I have a little Christmas baking problem… I always want the cookie tin to look like I’ve been very busy, but I don’t necessarily want to spend the whole day making it look that way, haha! And that’s why I started looking for cookies with ridiculously short ingredient lists. Three ingredients? Perfect!
The funny thing is that some of these really don’t look like shortcut cookies at all. There are little snowballs buried in powdered sugar, bright jam thumbprints, red velvet cookies, marbled ones… the kind of tray where everyone can reach for something different. I also love these for those random December afternoons when we feel like baking something at home but I really don’t want another grocery run. Check what you already have in the pantry first and there’s a decent chance you’re nearly ready to start.
So here are 14 easy ones I found for Christmas this year. And yes… if I can make the cookie box look full without opening twelve different bags of ingredients, I’m absolutely doing it!
1) 3-Ingredient Sugar Cookies by The Conscious Plant Kitchen
No eggs, no dairy, and somehow you still get those crisp little edges with a softer middle! The dough is just vegan butter, sugar, and flour, and the whole batch takes around 25 minutes. This is the kind of recipe I’d remember when someone suddenly decides we need cookies after dinner…
2) Cake Mix Cookies by Princess Pinky Girl
Here’s the fun part, the cake mix basically decides what cookie you’re making. Red velvet for Christmas? Absolutely. Chocolate? Also tempting. Add eggs and oil and they’re in the oven about five minutes later, then bring in sprinkles or M&M’s if you feel like making them look properly festive.
3) 3-Ingredient Snowball Cookies by Frosting & Fettuccine
Little powdered-sugar snowballs on a Christmas cookie tray just look perfect, haha. The dough is simply butter, flour, and powdered sugar, then the baked cookies get another snowy coating once they’ve cooled a bit. They’re soft and buttery inside… and yes, expect powdered sugar to end up somewhere on your shirt.
4) 3-Ingredient Thumbprint Cookies by Kirbie’s Cravings
These are not the usual buttery thumbprints. The base is coconut and sweetened condensed milk, so it stays soft and chewy, then raspberry jam goes right into that little dent in the middle. A little tip for you, finely shredded coconut works best because it actually holds together better.
5) Christmas Shortbread Cookies by Bigger Bolder Baking
This dough only takes about 10 minutes to put together and you don’t even need a mixer, which immediately gets my attention in December. Roll it out, grab the Christmas cutters, and suddenly three very ordinary ingredients look like a proper tin of holiday cookies. They’re sturdy enough for gifting too… assuming enough survive to make it into the box!!
6) Marbled Holiday Sugar Cookies by Pillsbury
The best part here is that you’re not supposed to swirl the frosting together. You dip each baked sugar cookie into the white, red, and green frosting and the marbled pattern basically makes itself as the excess drips back into the bowl. So every cookie comes out a little different… which is very convenient if your decorating skills are anything like mine, haha.
7) Vegan Red Velvet Cookies by Sonshine Kitchen
Applesauce is doing the job of the eggs in these, which I thought was a clever little shortcut. Mix it with melted vegan butter and a box of red velvet cake mix and you’ve got about 20 bright red cookies in around 20 minutes. They’re already Christmas-colored too, so probably leave them alone and let that red velvet do the work.
8) Christmas Oreos by CincyShopper
These start with regular Oreos, but the half-dip in white chocolate gives them that snowy look before the little green Christmas trees go on top. You don’t need a mixer or food processor either, just a microwave, a couple of bowls, and a piping bag. I can definitely see these disappearing while you’re still decorating the second tray…
9) Coconut Macaroons by The Southern Lady Cooks
Fair warning: these are a little sticky to make! Spraying your hands with a bit of cooking oil if you’re shaping the coconut mixture by hand, which is exactly the kind of tip I appreciate after getting condensed milk on three fingers, haha. They only bake for around 10 to 12 minutes, until those coconut edges start turning golden.
10) Italian Hazelnut Meringue Cookies by Rosanna ETC
The hazelnuts are what make these more interesting than a plain meringue. Toasting them first brings out that nutty flavor and helps cut through some of the sweetness, then they’re folded into the glossy egg-white mixture. Once the cookies have baked for 15 minutes, turn the oven off and leave them right there to cool and dry out… no impatient door-opening!
11) Nutella Cookies by Greedy Girl Gourmet
A whole jar of Nutella goes into these, which already tells you what kind of cookie we’re dealing with, haha.
Mix it with eggs and flour and you get soft chocolate-hazelnut cookies with slightly crisp edges. One thing not to do: overbake them. Around 12 minutes is enough, otherwise they lose that softer middle.
12) Pecan Praline Cookie Thins by Simple Nourished Living
These are tiny but very snackable. Egg white, coconut sugar, and chopped pecans get divided straight into a muffin tin, which is not where I expected a cookie to end up! They bake into thin little rounds with crisp edges, and the recipe only makes eight… probably a good thing if pecan pie is your weakness.
13) Almond Flour Honey Cookies by Haute & Healthy Living
I just love these! The dough is rolled between parchment, cut into stars, and baked just until the edges start turning golden. Keep an eye on them though, almond flour can go from pale to TOO golden pretty quickly.
14) Christmas Peanut Butter Cookies by Savvy Saving Couple
These are the classic little fork-marked peanut butter cookies and that crisscross isn’t just there to look cute. The cookies don’t spread much on their own, so pressing them down before baking actually matters. Eight to ten minutes in the oven and you’ve got a batch, then add white chocolate and Christmas sprinkles if you want to dress them up!
By the time the cookie tin is full, nobody really needs to know some of these started with only three ingredients, haha. That can stay between us! If you try one, tell me which one won at your house. I’m especially curious about the snowballs and those Nutella cookies… although I have a feeling the peanut butter ones might quietly disappear first. And if your family has one ridiculously easy cookie you make every single year, tell me about that too. I’m always looking for the kind of recipe that tastes like you worked much harder!
Now go hide a couple before the cookie box mysteriously empties itself…
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