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Looming bake sales and kids' birthday parties have been known to strike fear in the hearts of novice bakers everywhere. This time, don't let the next batch-baking opportunity catch you off guard. Add these easy cookie recipes to your recipe tin, and you'll be ready for whatever the year throws your way. Whether you're looking for a holiday recipe, a weeknight treat, or a party-ready cookie, these recipes will give you all the flavor and texture you're looking for with none of the fussiness of more complicated recipes. No tricky techniques here. Take a spin through some of our favorite simple cookie recipes to find the flavors and combinations that speak to you, then try your hand at a batch of cookies. Then dig in...you deserve a sweet treat after coming out of kitchen retirement.
Monster Cookies
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Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
If you need a throw-together cookie with a big flavor payoff, look no further than this recipe, which packs in additions like pretzel pieces, peanut butter chips, marshmallow bits, coconut flakes, and nuts.
Snickerdoodles
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Jen Causey; Food Stylist: Ana Kelly; Prop Stylist: Julia Bayless
Sugar cookies, wrapped in a cinnamon-sugar mixture—it's the best thing about snickerdoodles. That, and they're incredible easy to make.
Fudgy Flourless Chocolate-Pecan Cookies
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Once they try these tender cookies, no one will believe how easy they are to make, so be sure to have the recipe handy for proof. Seven ingredients and a secret in the method (whisked egg whites!) make these cookies fudgy and memorable.
Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Jen Causey; Food Stylist: Ana Kelly; Prop Stylist: Julia Bayless
Just because you're not a regular baker doesn't mean your cookies can't be extra special. These are a classic chocolate chip cookie—but with a nutty, toasty addition. The hardest part of this recipe is the long wait for the cookie dough to chill. But it's absolutely worth it—and you'll agree after your first bite.
Salted Butter-Pecan Shortbread Cookies
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ANTONIS ACHILLEOS; PROP STYLING: KAY E. CLARKE; FOOD STYLING: EMILY NABORS HALL
Anyone would be forgiven for thinking that you toiled for hours in the kitchen to make these elegant cookies. In reality, they’re easy to throw together, thanks in part to their slice-and-bake preparation.
Lemon Thumbprint Cookies
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The simple method of this cookie recipe will hook you–so will the bright lemon flavor and the melt-in-your-mouth texture of these fan-favorite sweets.
Kitchen Sink Cookies
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If you’ve heard the phrase “everything but the kitchen sink,” then you know what you’re in for with this recipe: a big dose of flavor and texture thanks to chocolate chunks, oats, chopped almonds, and crushed corn chips.
All-Time Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies
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You can’t do much better than a batch of chocolate chip cookies. They cure all ills–or most of them anyway–and they’re a breeze to whip up, whether you’re looking for an after-school pick me up or a quick weekend baking project.
Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cookies
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There are few combinations as crowd-pleasing as peanut butter and chocolate. Make a batch of these cookies, and you’ll find that the recipe is as straight-forward as the results are delicious.
Persimmon Cookies
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Alison Miksch; Food Stylist: Karen Rankin; Prop Stylist: Josh Hoggle
If you have persimmons handy–a luxury reserved only for a short time of the year– then mix up a batch of these persimmon cookies, which showcase the bright persimmon flavor we look forward to each winter.
Butter Cookies
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If you like crisp cookies, this easy recipe is for you. A classic butter cookie is a treat, and this one calls for slicing and baking, a method that's always a crowd-pleaser.
Butterscotch-Toasted Oatmeal Cookies
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Oatmeal cookies are known as one of the easiest batches to bake, and these are no exception. The trickiest part of this recipe is toasting the oats, so keep an eye on your sheet pan, after which you can just mix up all of the ingredients and bake.
Soft Ginger-Molasses Cookies
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Don’t let the long ingredients list of this recipe fool you. Once everything is measured, all you have to do is some whisking, mixing, chilling, and rolling before baking and eating.
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
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Few recipes are as easy as a crinkle cookie recipe. That’s because the ingredients list is simple and the method is too. The impressive finish can be achieved by rolling the dough balls in powdered sugar.
Molasses Crinkle Cookies
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Another simple crinkle cookie recipe, this one showcases the depth and sweetness of molasses, a winner during the winter months.
Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies
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A perennial family favorite, these Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies couldn’t be easier to make. You can get the whole family in on the prep, too. Little hands can be enlisted to help press the chocolates into the peanut-buttery dough.
Easy Sugar Cookies
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“Easy” is in the name of this recipe, which shares our simplest-ever instructions for making classic sugar cookies. They’re an ideal base for decorating, but they’re also excellent on their own.
White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
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You’re just a bit of mixing and chilling away from delectable, white chocolate-and-cranberry-studded cookies thanks to this easy recipe, which is flavorful and showy enough for the holidays.
Brownie Cookies
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Victor Protasio; Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Stylist Shell Royster
What’s better than cookies and brownies? A sweet that combines them both–and is easy to make to boot. This recipe uses a base of double chocolate brownie mix, and we can’t think of any shortcut more satisfying than that.
Easy Peanut Butter Cookies
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Hannah Zimmerman / Southern Living
Peanut butter cookies with four ingredients? Don’t mind if we do. If you have peanut butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and an egg on hand, you’re closer than you think to a batch of delicious cookies.
Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies
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You'll start with cake mix on your way to making these red velvet stunners. It’s a quick and easy recipe that has a huge payoff in terms of both flavor and hue–ideal for the holiday season and Valentine’s Day too.
Birthday Cake Cookies
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This fun recipe takes everything you love about a birthday cake and spins it into a convenient cookie form. Just add rainbow sprinkles and cake batter extract for a party-ready dessert.
Peanut Butter Cornflake Cookies
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These four-ingredient cookies incorporate peanut butter for flavor as well as three cups of cornflakes cereal, which is an easy shortcut to fantastic texture.
Laura Bush's Cowboy Cookies
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Jen Causey; Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn; Prop Stylist: Josh Hoggle
This unfussy recipe, made famous by Laura Bush, adds chocolate chips, old-fashioned rolled oats, flake coconut, and chopped pecans to a classic cookie base, leaving you with excellent results every time.
Peanut Butter-Coconut Cookies
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Who imagined that peanut butter and coconut would be such a perfect pair? This seven-ingredient recipe lets those flavors shine, and it’s also a cinch to whip up in the kitchen.
Chewy Molasses Cookies
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Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Torie Cox
Always a crowd-pleaser, these chewy molasses cookies pair sweetness with a gorgeously chewy texture to ensure everyone will come back for more.
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