Food & Cooking Recipes Dessert & Treats Recipes Cookie Recipes 22 Types of Cookies You'll Want to Bake From chocolate chip and sugar cookies to biscotti, there are so many delicious options to try. By Riley Wofford Riley Wofford Riley is an associate food editor for Martha Stewart Living. Editorial Guidelines Updated on May 20, 2024 Close Photo: Yossy Arefi In the wonderful world of cookies, everyone has their favorites. Nothing is more nostalgic than a warm, freshly baked chocolate chip treat—but some of us have a soft spot for chewy mounds of oatmeal dough bursting with sweet raisins, while others live and die by the crumbly texture of a buttery shortbread. Whichever type of cookie you gravitate towards, it's important to master a few of the basics so you're prepared for whenever a particular occasion (or craving) calls for dessert. While there are endless recipes out there, we're sharing 22 types of cookies that everyone should learn how to make—or at least experiment with once or twice! Some are as simple as plopping dough onto a baking sheet, while others, like macarons, require some time, patience, and practice. Keep these recipes handy for when you need a last-minute sweet or just want to whip up a batch of cookies for fun. 20 Easy Cookie Recipes Anyone Can Make 01 of 21 Chocolate Chip Cookies Bryan Gardner We could wax poetic about chocolate chip cookies all day long—and we know you could, too. Our favorite iteration is this Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe, thanks to a high ratio of brown to white sugar. They're so buttery and studded with the perfect amount of semisweet chocolate chips. View Recipe Other Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes to Try: Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies Crisp and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies Alexis's Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies Five-Ingredient Chocolate Chip Cookies Martha's Chocolate Chip Cookies 02 of 21 Sugar Cookies Carson Downing Buttery and sweet sugar cookies are perfect as is, but you can also add some flair to our Basic Sugar Cookies. Try sprinkling the top of the dough with sprinkles or sanding sugar before baking—or decorate fun shapes with royal icing. View Recipe Other Sugar Cookie Recipes to Try: Perfect Sugar Cookies Ideal Sugar Cookies Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies How to Freeze Cookies and Cookie Dough the Right Way 03 of 21 Oatmeal Cookies Oatmeal cookies are such a classic. We know some people aren't fans, but we sure are. Take our Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, for instance: We love it when juicy raisins burst in your mouth and complement the nutty flavor of the oats. Add chocolate chips to the mix for the cocoa lovers in your life. View Recipe Other Oatmeal Cookie Recipes to Try: Maple-Walnut Oatmeal Cookies Oatmeal Toffee Cookies Iced Oatmeal-Applesauce Cookies Gluten-Free Oatmeal Cookies 04 of 21 Drop Cookies Drop cookies are very versatile—they can be made with chocolate, peanut butter, or even fresh fruit. They're as simple as a cookie gets, but versions like these Giant Sugar Cookies don't skimp on crowd-pleasing potential. Just drop the cookie dough into mounds on baking sheets and slide them into the oven. View Recipe Other Drop Cookie Recipes to Try: Peanut-Butter-Oat Drop Cookies With Jam Lemon Ginger Drop Cookies Molasses Drop Cookies 05 of 21 Peanut Butter Cookies Grant Webster Only six ingredients are needed to make these Easy Peanut Butter Cookies, another cookie classic. They're soft and chewy and have the beloved crosshatch pattern. Try swapping in crunchy peanut butter or adding chocolate chunks. They are also perfect for sandwiching with chocolate ice cream. View Recipe 06 of 21 Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies Bryan Gardner They're a Christmas party classic, but we love to eat peanut butter blossoom cookies year-round. Our recipe makes a basic peanut butter cookie; each one gets topped with a chocolate kiss candy while it's still slightly warm. There's a bit of peanut butter and chocolate in every bite. View Recipe 07 of 21 Snickerdoodles Soft, buttery, and a fun name to boot! Snickerdoodles take sugar cookies one step further by coating the dough generously in cinnamon sugar. View Recipe Other Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipes to Try: Pumpkin Snickerdoodles Snickerdoodle Crumb Bars 08 of 21 Shortbread Shortbread should be a buttery, melt-in-the-mouth cookie—and we think our Classic Shortbread recipe is pretty perfect. The dough is crumbly and melts in your mouth. Chilling the dough is the important step that keeps the cookie from spreading too much. View Recipe Other Shortbread Recipes to Try: Oat and Spelt Shortbread Mocha Shortbread Walnut Shortbread Espresso Shortbread Cookies 09 of 21 Kitchen Sink Cookies Mike Krautter These Texas-sized treats are filled with all kinds of things, including rolled oats and dried fruit. Our Giant Cowboy Cookies are a riff on Kitchen Sink Cookies and have nuts, chocolate, and coconut. Sandwich them with toasted jumbo marshmallows to instantly upgrade s'mores. View Recipe 10 of 21 Crackle Cookies No, they're not just for the holidays. Crackle cookies, sometimes called crinkle cookies, are named for the cracks that appear on the surface—like the ones seen on our Chocolate Crackle Cookies—as they bake and spread. They are rolled in powdered sugar before baking to give them their snow-dusted appearance. View Recipe Other Crackle Cookie Recipes to Try: Chocolate-Mint Crackles Lemony Brown-Butter Crinkle Cookies Gingerbread-Espresso Crinkle Cookies 11 of 21 Skillet Cookies Lennart Weibull Giant skillet cookies give you the best of both worlds. The center is soft, while the edges are nice and chewy. Slice one, like our Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie, into wedges or top the skillet with a few scoops of ice cream and let everyone dig in. View Recipe Other Skillet Cookie Recipes to Try: Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie Chocolate-Chip Oat-Coconut Skillet Cookie 12 of 21 Thumbprint Cookies Joseph De Leo Thumbprint cookies are a type of drop cookie; you use your thumb (or the handle end of a wooden spoon) to make an indentation in the center of each circle. Our classic Thumbprint Cookies are two-to-three-biters and can be filled with fruit jams, chocolate, or caramel. View Recipe Other Thumbprint Cookie Recipes to Try: Carrot-Cake Thumbprint Cookies Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprints Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies Coconut Thumbprint Cookies with Salted Caramel Lamington Thumbprint Cookies Pink-Lemonade Thumbprints 13 of 21 Linzer Cookies James Merrell These crumbly nutty sandwich cookies have circles or different shapes cut out to reveal their jammy filling (use your favorite small cutters for the center). The dough for these Marmalade Linzer Cookies is made with pecans, other recipes use hazelnuts, and you can use whatever jams or preserves you like for the filling—but do try this citrusy marmalade version. View Recipe 14 of 21 Biscotti The word biscotti is derived from Latin for "twice-baked." These cookies are baked partially in a flat loaf form, then sliced and baked again to create a light, airy, and crunchy texture. They are traditionally made with almonds (like the Almond Biscotti here), but feel free to play around with other nuts and fruits to mix in. View Recipe Other Biscotti Recipes to Try: Chocolate-Hazelnut Biscotti Cranberry-Pistachio Biscotti Seeded Graham Biscotti 15 of 21 Madeleines Tara Donne A classic French confection, madeleines have a very cake-like texture. Our recipe is flavored with sugar and honey (and includes eight different flavor variations). These treats are best served warm, dusted lightly with powdered sugar. View Recipe 16 of 21 Black and White Cookies Yossy Arefi You'll find these big cookies in almost every deli or bodega in New York City. The cookie itself is soft and cakey. Half of each cookie gets coated in a thick layer of vanilla icing, while the other half gets the chocolate treatment. View Recipe 17 of 21 Gingerbread Cookies Alpha Smoot These are a must-have during the holidays, but their sweet yet subtle molasses and ginger flavor are delicious throughout the colder months of the year. Roll our Basic Gingerbread Cookies thin—then bake and enjoy them with or without royal icing decorations. View Recipe Other Gingerbread Cookie Recipes to Try: Honey-Spice Gingerbread Cookies Russian Gingerbread Cookies (Pryaniki) Crisp Gingerbread Cookies Gingerbread Trees With Lemon Icing Pumpkin-Gingerbread Ice Cream Sandwiches 18 of 21 No-Bake Cookies Bryan Gardner No-bake cookies, like these Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies, are a wonderful thing—they're desserts that don't require oven time. These cookies will set in the refrigerator instead of baking. View Recipe 19 of 21 Stroopwafels Mike Krautter Once you get the technique down, there's nothing easier than sandwiching a spoonful of caramel between two crisp, paper-thin waffle cookies for Stroopwafels. The cookies soften a little as they sit and are perfect for dipping into a cup of coffee. View Recipe 20 of 21 Macarons Linda Pugliese Our foolproof recipe takes the guesswork out of the classic French cookie. These Basic French Macarons are a stellar example of this light-as-air almond meringue treat that is made with just five ingredients and can be sandwiched with jam, dulce de leche, or buttercream frosting. View Recipe 21 of 21 Macaroons Johnny Miller Not to be confused with French macarons, macaroons are flourless coconut cookies and a classic Passover treat. Egg whites bind the cookie dough together before baking. We love a classic chocolate drizzle, as seen on these Coconut-Chocolate Macaroons, but they can also be studded with dried fruit or used to make jammy sandwich cookies. View Recipe Updated by Victoria Spencer Victoria Spencer Victoria Spencer is an experienced food editor, writer, and recipe developer. She manages the Martha Stewart recipe archive and is always curious about new ingredients and the best techniques. She has been working in food media for over 20 years. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit