18 Easy Cookie Recipes You’ll Actually Want to Bake Every Week

Scooped, rolled, or cut, these cookies are perfect for enjoying any time of day.

By
Mimi Young
Mimi Young
Mimi Young
Editor
Mimi Young is an editor and pastry chef. She has also curated and written numerous recipe roundups for Serious Eats.
Learn about Serious Eats' Editorial Process
Published October 19, 2025
oatmeal raisin cookies stacked up on top of each other, and one cookie leaning on the stack. 2 glasses of milk in back and a red swirl background wall.

Serious Eats / Fred Hardy

I've been known to go big (some friends would say overboard) when I'm baking cookies for a special occasion, like the holidays. One year, I offered a 12-cookie selection made up of elaborately decorated festive cut-out, sandwiched, and dipped cookies that almost killed me (not an exaggeration). Unless I'm baking for a celebration or prepping for a bake sale, however, my everyday cookies of choice are almost always quick and easy. By "everyday," I mean you can easily whip up a batch in about 30 minutes—or better, you can prep a batch of dough to freeze and bake whenever the mood strikes. Whether you want a wonderful slice-and-bake option like a French sablé or buttery shortbread, we guarantee there's an easy cookie recipe in this collection to satisfy any cookie craving or occasion.

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  • New-Fashioned Snickerdoodles

    Stacked snickerdoodle cookies with a bite taken out of one

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    Snickerdoodles are perhaps one of the first and easiest cookies to make for newbie bakers—it certainly was for me in home economics class way back when. For her new version of an old classic, Stella favors coconut oil over the traditional shortening used in many recipes, and blends two types of cinnamon for a more complex flavor.

  • Easy One-Bowl Oatmeal Cookies

    A pair of oatmeal cranberry cookies on a plate with a bite taken out of one cookie

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    Melted butter and resting the dough a bit are the keys to these marvelously chewy oatmeal cookies with crisp edges, butterscotchy middles, and tart dried cranberries (or cherries).

  • PB&J Thumbprint Cookies

    A plate of thumbprint cookies with jam filling next to a glass of milk and one partially eaten cookie

    Serious Eats / Niedle Creative

    Occupying the space between a classic thumbprint cookie and a peanut butter blossom, these PB&J thumbprint cookies are a light, just-sweet-enough treat. Using natural peanut butter without added sugars or emulsifiers gives you more control over the flavor and texture of the cookie, and freezing the cookie dough briefly before baking keeps the dough cold, helping the cookies hold their shape while baking.

  • Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

    oatmeal raisin cookies stacked up on top of each other, and one cookie leaning on the stack. 2 glasses of milk in back and a red swirl background wall.

    Serious Eats / Fred Hardy

    These oatmeal raisin cookies are simultaneously soft and crisp, with slightly chewy edges and warm notes of cinnamon and freshly ground nutmeg. Browning the butter develops nutty and complex flavors, and blooming the spices in the hot fat of the butter intensifies their aromatic qualities.

    Continue to 5 of 18 below

  • Shortbread Cookies

    Overheav view of shortbread cookies with coffee

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

    Each bite is rich and buttery, with a tender, crumbly texture that melts in your mouth. Plus: The dough takes just five minutes to make.

  • Quick and Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies

    Bravetart's quick and easy chocolate chip cookies

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    The secret to BraveTart's (a.k.a. Stella Parks) chocolate chip cookies is to use hand-chopped bar chocolate—which has better flavor and forms larger pockets of oozy melted goodness when baked—instead of commercial chocolate chips. Another is to use American over European butter to ensure a chewy texture.

  • Butterscotch-Pecan Cookies

    A plate of cookies with visible nuts, with a glass of milk in the background

    Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine

    These salty-sweet cookies get their rich flavor and fudgy texture from brown butter, miso, and butterscotch chips. Browning butter amps up the butterscotch flavor while adding a tempering nuttiness. By cooling the brown butter to 62°F before proceeding, you can cream the butter and sugar together, yielding the light, fluffy, well-aerated mixture needed for perfectly chewy cookies.

  • Lemon Sugar Cookies

    Plate of lemon sugar cookies on a yellow textile on top of yellow and white tiles.

    Serious Eats / Robby Lozano

    Using lemon juice and zest in both the cookie dough and sprinkled over the glaze gives these slice-and-bake sugar cookies a bright citrus flavor.

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  • Brown Butter Bananarama Cookies

    Overhead view of banana cookies

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

    Unlike subpar banana cookies, these cookies have the same rich banana flavor as the very best banana bread but with a chewy, tender cookie texture that makes them perfect for dunking into a cold glass of milk.

  • Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

    overhead shot of vegan chocolate chip cookies on plates

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    This excellent vegan version of Stella's chocolate chip cookie swaps in refined coconut oil for butter and an oat slurry for eggs. A bit of dry malt extract imparts toasty notes that mimic the taste of brown butter.

  • Soft and Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies

    Soft and crunchy peanut butter cookies sprinkled with sugar

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    These soft, chewy cookies double down on peanutty flavor with both chunky peanut butter and whole roasted peanuts, which add a desirable crunch. Light brown sugar imparts butterscotch notes.

  • Vanilla Sprinkle Cookies

    Side view of vanilla rainbow sprinkle cookies on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet

    Serious Eats / Carrie Vasios

    Rolling balls of vanilla dough in rainbow sprinkles is like putting party dresses on plain cookies. These are reminiscent of the cookies you'd find at an Italian-American bakery.

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  • Chewy Brown Sugar Cookies

    Chewy brown sugar cookies on a cooling rack

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    Melted butter and light brown sugar produce a dense, chewy cookie, made all the more irresistible with a crackly brown sugar crust. It takes only about 30 minutes from start to finish.

  • Easy Mexican Wedding Cookie

    Mexican wedding cookies, one with a bite taken out

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    Whether you call them "Russian tea cakes," "snowballs," or my favorite, "butterballs," there's no denying these powdered sugar-coated, nut-studded cookies are an absolute melt-in-your-mouth delight. They belong in everyone's cookie repertoire.

  • Lemon Meltaways

    Lemon meltaway cookies dusted liberally with powdered sugar

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    A cross between lemon shortbread and cotton candy, these impossibly delicate cookies get their distinctive texture from a mix of powdered sugar and tapioca starch, which results in a richer, more buttery flavor. Feel free to substitute the lemon with lime or a combination of citrus zests.

  • No-Bake Cookies With Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Chewy Oats

    A paper-lined container of no-bake cookies

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    No one has to know that these rich, salty-sweet morsels are really just fudge masquerading as no-bake cookies. All you need is a clip-on digital thermometer to ensure that the fudgy base is cooked to the right temperature.

    Continue to 17 of 18 below

  • Brown Butter Shortbread Cookies

    20180927-brown-butter-shortbread-cookies-vicky-wasik-6

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    Malted milk powder, brown butter, and toasted sugar make these shortbread cookies as tender and meltingly rich as a French sablé, but extra toasty and caramelized.

  • French Sablé Cookies

    Sable Cookies

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

    These French slice-and-bake cookies are rich, sweet, buttery, and perfect for the holidays or any time of year.

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