHOTO: JULIA GARTLAND; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE

It's basically a give-in that pie often gets all the love during the holidays, but we're here to make the case for cookies being the star of your Thanksgiving dessert table this year. Yes, cookies! Think about it: Cookies are particularly perfect for bringing along to holiday potlucks or Friendsgivings, for gifting to those you're extra grateful for this year, and as sweet treats before or after the big dinner. So go ahead and take a break from pie dough this season and make one (or more!) of our 55 favorite Thanksgiving cookie recipes instead.

Don’t get us wrong—we do LOVE Thanksgiving pies, like sweet potato, pecan, or pumpkin. What we don’t always love (or have time for) is finicky pie crusts and long baking and cooling times. If you’re the same, make some of our cookies inspired by those classic flavors, like our pumpkin pie cookies, our pecan pie thumbprint cookies, or our apple cutie pies. You never know, some of them might just push their pie counterparts off your fall baking list for good.

Alternatively, if you’re here because you really don’t love classic Thanksgiving flavors, we’ve got cookie recipes for you too. Some are still inspired by the flavors and colors of fall, like our apple cookies, our sweet potato cookies, our pumpkin pie sugar cookies, or our tie-dye glazed maple leaf cookies. Others are just holiday classics that deserve to be on any variety of dessert table all season long. Check out our chocolate no-bake oatmeal cookies, our thumbprint cookies, or our brownie cookies if you’re more of a novice baker, or our kolaczki cream cheese cookies, our copycat chessmen cookies, or our creme brûlée sugar cookies if you’ve got more baking prowess. Whichever you go with, we bet you’ll be sharing the recipe with anyone who tries them before the Thanksgiving season is over.

Want more Thanksgiving sweets ideas? Try our top Thanksgiving cakes, pies, and cocktails too.

1

Glazed Maple Leaf Cookies

glazed maple leaf cookies topped with pecans
PHOTO: JULIA GARTLAND; FOOD STYLING: ADRIENNE ANDERSON

Forget PSL season, let’s make “maple syrup fall” happen! In this maple-inspired recipe, we spiced up our cut-out sugar cookies with cinnamon, maple syrup, and walnuts to make an aromatic and nutty-flavored cookie dough that will make you feel like you're taking a brisk fall hike among maple trees.

Get the Glazed Maple Leaf Cookies recipe.

2

Pumpkin Cookies

pumpkin cookies topped with cinnamon sugar
PHOTO: BRYAN GARDNER; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE

We bake a lot of cookies, so when one surprises us with how good it is, it’s exciting. These cookies are soft and chewy with just a subtle warm spice to them. They aren’t cakey like a lot of pumpkin desserts tend to be thanks to a simple way of getting rid of the excess moisture from the pumpkin. These cookies get rolled in cinnamon-sugar to complete them, but honestly are just as good without it.

Get the Pumpkin Cookies recipe.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
3

Nutter Butter Cookie Bars

nutter butter cookie bars topped with nutter butter cookies and peanut butter chips
PHOTO: BRYAN GARDNER; FOOD STYLING: ADRIENNE ANDERSON

In this Oreo-obsessed world, Nutter Butters are often overlooked, but now these Nutter Butter bars are bringing them front and center. Loaded with chunky peanut butter, peanut butter chips, and crushed Nutter Butter cookies, these simple cookie bars will bring out the child in all of us.

Get the Nutter Butter Cookie Bars recipe.

4

Cherry Bakewell Cookies

cherry bakewell cookies
PHOTO: ANDREW BUI; FOOD STYLING: DREW AICHELE

These cookies have a light yet chewy almond-flavored base and are stuffed with tart cherry jam to mimic the flavor combination in a Bakewell tart. Decorated with sliced almonds and icing, these are the epitome of style AND substance.

Get the Cherry Bakewell Cookies recipe.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
5

Pumpkin Pie Sugar Cookies

triangular spiced shortbread cookies coated in orange icing, beige frosting, and a vanilla meringue cookie
PHOTO: JULIA GARTLAND; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE

Want to really impress, but don't want to make a pie? This festively decorated dessert resembles a pumpkin pie, but is actually made from shortbread cookies, which have a buttery and slightly crumbly texture. It more closely mimics a real pie crust while still retaining enough structure to be picked up and eaten with your hands (and a bonus: it’s a lot easier to make than pie dough). We season the shortbread with pumpkin pie spice to impart some of the same warm flavors we love during the holiday season.

Get the Pumpkin Pie Sugar Cookies recipe.

6

Pumpkin S'mores Cookies

cookies with pumpkin topped with toasted marshmallows
PHOTO: JULIA GARTLAND; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE

The aromatics in pumpkin spice remind us of cinnamon graham crackers, and graham crackers make us think of s’mores... OH MY GOURD: could a s’more be pumpkin-spiced? If you combine a tender pumpkin cookie and all of the classic s’mores ingredients, the answer is definitely yes.

Get the Pumpkin S'mores Cookies recipe.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
7

Apple Crisp Cookie Cups

apple crisp cookie cups
PHOTO: ERIK BERNSTEIN; FOOD STYLING: MARIANA VELASQUEZ

A buttery, oatmeal cookie cup with apple pie filling on top?! Let's just say, these two-bite fall treats are going to go fast.

Get the Apple Crisp Cookie Cups recipe.

8

Chocolate Crumb Cake Crumbl Cookie Copycat

crumbl sugar cookie copycat topped with chocolate icing and chocolate pieces
PHOTO: BRYAN GARDNER; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE

Imagine biting into a warm, soft cookie that perfectly balances rich chocolate and the subtle warmth of cinnamon that a crumb cake is known for. This isn’t just any cookie—it’s a decadent experience, capturing the essence of Crumbl’s famous chocolate crumb cake cookie.The base of this cookie is a soft, melt-in-your-mouth dough with a hint of chocolate, infused with a cinnamon swirl to enhance the depth of the chocolate flavor. As it bakes, the cookie develops a slightly crisp edge while staying tender and fudgy in the center, offering the perfect texture with every bite.

Get the Chocolate Crumb Cake Crumbl Cookie Copycat recipe.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
9

Kolaczki Cream Cheese Cookies

kolaczki cookies with jam and powdered sugar
PHOTO: RACHEL VANNI; FOOD STYLING: DUNCAN FITZPATRICK

Kolaczki cookies are Polish in origin, often made and eaten during the holidays. Some recipes use canned pie filling, though we opted for jam in this version—use your favorite flavor, just make sure to dilute it with cornstarch and water so it doesn't turn into hard candy during the bake.

Get the Kolaczki Cream Cheese Cookies recipe.

10

Tiramisu Cookie Cups

tiramisu cookie cups
Photographer: Erik Bernstein, Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne

Tiramisu is one of our favorite desserts, but the process of making it the traditional way requires a lot of work. This version takes out all the extra work without sacrificing flavor. Another perk: These cup-shaped cookies make it even easier to share and eat.

Get the Tiramisu Cookie Cups recipe.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
11

Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies

pistachio chocolate chip cookies
PHOTO: JOEL GOLDBERG; FOOD STYLING: HADLEY SUI

Think of your favorite chocolate chip cookie… Are they Toll House, or Mrs. Fields? Are they chewy? COVERED in giant chocolate chips?Whatever your favorite, we’re here to tell you, they can ALL be improved by the addition of one simple ingredient—ground pistachios. Pistachios add a slightly sweet, almost buttery nutty flavor that will make your cookies feel a little bit elevated, but still just as classic and comforting.

Get the Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe.

12

Apple Cider Cookies

apple cider cookies rolled in cinnamon sugar
PHOTO: ANDREW BUI; FOOD STYLING: ADRIENNE ANDERSON

Apple cider donuts are one of our absolute favorite things about fall. While making donuts is quite fun, they’re time consuming, and not to mention the mess of frying with oil or needing a donut pan to bake them. These cookies are the perfect substitution.

Get the Apple Cider Cookies recipe.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
13

Chocolate Pie Cookies

chocolate pie cookies topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings
PHOTO: JULIA GARTLAND; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE

If you love the richness and the comfort of homemade French silk pie, then these chocolate pie cookies are just what you need. Inspired by the classic, but with the ease and convenience of a cookie, this recipe offers a unique twist on beloved flavors.

Get the Chocolate Pie Cookies recipe.

14

Sweet Potato Cookies

sweet potato cookies
Parker Feierbach

Forget sweet potato casserole. Forget pumpkin spice lattes. Sweet potato cookies are our new fall staple. Once you taste the maple glaze, you'll understand why.

Get the Sweet Potato Cookies recipe.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
15

Brown Butter Snickerdoodle Cookies

brown butter snickerdoodle cookies
PHOTO: LUCY SCHAEFFER; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE

Snickerdoodles are only made better by nutty, brown butter. These are chewy with pillowy soft centers and that classic snickerdoodle tang. As they cool, they settle into cracked and wrinkly cookies, which, in our opinion, are the very best kind.

Get the Brown Butter Snickerdoodle Cookies recipe.

16

Cinnamon Bun Cookies

christina tosi's cinnamon bun cookies
PHOTO: ERIK BERNSTEIN; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE

Chef Christina Tosi runs on cookies. Her other go-to special-occasion baked good? A fresh, warm cinnamon bun. The buttery cinnamon swirl, the gooey cream cheese frosting—she knew she had to dream it into this wildly good cookie recipe.

Get the Cinnamon Bun Cookies recipe.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
17

Amaretti Cookies

amaretti cookies dusted with powdered sugar
PHOTO: RACHEL VANNI; FOOD STYLING: DUNCAN FITZPATRICK

If you like French macarons, you'll love this take on Italian amaretti cookies. Soft, pillowy, moist, sweet, and lightly scented with amaretto liqueur as well as citrus zests, these are in our top 10 for holiday cookies.

Get the Amaretti Cookies recipe.

18

Icebox Cookies

icebox cookies
Emily Hlavac Green

Keeping a log of cookie dough in your fridge or freezer is the true genius move, particularly around Thanksgiving. It lets you have dessert ready in just a moment's notice for those last-minute guests or the ability to bake off only a cookie or two for yourself. This recipe is the perfect base for mix-ins, and we've included some of our tried and true favorites too.

Get the Icebox Cookies recipe.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
19

Pecan Sandies

pecan sandies
PHOTO: ERIK BERNSTEIN; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE

Pecan sandies are a store-bought cookie classic, and while we’d never turn up our noses at our old nostalgic favorites, our homemade version is pretty tasty (and possibly even better!). Featuring thick, buttery shortbread studded with toasted pecans and rimmed with decorative sparkling sugar for a little extra crunch, it takes that grocery story favorite to the next level.

Get the Pecan Sandies recipe.

20

Chocolate Hazelnut Thumbprint Cookies

chocolate hazelnut thumbprint cookies
Andrew bui

You’ll fall in love with hazelnut flour once you realize how nutty it makes these gianduia-inspired cookies. Melted chocolate adds extra cocoa punch to the dough, while rich and creamy Nutella tops them off.

Get the Chocolate Hazelnut Thumbprint Cookies recipe.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below