The holiday season is a time full of joy and excitement for festive music and parties. However, these parties can also bring lots of stress, as they come with the daunting task of bringing the perfect foods. You desperately want to impress everyone at the party, but for some reason your bland sugar cookies just aren’t cutting it this year. It’s time to take your holiday baking game to the next level.

The first problem many people face when deciding what to make is their lack of originality. It’s always the same three recipes of peppermint cookies that taste like toothpaste, sugar cookies with no flavor and the oatmeal raisin cookies that only your great aunt likes. Sometimes, when people are really feeling adventurous, they’ll try to make some type of cookie they saw on TikTok that looked amazing online but in real life fell flat.

Instead of those overused recipes, here are some fresh new ones that will be sure to shake up your next holiday party.

​​Pumpkin Cheesecake Snickerdoodles
These cookies are a combination of moist, flavorful pumpkin and the perfect sweet-but-not-too-sweet cheesecake filling. The recipe is relatively easy to make with little chilling and baking time. The only drawback is that making the cheesecake balls can prove to be slightly messy to make.

Difficulty: 5/10
Taste: 9/10
How Cool They Will Look at a Party: 8/10

Rosemary Ginger Cookies (recipe at end of article)
An old family recipe, these cookies make an appearance at my family’s holiday parties every year. I may be biased, but these cookies truly feel like a Christmas staple. The bright taste of rosemary and ginger pair beautifully to create the ultimate Christmas flavor, which is elevated by the soft, buttery texture of the dough. These are a solid bake for any type of holiday party, if lacking a bit of the wow factor.

Difficulty: 7/10
Taste: 10/10
How Cool They Will Look at a Party: 5/10

Coconut Chocolate Chip Macaroon Cookies (recipe at end of article)
If you are someone who procrastinates around the holidays, this cookie is for you. Despite the long name, these cookies take less than two minutes to put together and will be out of the oven in around ten minutes. However, you should beware that these cookies might be all gone in less time than it took to bake them. Something about the gooeyness of the chocolate chips combined with the golden brown coconut make these cookies very appealing and a huge crowd pleaser.

Difficulty:1/10
Taste: 10/10
How Cool They Will Look at a Party: 10/10

Fudge (recipe at end of article)
If you’re looking for an alternative to cookies, this recipe will not leave you disappointed. Made mainly from marshmallows and baking chips, this simple recipe yields delicious results. If you are going to a party with picky eaters, have no fear. There will be something for everyone to enjoy with both chocolate and butterscotch flavors. Another positive of the fudge is that it doesn’t require preheating the oven or buying a long list of ingredients from the grocery store. There’s no going wrong with this tasty and quick recipe.

Difficulty: 7/10
Taste: 9.75/10
How Cool They Will Look at a Party: 7.5/10

While these tips and tricks can prove helpful during the holiday season, the most important thing of all is to remember that if you ever find yourself considering making fruitcake cookies, just stop.

Recipes

Rosemary Ginger Cookies
¾ C. butter
1 C. sugar
1 ¾ C. flour
¼ tsp cloves
2 tsp ginger
4 tsp rosemary
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
Turbinado sugar

Beat butter, sugar, and molasses. Mix and add to dry ingredients. Chill for 24 hours. Roll into 1 inch balls and then roll in turbinado sugar. Bake for 10 minutes at 325 degrees.

Fudge
4 ½ C sugar
1 can evaporated milk

Combine in a large pot. Bring to a boil over medium to high heat. Stir constantly. Boil for 4 minutes and continue to stir. (For butterscotch, stir for 6 ½ minutes.) Remove from heat. Add and stir in 18 oz. of chocolate (or butterscotch) chips, ½ cups butter, 8-10 oz. small marshmallows (10-15 oz. for butterscotch), 4 cups of walnuts, and 3 Tablespoons vanilla.

Butter foil lined baking pans (13x9x2). Cut the next day into desired sizes. Turn the pan over to get the fudge out.

Coconut Chocolate Chip Macaroon Cookies
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 bag sweetened coconut flakes
1 cup or more chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Form the dough into small balls and place on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake for 8-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Snickerdoodles

Cheesecake Filling
4 ounces cream cheese soft
2 tablespoon granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla

Pumpkin Cookies
½ cup butter room temperature
½ cup brown sugar
⅓ cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup pumpkin puree blotted to become ¼ cup
1 large egg yolk room temperature
2 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1½ cups all-purpose flour

Sugar Mixture
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

In a small bowl mix together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Scoop into 2 teaspoon size balls, this should make 11 balls. Place on a plate and put into the freezer until completely frozen, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Measure out ⅓ cup of pumpkin and place on a paper plate. Using some paper towels, blot the pumpkin, removing liquid until the paper towel wipes clean. When done the pumpkin should measure more like ¼ cup (60g).

Place butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment and mix together. Add pumpkin, egg yolk and vanilla and mix again.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon.

Add flour mixture to bowl and mix on low, being careful not to overmix. Stop mixing when there are still flour remnants around the bowl.

In a small bowl mix together sugar, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice.
Scoop the dough into large balls. Take the frozen cheesecake balls out of the freezer. Push cheesecake balls into the cookie dough, making sure to completely cover the cheesecake. Roll the cookie ball in the sugar mixture. Place 5-6 cookies on a baking sheet.
Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes. You don’t want to see any shiny dough in the middle of the cookie, and make sure they have a golden rim around the outside. Make sure you bake these cookies all the way, so the cheesecake isn’t gooey. Sprinkle cookies with extra sugar mixture when they come out of the oven.