2023 Christmas Cookie Trends to Try This Year

Christmas season hasn’t officially commenced until we’ve made at least one batch of cutout cookies. Many of these classic Christmas cookies make an appearance on our dessert platters every single year. 

As much as we adore tradition, we also leave a little wiggle room to try more unique desserts to keep everyone guessing, to learn new skills, to add variety to our spreads, and to test out new concepts to potentially be drafted onto the team for our regular cookie rotation. This year, we’re sweet on these 2023 Christmas cookie trends, which range from a couple no-bake desserts to creations that look as chic as something you’d order from a fancy bakery.

4 Christmas Cookie Trends to Try This Year

You don’t even need to turn on your oven for two of these Christmas cookie trends. The other two require a bit more TLC, but are still totally doable for home bakers.

So tie that apron, roll up your sleeves, and prepare to make spirits bright with one—or all!—of these unexpected and eye-catching 2023 Christmas cookie trends.

No-Bake Cereal Wreath Cookies

Through the years, we’ve dreamed up dozens of riffs on the wreath cookie theme, including a “snow”-dusted spritz cookie display that’s perfect for parties, Scalloped Wreath Gingerbread Cookies, a cloud-like Meringue Sugar Cookie Wreath, and Bell Wreath Gingerbread Cookies that cleverly call for a bell-shaped cookie cutter to make room for a bow.

On the heels of “newstalgia” being highlighted as one of the major food trends of 2024 as part of IFT Outlook 2024, we’re spotting a growing crop of nostalgic no-bake wreath cookies made from cereal and marshmallows making waves across the internet. 

In the caption for her now-viral Instagram post about Marshmallow Christmas Wreaths, recipe developer and cookbook author Kelly Senyei of Just a Taste says, “My mom, Noni, started making these treats more than 30 years ago, and now I’ve carried on the same Christmas tradition with my own kids.”

Similar to Rice Krispies Treats, recreating this Christmas cookie trend requires little more than butter, marshmallows, vanilla extract, and cereal (cornflakes are traditional, but we imagine Wheaties or Frosted Flakes would allow you to achieve a similar effect). Just add green food coloring and a few cinnamon candy “berries” and your treats are fully dressed for the season.

Related: 18 Vintage Holiday Recipes to Revive This Year 

Mug-Hugging Cookies

Mug cakes have had their moment. This holiday season, we suggest seeing to it that at least one of your 12 days of Christmas includes a cozy mug-hugging cookie.

Back in 2014, we shared our secrets for how to make Hanging Stocking Sugar Cookies, which hang on to the rim of a cup via a mini candy cane that’s “glued” onto the back of a stocking-shape cookie with royal icing. These trending adorable gingerbread people hang on using that same minty tool.

We’ve also spied Christmas cookie trends showcasing notches trimmed out of the cookie’s edge to allow it to be set directly over the rim. After using a cookie cutter to slice the shape, employ a sharp paring knife to cut a 1-inch by ¼-inch or so (adjust accordingly based on your mug rim width) from the bottom of the cookie.

Not a big fan of baking? You can score a kit online from Williams Sonoma that includes mug-hugging cookies shaped like a tree, snow globe, gingerbread house, Santa, and snowman cookies that can be personalized with the name of the recipient using royal icing. What a sweet food gift. Your secret’s safe with us that you didn’t bake them from scratch!

Healthy-ish Barks

In other low-fuss yet high-impact news, social media proved this summer that barks are back, baby. Snickers Date Bark was our mid-afternoon nosh for weeks straight, and all signs are pointing to the fact that surprisingly-healthy yet still-festive barks are going to be the 2023 Christmas cookie trend that steps in for Cracker Candy.

Sea Salt Pretzel Chocolate Butter Bark is ideal for fans of sweet-and-salty treats. For a bite-sized dessert, try Frozen Banana Snickers, which are essentially banana slices topped with dessert bark. And if crunch is what you’re craving, 5-ingredient Granola Bark is a decadent way to sneak in a little extra fiber.

Snickerdoodles 2.0

With more than 80 reviews and counting, BHG fans declare that our classic Snickerdoodle cookie recipe is a keeper.

“I have been making this recipe since I was a child—that was about 40 years ago—as soon as I was old enough to cook on my own. This recipe won me a first place ribbon in my county fair bake off,” one home baker says. “This has been a recipe that has lasted the years and will continue to be passed down through the generations.”

It seems unlikely that we can develop another cinnamon-sugar cookie variation with that loyal of a following. Over the years, we have, however, made over the concept to be even more convenient (Air-Fryer Snickerdoodles) and infused with even more flavor (Caramel-Coffee Snickerdoodles).

Your options don’t stop there, and ingenious bakers across the internet are introducing us to tweaks that we can’t wait to try. Buttered Toast Snickerdoodles are a savvy way to use up extra crusts and heels of bread, especially if your kiddo didn’t quite finish their cinnamon toast. Pillowy and soft Banana Snickerdoodles are our current favorite use for brown bananas; sorry, banana bread. And thumbprint cookies meet spice cookies in this recently-shared popular Apple Butter Snickerdoodle recipe that has followers deeming them an “instant hit,” and something “I will be making time and time again.”

We love a gift that keeps on giving.