Old Fashioned Christmas Cookie Recipes

This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy here.

Wanting to add a little old-fashioned flavor to your Christmas this year? These Old Fashioned Christmas Cookies are so much fun to make and delicious to enjoy!

Wanting to add a little old fashioned flavor to your Christmas this year? These Old Fashioned Christmas Cookie recipes are so much fun to make and delicious to enjoy! #christmascookies #oldfashioned

Old Fashioned Christmas Cookie Recipes

This is such a fun time of year! All of the beautiful, colorful, fun decor and best of all…the treats!

On the first Christmas we spent in the old farmhouse we lived in, we wanted to have a fun old-fashioned Christmas. To make it authentic, I pulled some of the old cookbooks and recipe cards off of their special shelf in my kitchen and looked for some old-fashioned Christmas Cookie recipes and other holiday recipes to make in addition to our favorites!

Many of these cookies and treats will make a fun gift or a great item to add to a cookie exchange as well if you are looking for something a little bit different but very comforting and familiar.

Here are some of the recipes I made that you may want to try as well. Have fun!

Old Fashioned Filled Drop Cookies

The classic recipe that I found for Filled Drop Cookies used a homemade raisin filling which I’ve included in the recipe here. You could also use pureed dates, jams, jellies, or any other sweet treat!

We love this recipe because it makes a nice soft cookie, very similar to what my grandma made when I was growing up. Watch your oven to make sure you don’t over-bake these.

I also love that you can change up the filling and that even cookies from the same batch can have many flavors of filling if you want to be creative! You could also add nuts into the batter of this recipe for a little bit different texture.

My mother made these cookies 60 years ago. She called them thumbprint cookies. Rolled the dough balls in finely chopped walnuts before making indentation. Baked them and dropped in tiny spoonfuls of raspberry seedless jam. They are also good with homemade lemon curd in the indentation. Thank you.

Eileen, Little House Living reader
Recipe Binder Post Promo

Need to print this to add to your Recipe Binder? Get the Old Fashioned Drop Cookies Recipe below:

Christmas Cookies
5 from 1 vote
Print

Old Fashioned Filled Drop Cookies Recipe

Make these family favorite cookies and fill with your favorite jams.

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Filled Drop Cookies
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 24 cookies
Calories 245 kcal
Creator Merissa

Ingredients

Cookies:

  • 2 cups Brown Sugar
  • 1 cup Butter/Shortening/Lard
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1/2 cup warm Water
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose Flour

Raisin Filling

  • 1 cup Raisins
  • 1/2 cup Sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons all-purpose Flour
  • 1 cup Water

Instructions

Cookies:

  1. In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients and stir until well blended.
  2. Use a cookie scoop or a large spoon to drop cookies onto a greased cookie sheet.
  3. Place your finger in the cookie to make an indent in the middle for your filling. Fill with your favorite sweet treat or use the filling recipe below.

Raisin Filling

  1. Mix together all ingredients on the stovetop, stirring and mashing frequently.
  2. Once the sugar has melted into the mixture and you are happy with the consistency, place a small amount into the middle of the cookies.
  3. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.

Recipe Notes

Replace the raisin filling with a jam of your choice.

Nutrition Facts
Old Fashioned Filled Drop Cookies Recipe
Amount Per Serving
Calories 245 Calories from Fat 72
% Daily Value*
Fat 8g12%
Saturated Fat 5g31%
Trans Fat 0.3g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.4g
Monounsaturated Fat 2g
Cholesterol 34mg11%
Sodium 239mg10%
Potassium 102mg3%
Carbohydrates 41g14%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 22g24%
Protein 3g6%
Vitamin A 257IU5%
Vitamin C 0.3mg0%
Calcium 25mg3%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Gingerbread Men Old Fashioned Cookies

Gingerbread Men

What would Christmas be without some yummy Gingerbread Men cookies? Or maybe your homemade Gingerbread House needs a family to live in it? This makes a BIG recipe, so you may want to cut it in half.

These could also be “gingerbread snowmen” if you have a snowman cookie cutter. Just put white frosting on top and let the kids decorate! You could also sprinkle on some shredded coconut for more of a snow effect.

You could also freeze some of these cookies for later. Just put them in a sturdy air-tight container in the freezer (where they can’t get crushed) and store them until you need them. This makes them a great cookie to make for the holidays since you can enjoy some now and have some to pull out for cookie exchanges later.

Recipe Binder Post Promo

Print this Gingerbread Men Recipe to add to your Recipe Binder below:

Gingerbread Men Old Fashioned Cookies
5 from 1 vote
Print

Gingerbread Men Recipe

These old fashioned Gingerbread men are a must-make every year!

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Gingerbread Men Cookies
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 30 cookies
Calories 219 kcal
Creator Merissa

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups Sugar
  • 1 cup Lard/Butter
  • 1 cup Molasses
  • 1 cup cold Water
  • 1 Egg
  • 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground Cloves or Ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon Allspice
  • 1/2 teaspoon Cocoa powder
  • 6 cups all-purpose Flour

Instructions

  1. In a bowl, cream the butter/lard and sugar. Add in the egg and molasses. Then mix in the flour, spices, and the rest of the ingredients. Mix well.
  2. Create a batter that is not too sticky (if it is, add more flour), flour the countertop, and roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness.
  3. Cut shapes with cookie cutters and place cookies on a greased cookie sheet.
  4. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.

Recipe Notes

The amount of cookies made will be based on the size of your cookie cutter.

Nutrition Facts
Gingerbread Men Recipe
Amount Per Serving
Calories 219 Calories from Fat 63
% Daily Value*
Fat 7g11%
Saturated Fat 4g25%
Trans Fat 0.2g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.4g
Monounsaturated Fat 2g
Cholesterol 22mg7%
Sodium 129mg6%
Potassium 196mg6%
Carbohydrates 38g13%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 18g20%
Protein 3g6%
Vitamin A 198IU4%
Vitamin C 0.02mg0%
Calcium 30mg3%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
candied orange peel

Candied Orange Peel

While not a “cookie” recipe, these candies are still a very yummy old-fashioned holiday treat to make for the holiday season, so I felt like it should be included here! I would make sure to use organic or no-spray oranges for this recipe since you will be eating the peels.

You can make chocolate-covered candied orange peels by dipping the peels in melted chocolate chips after boiling them in sugar syrup. You can skip the extra sugar coating if you wish to coat them with chocolate.

Recipe Binder Post Promo

Need to print this to add to your Recipe Binder? Get the Candied Orange Peel recipe below:

candied orange peel
5 from 1 vote
Print

Candied Orange Peel Recipe

How to make old fashioned candied orange peels.

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Candied Orange Peel
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 8 servings
Calories 127 kcal
Creator Merissa

Ingredients

  • 4 Oranges
  • 1/2 cup Water plus more for cooking
  • 1 cup Sugar plus more for coating
  • Chocolate Chips optional

Instructions

  1. Remove the peel from the oranges. Place in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boiling point, drain, and repeat the cooking process until the peels are soft and tender. Remove from the water and remove the white portion of the peels. Cut into thin strips.
  2. Boil the water and sugar together in another saucepan until you make a syrup. Cook the strips of orange peel in the sugar syrup for 5 minutes. Drain and coat with additional sugar.
  3. You can make chocolate covered Candied Orange Peels by dipping the peels in melted chocolate chips after boiling in the sugar syrup. You can skip the extra sugar coating if you wish to coat them with chocolate.
Nutrition Facts
Candied Orange Peel Recipe
Amount Per Serving
Calories 127 Calories from Fat 2
% Daily Value*
Fat 0.2g0%
Saturated Fat 0.01g0%
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.02g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.01g
Sodium 1mg0%
Potassium 119mg3%
Carbohydrates 33g11%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 31g34%
Protein 1g2%
Vitamin A 147IU3%
Vitamin C 35mg42%
Calcium 27mg3%
Iron 0.1mg1%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Old Fashioned Christmas Cookie Recipes

Hopefully, these recipes have given you a bit of fun inspiration for other treats and holiday cookies you may want to make! If you are looking for more delicious treats, you might also want to try these Chocolate Covered Cookie Dough Balls, Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies, or maybe even these Easy Homemade Caramels!

Cookies

More Holiday Cookie Recipes

What are the Best Christmas Cookies do you make during the holidays?

Me and Kady

Merissa Alink

Merissa has been blogging about and living the simple and frugal life on Little House Living since 2009 and has internationally published 2 books on the topic. You can read about Merissa’s journey from penniless to freedom on the About Page. You can send her a message any time from the Contact Page.

This post with Old Fashioned Christmas Cookies recipes was originally posted on Little House Living in December 2014. It has been updated as of December 2023.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Support Little House Living by Sharing This

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




14 Comments

  1. I’ve been looking for a gluten free gingerbread man/house recipe for my 5 yr old daughter who is celiac. Could I replace the flour with gluten free flour and still have the same results? Thank you for sharing.

    1. Hi Sandra,

      Gluten-free flour and baking is a bit trickier. It tends to come out drier and tough. This recipe would work, but if you haven’t been doing this for long I would suggest either a real Gluten-free recipe or if you do want to tackle this one, use a good quality Gluten-free flour. Loosely spoon the flour into the measuring cup, being careful not to pack it down, and then just scrape the excess off with a knife across the top of you measuring cup before mixing into the recipe. Also add all the other main ingredients together first and then add the flour, 1 cup at a time until just incorporated before adding the next. You may find 6 cup to make it too dry. Also do not over mix as that will make it super tough as well. I know it is a lot. I’ve had to learn that over the last 12 years of being gluten-free. Alot of trial and error lol. But good luck and Happy Holidays to you and your family!

  2. Merissa, the Old Fashioned Christmas Cookie Recipes are wonderful, and your photography, as always, is beautiful. I want to try the Filled Drop Cookies with dates! My grandmother made date candy years and years ago, and I have loved dates ever since. I’m thrilled that you included the Candied Orange Peel recipe- glad to have it! Thank you for sharing all of this with us at Treasure Box Tuesday. I have pinned to our party board, and have pinned the lovely photo of the recipe cards to my “Beautiful Images” board. 🙂

  3. Nice! But I bought my gingerbread cookies for .99 cents and it filled two cookie plates. It would cost me more to bake from scratch then it would just to buy them and there is no guarantee they would come out good either!

    1. Hi LAC, Everyone has different feelings about what the best “product” is. It sounds like you are a very careful shopper and I bet you have cool success stories. Another point of view is that making things with ingredients you’re sure of, with your own hands (and perhaps hands of little ones helping) and having the experience of your kitchen/house smelling so nice and the memories, these outweigh any advantages of store-bought. I think that we all weigh our options and I believe that we all make the best decisions with what we have at the time. Two plates of cookies for .99 sounds like a heck of a deal!

    2. You’re missing the point! Of course it’s cheaper and easy to buy machine made cookies from the store. But then you miss out on the experience and memory of spending time with loved ones doing something interesting together during the holidays.

  4. A Great collection of cookie recipes! Hope you have a great week and thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday.
    Miz Helen

  5. To this day, I use my mom’s peanut butter cookie recipe, which came from HER 8th grade home ec. teacher! We’re also big fans of the family sugar cookie recipe, which has been handed down through 5 generations now. I have started to substitute vegan-friendly ingredients instead of milk and butter, and the results are superb! In fact, my non-vegan family members can’t tell the difference!!

  6. We called the white frosted ones “snowmen”, and the ones with raisin or current eyes and buttons were “gingerbread men.” Thanks for helping to keep old family recipes alive! YUM!!

  7. 5 stars
    My mother made these cookies 60 years ago. She called them thumbprint cookies. Rolled the dough balls in finely chopped walnuts before making indentation. Baked them and dropped in tiny spoonfuls of raspberry seedless jam. They are also good with homemade lemon curd in the indentation. Thank you.

  8. My cookie baking is done, goodie packages have been mailed (and arrived) but I’m keeping the Orange Peel recipe to try later!

    Wonderful recipes!

    Sorry, but the spirit just isn’t in store-purchased cookies–especially at this time of year. So many happy memories baking cookies with my mother and my children, neighborhood kids, and now looking forward to the day when my youngest great-granddaughter can join the list of cookie bakers.