I have to make 6 dozen (yes, DOZEN!) cookies for a Christmas cookie exchange next month. I am completely stressing about having to make so many.  Baking is so not my thing, but I really want to go!

The catch is that they have to be homemade, so no cheating by going to the store and getting a log of cookie dough! LOL Good thing I saw that rule or I woulda totally done that! 🙂

I’m keeping things simple this year and sticking to the easiest recipes I can find. Since I’m bringing 6 dozen, I’m going to bring a variety so we’ll have different options to choose from, so I need to make 2 or three different kinds.

I went on a hunt for simple recipes that make impressive looking Christmas cookies…

7 Easy Christmas Cookie Exchange Recipes (that look cute!)

These 7 Christmas cookies made the final cut! They are all easy recipes that don’t take tons of steps to prepare. Overall, they take less than 30 minutes each, which is perfect when you’re short on time. I hope you like these ideas as much as I do!

1. Jingle Bell Bites – These adorable bite-sized shortbread cookies that only have 6 common ingredients and take 20 minutes or less of active prep time. My kind of cookie!
2. Christmas Tree Peanut Butter Blossoms – So you know how I said all the cookies have to be homemade? Well, I think there are ways around rules like these. Enter the cutest little Hershey kiss cookies! Even if you did make the base cookie from scratch, the directions state it should only take you about 15 minutes, so I guess they’re easy no matter what!
3. Santa’s Double Chocolate Chip M&M Cookies – Festive Christmas cookies in 25 minutes, including cook time?! Yes, please!
4. Gooey Red Velvet Cookies – Ten ingredients, one bowl, lots of color! Perfect for a Christmas cookie exchange.
5. Perfect Sugar Cookies in Festive Shapes – I normally don’t think of sugar cookies as being impressive, but something about this frosting makes these stand out. I like that you can make the cookies and frosting separately, which helps if you’re busy on and off all day every day like me! I would use these snowflake cookie cutters – I am so obsessed with snowflakes right now!
6. Frosted Peppermint Brownie Cookies – These look sooooo delicious! They are slightly more difficult that the previous two, but infinitely more impressive, so that outweighs the difficulty in my book. J Just like the sugar cookies, the frosting and cookies can be done in two different cooking sessions. So key.
7. Spritz Butter Cookies – These only have a handful of ingredients and look simply amazing!! They almost look like little buttery meringues with sprinkles.