37 Best Easy Cookie Recipes to Make Again and Again

Discover delicious (but easy) cookies to make the next time you're in the mood for something sweet.

May 14, 2020

Tahini cookies topped with sesame seeds.

Making delicious cookies doesn't have to be a complicated affair. There are plenty of easy cookie recipes that any home cook can pull together without a lot of fuss. What these simple cookie recipes lack in complication they make up for with loads of flavor, and there's something for you, whether you're craving something nutty, something buttery, something chocolatey, or something spiced. Ahead, our 37 best easy cookies, including chocolate chip, molasses, peanut butter, chocolate chunk, snickerdoodles, shortbread, and more.

Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
1/37
3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
These naturally gluten-free treats couldn't be easier to make—the three ingredients you'll need are peanut butter, sugar, and an egg. Preheat the oven to 350°F and whisk all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Drop the dough in mounds onto a prepared baking sheet, and you're 12 minutes away from amazing peanut butter cookies.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Rhoda Boone
2/37
Our Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies
It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it: The Epi Test Kitchen went through 18 batches of chocolate chip cookie recipes to find the perfect one. This—with a soft center, slightly crispy edges, and notes of butterscotch and pockets of molten chocolate—is it.
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Photo by Mark Weinberg
3/37
Shortbread Cookies Four Ways
This easy shortbread recipe from Dorie Greenspan can be made in four equally enticing flavors: lemon-vanilla, whole wheat, chocolate-rye, or spelt with flax and orange.
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The New Easy, photography by William Meppem
4/37
Chocolate Chunk Share Cookie
This chocolate wonder is called a share cookie, but it's so good you might not actually want to share it. Press the dough into a 10-inch round and get ready for one massive cookie to come out of the oven 20 minutes later.
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Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Erika Joyce
5/37
No-Bake Chocolate Oat Cookies
Make your no-bakes the talk of the cookie circuit by adding in dried cherries, chopped almonds, and a pinch of espresso powder.
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6/37
Chewy Molasses Cookies
You know that cookie with the slightly crisp edges, chewy center, and magical ability to stay fresh for days? That's this cookie, which is lightly spiced, addictively chewy, and unapologetically bold with the molasses.
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Photograph by Elliott Jerome Brown Jr., Prop Styling by Emma Ringness, Food Styling by Mieko Takahashi
7/37
Classic Thumbprint Cookies
These easy thumbprint cookies are classic for a reason—but you can jazz them up with any jam you'd like.
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Romulo Yanes
8/37
Almond-Oat Lace Cookies
No mixer needed for these irresistibly nutty, chewy cookies: Simply melt butter on the stove-top, stir in the dry ingredients, then spoon the batter onto a baking sheet.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
9/37
Pannelet Cookies With Sweet Potato and Coconut
These golden orange yam and coconut cookies from Spain are delicate and flavorful. They stay fresh for up to five days when stored in an airtight container.
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Photograph by Victoria Jane, Food Styling by Mallory Lance, Prop Styling by Alexandra Massillon
10/37
Chewy Oatmeal Cookies
This easy oatmeal cookie recipe is no-nonsense: no nuts, fruit, or chocolate to deviate from the classic comfort of the vanilla- and cinnamon-flavored favorite.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
11/37
3-Ingredient Brown-Butter Shortbread
Traditional shortbread gets an added depth of flavor with the use of brown butter. This recipe results in a rectangular-shaped cookie, but feel free to cut the dough into any shape you like while it's still warm.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson
12/37
No-Bake Pistachio–White Chocolate Cookies
Want easy cookies you can make in less than an hour without having to run out to buy perishable ingredients—or even turn on your oven? These no-bake cookies rely on nut butter and white chocolate for their creamy, chewy texture, and a combination of oats, pistachio, and cranberries adds a nice, sweet crunch.
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Photo by Yossy Arefi
13/37
Potato Chip–Crusted Magic Bars
Whether you call them magic bars or seven-layer cookies, you probably know these treats, in which chunky bits—like chocolate chips, nuts, and coconut—get layered over sticky condensed milk and a crisp cookie crust. The magical ingredient in this recipe, though? The potato chips—a perfectly salty counterpoint to all that sweetness.
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Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Astrid Chastka, Food Styling by Anna Hampton
14/37
Cinnamon–Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookie
This sharable cookie has all the flavors of a latte. And chocolate. Lots of hot, melting milk chocolate.
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