The Sweetness of Holiday Cookies

From festive cookies at beloved L.A. bakeries to a rich Chocolate Linzer recipe you can make with your family, these sweet treats bring extra joy to the holiday season.

When it comes to desserts, my fellow foodies salivate over the smooth flavors in a lavender crème brûlée or the richness of Bananas Foster. And then there’s me: Give me a cookie, and all is right with the world.

Each bite awakens my inner kid who loved all things cookies. Add holiday cookies to the mix and — oh, crumbs! — the experience takes me to the next level.

Even as adults, we gravitate toward familiar foods because they help us feel a sense of safety and comfort. So, to take your taste buds back to a simpler time and create some new memories for your family, I’ve put together a list of some of the yummiest and most festive cookies you can find in and around L.A.

For the cherry on top, there’s also a cookie recipe you and your family can bake at home to share throughout the sweetness of the season.

Gooey

Cookie Good in Santa Monica lives up to its name with its seasonal Lump of Coal Cookie. Made with black cocoa, dark chocolate chips and Oreos, visions of sugar plums need to step aside for this chocolate lover’s dream. Rolled in sparkly black sugar, you won’t be disappointed to find this particular lump of coal hidden in your stocking this year.

Lightest vegan

For those looking for gluten- or dairy-free options, Erin McKenna’s Bakery on Larchmont Boulevard in L.A.’s Hancock Park neighborhood is baking just for you. This bakery found the perfect cookie base in its Snowflake Sugar Cookie. Beautifully decorated with white frosting, you might want to pair this one with the Christmas Tree Cookie to get the most out of your holiday season.

Traditional

Local neighborhood spirit is part of why folks love Atwater Village’s Proof Bakery, founded in 2010. Its classic pepperkakor (Swedish ginger thins) will be available, along with its take on the biscotti, the classic Italian cookie.

Decorative

Claudine Artisan Kitchen and Bakeshop in Encino and Porter Ranch is famous for its Spinky’s Chocolate Chip Cookie. This is the much-lauded golden ticket of the bakery, although the S’mores Bites are also a fave. But since we’re talking holiday cookies, Claudine’s holiday sugar cookies are a bright and colorfully decorated treat. Bearing the shapes of your childhood memories — Christmas trees, candy canes and dreidel — these delectable creations are certain to put even the most humbug of Scrooges in a happier holiday mood.

Crispy and melty

If you need a little more cookie to your cookie, Lei’d Cookies in Culver City is the bakery for you. Lei’d is known for taking you around the globe in the form of a cookie. Stop by to taste its holiday special: Mochi Under the Mistletoe. This is a black sesame cookie stuffed with cranberry mochi. The house-made rice dough balances the cookie base for a lovely blend of crispiness and melt-in-your-mouth goodness.  

Holiday Recipe: Linzer Cookie

The Gourmandise School shares its Chocolate Linzer Cookie recipe with all you cookie connoisseurs. In fact, the recipe will be featured in its Parent and Child: Holiday Cookies Class on Dec. 5, 13, and 19.

This tender, rich and chocolaty cookie is the perfect addition to your holiday cookie tin. And the class is an engaging way for the whole family to learn decorating techniques. Grab your aprons and get whisked away for a fun-filled time in the kitchen!

Yield: 18-20 three-inch sandwich cookies

Cookie Dough

8 ounces unsalted butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3 ounces hazelnut flour

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons TCHO Super Powder (cocoa powder)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Chocolate Filling

3 ounces TCHO Chocolate (We love TCHO 66% Sweet & Sassy)

2 ounces butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Using a double boiler, melt chocolate and butter together for the chocolate filling. Allow the mixture to set at room temperature.
3. Cream the butter, brown sugar and powdered sugar in a stand mixer (or using a handheld mixer) until the mixture is noticeably fluffier and lighter in color. Add in the egg and salt and continue to mix together until homogenous. Add dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
4. Place the dough between two sheets of parchment paper (cut to the size of a half sheet pan) and roll out with a rolling pin. The dough will be at just the right thickness when it reaches all corners of the parchment. Chill the dough until firm.
5. Peel back the top sheet of parchment. Cut cookies out with desired cookie cutter and place all of them onto your prepared cookie sheet. Grab a smaller circle cutter and cut a hole in the center of half of the cookies. Bake all cookies for 12-15 minutes or until just set around the edges.
6. Once cooled, spoon or pipe the chocolate filling onto the centers of the cookies that don’t have holes in them (these are your bottom cookies). Place the hole-punched cookies on top and give them a little twist to seal!

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