Best-Loved Cookies & Bars

Chunky Chocolate Gobs

These ultrachocolate cookies are, hands down, some of the best ever to come through our Test Kitchens.

• Recipe: Chunky Chocolate Gobs

Rudolph's Christmas Sugar Cookies

Santa and kid approved, these festive sugar cookies will become a staple at Christmas. Break pretzels into antler shapes and add chocolate chips for eyes and a red cinnamon candy as a nose.

• Recipe: Rudolph's Christmas Sugar Cookies

Gingerbread Men Cookies

Nothing says Christmas quite like the aroma of gingerbread men baking in the oven. Have fun decorating them with your kids!

• Recipe: Gingerbread Men Cookies
• Watch: How to Make Gingerbread Men

White Chocolate Chip-Oatmeal Cookies

Keep the ingredients for these quick favorites on hand for an anytime treat.

• Recipe: White Chocolate Chip-Oatmeal Cookies

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies with Bourbon Ganache

Two chocolate chip cookies sandwich a rich-and-creamy Bourbon Ganache in this tasty treat.

• Recipe: Double Chocolate Chip Cookies with Bourbon Ganache

Candy Bar-Peanut Butter Cookies

These gooey cookies are made with Snickers and peanut butter for that decadent chocolate-peanut buttery flavor.

• Recipe: Candy Bar-Peanut Butter Cookies

Pecan Sandies

Toasted pecans add a delicious nutty flavor to these easy-to-make cookies. Feel free to try almonds or your favorite nut instead.

• Recipe: Pecan Sandies

Almond Snowballs

These fragrant, nutty cookies are finished with a coating of powdered sugar for a delicious winter dessert.

• Recipe: Almond Snowballs

Pecan Pralines

These decadent pralines are always a hit! Make plenty for yourself, friends, and family. Follow our tips for perfect pralines every time.

• Recipe:Pecan Pralines
• Tips: Perfect Pralines

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Dark brown sugar adds surprising richness to this cookie dough. Bake each batch 8 minutes for soft and gooey cookies, or up to 14 minutes for crisp results.

• Recipe: Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chunk-Mocha Cookies

Fabulously rich Chocolate Chunk-Mocha Cookies are simple enough for the most novice of bakers. After the cookies cool completely, spread with Mocha Frosting.

• Recipe: Chocolate Chunk-Mocha Cookies

Smoky Mountain Snowcaps

Reminiscent of the white-dusted mountain peaks, these cookies, with white chocolate and a sprinkling of powdered sugar, are as sweet as snowfall on a school day in the South. Toasted walnuts and nutmeg give them a nice crunch and spicy flavor.

• Recipe: Smoky Mountain Snowcaps

Flourless Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cookies

These peanut butter-chocolate cookies taste and look divine! No need to worry about the flour—they're perfect as they are.

• Recipe: Flourless Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mississippi Mud Cookies

These ooey, gooey cookies are irresistable on their own, but we like them with a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.

• Recipe: Mississippi Mud Cookies

Snickerdoodles

Rolling these basic sugar cookies in a cinnamon-sugar mixture adds just enough spice and a bit of color.

• Recipe: Snickerdoodles

Oatmeal-Toffee Cookies

Buttery toffee adds a delicious flavor to these chewy oatmeal cookies.

• Recipe: Oatmeal-Toffee Cookies

Crunchy Frostbite Cookies

Just a touch of peppermint extract adds the frosty flavor to the icing in this melt-in-your-mouth favorite.

• Recipe: Crunchy Frostbite Cookies

Peanut Butter-Toffee Turtle Cookies

Traditional turtle candy calls for chocolate, caramels, and pecan halves to be molded into the shape of a turtle. For these cookies, traditional turtle candy flavors are teamed with creamy peanut butter for a Southern touch.

• Recipe: Peanut Butter-Toffee Turtle Cookies

Crispy Praline Cookies

In Louisiana it’s “prah·leen.” In Georgia it’s “pray·leen.” But no matter how you pronounce it, these cookies are reminiscent of the beloved pecan candy tradition from New Orleans, on the Mississippi River, where sugarcane and nuts were cultivated in abundance.

• Recipe: Crispy Praline Cookies

Sparkling Ginger Stars

A heavy sugar crust and the peppery bite of fresh ginger make these gingerbread cookies anything but ordinary. Be sure your spices are fresh; that will make a big taste difference here.

• Recipe: Sparkling Ginger Stars

Chocolate-Orange Swirls

Freshly grated rind accentuates the orange fl avor in these memorable cookies.

• Recipe: Chocolate-Orange Swirls

Chewy Coffee-Toffee Shortbread

Toffee bits give this golden shortbread its slightly chewy texture.

• Recipe: Chewy Coffee-Toffee Shortbread

Tea Cakes

Tea cakes have a connection to Girl Scouts of the USA. “In 1912, Juliette Gordon Low held many organizational teas when she was starting the Girl Scouts, where she was known for serving her ‘little cakes’,” says Katherine Keena, program manager at the Juliette Gordon Low birthplace in Savannah, Georgia.

• Recipe: Tea Cakes

Date Pinwheel Cookies

Slather this dough with date-nut filling, roll it jelly-roll fashion, and then slice and bake it into pretty cookies. We found it easier to slice these cookies with an electric knife.

• Recipe: Date Pinwheel Cookies

Linzer Cookies

A twist on Austria’s linzer torte―a tart with a nutty crust, preserve filling, and lattice top―these cookies have a fiitting Southern lineage boasting toasted chopped pecans.

• Recipe: Linzer Cookies

Lemon-Basil Butter Cookies

These sugar-sprinkled cookies with a trace of lemony-flavored basil are perfect for tea parties and special holiday gifts. Garnish a platter of them with fresh basil sprigs, unless you’d like to keep your guests guessing about the “secret” ingredient.

• Recipe: Lemon-Basil Butter Cookies

Dark Chocolate-Espresso Shortbread

Edges tipped with unsweetened chocolate and white chocolate enhance the coffee flavor in these elegant cookies.

• Recipe: Dark Chocolate-Espresso Shortbread

Double Chocolate Chunk-Peanut Cookies

Chunky peanut butter and dryroasted peanuts make these chocolate cookies irresistible. A dash of cinnamon gives them an unexpected fl avor. They are easy to make, and the balls of dough bake into nice round shapes just perfect for your next cookie swap.

• Recipe: Double Chocolate Chunk-Peanut Cookies

Chocolate Wedding Cookies

Powdered sugar blended with cocoa dusts these cookies for a novel flavor twist to an old favorite. Serve these treats for any special occasion.

• Recipe: Chocolate Wedding Cookies

Peanut Blossom Cookies

You’ll love these six-ingredient cookies, ready for the oven in 10 minutes.

• Recipe: Peanut Blossom Cookies

Pecan Crescents

These nutty cookies are much like traditional wedding cookies. Let your kids help roll the dough into logs and bend them into shape.

• Recipe: Pecan Crescents

Easiest Peanut Butter Cookies

Remember elementary school, when homemade peanut butter cookies with the classic fork design on top were a lunchroom treat? With only four ingredients in this recipe, you can relive your childhood days in a matter of minutes. Serve them warm from the oven with a tall glass of cold milk.

• Recipe: Easiest Peanut Butter Cookies

Biscotti With Lavender And Orange

Fresh lavender, combined with freshly grated orange rind, gives these crunchy cookies an aromatic appeal that’s better than any bakery fare.

• Recipe: Biscotti With Lavender And Orange

Bourbon Balls

Who spiked the cookies? Hardly a Christmas can pass in the South without these traditional ball-shaped, bourbon flavored pecan cookies ending up on a dessert bar or in a gift box.

• Recipe: Bourbon Balls

Classic Sugar Cookies

Cut this dough into a variety of your favorite shapes. The dippable glaze will transform the cookies into works of art almost too pretty to eat.

• Recipe: Classic Sugar Cookies

Butter-Mint Shortbread

A dash of mint extract gives these buttery shortbread cookies an extra zing. Choose peppermint or spearmint extract to give them the flavor twist you prefer; then serve them with hot mint tea or a tall glass of sweet tea and a slice of fresh lemon.

• Recipe: Butter-Mint Shortbread

Molasses-Spice Crinkles

The strong, sweet flavor of molasses balances well with a team of spices in these soft, chewy cookies crusted with sugar.

• Recipe: Molasses-Spice Crinkles

Rosemary Shortbread Cookies

Fresh rosemary adds a fragrant quality to these delicate cookies. And because the herb traditionally represents remembrance, a batch of these treats is ideal as a thank-you or birthday gift. Serve them with a hot cup of your favorite tea or atop a cool scoop of sherbet.

• Recipe: Rosemary Shortbread Cookies

Brownie Cookies

You'll love how these scrumptious double-chocolate cookies are similar in taste and texture to thick and fudgy brownies.

• Recipe: Brownie Cookies  

Thumbprint Cookies

These cookies have a bit of crunch from the finely chopped pecans, sweetness from the almond extract, and richness from the butter. Strawberry and peach jams make beautiful jewel-colored fillings, but you can use other Southern favorite jams, such as blackberry, muscadine, or apple. They’re the perfect cookies to make with the kids―let them make the thumbprints and choose the filling.

• Recipe: Thumbprint Cookies

Cappuccino Blossoms

These tasty cookies are our coffee-and-almond redo of the classic kiss-topped cookies. Each dollop of espresso-spice dough is topped with a dark chocolate kiss just while it's hot out of the oven.

Recipe: Cappuccino Blossoms

Oatmeal-Pecan Snack Cookies

These nutritious cookies are great with a cup of cold low-fat milk for a super-quick breakfast or healthier dessert. Store them in zip-top plastic freezer bags in the freezer for up to one month.

• Recipe: Oatmeal-Pecan Snack Cookies

Swedish Holiday Cookies

A tall glass of milk and a sweet tooth are all you need to enjoy these crisp spice cookies sweetened with dark molasses. Serve them on a platter with English Rocks, Crunchy Lace Cookies, and Date Moons.

• Recipe: Swedish Holiday Cookies

Spritz Cookies

Use a cookie press to form this sugar cookie dough into fun shapes. Add colored sugar crystals on top for an extra festive flair.

• Recipe: Spritz Cookies

Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Filled with oats and two kinds of chocolate, it’s no wonder readers tell us these cookies receive all-around rave reviews.

• Recipe: Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Chai Tea Eggnog Cookies

These spiced iced cookies are full of warm holiday flavor. Eggnog and nutmeg flavor the tasty icing atop the tea sugar cookies.

• Recipe: Chai Tea Eggnog Cookies

Cranberry-White Chocolate Cookies

Fans of classic cookies will love the accents of sweet-tart cranberries and gooey white chocolate in these treats.

• Recipe: Cranberry-White Chocolate Cookies

Double-Chip Peanut Butter-Granola Cookies

Filled with oats and two kinds of chocolate, it’s no wonder readers tell us these cookies receive all-around rave reviews.

• Recipe: Double-Chip Peanut Butter-Granola Cookies

Chocolate Chubbies

Loaded with the nutty crunch of walnuts and pecans, these irresistible cookies are crisp on the outside, and brownie-rich on the inside. The secret is stirring the dough just long enough to moisten the dry ingredients.

• Recipe: Chocolate Chubbies

Salted Caramel-Pecan Bars

For those who love sweet-and-salty combinations, this is the dessert for you! A sprinkling of kosher salt perfectly complements the sweet caramel and chocolate.

• Recipe: Salted Caramel-Pecan Bars

Chocolate-Peanut Bars

Chocolate-peanut butter lovers will devour these rich layers of nutty, crunchy peanut butter and creamy semisweet chocolate.

• Recipe: Chocolate-Peanut Bars

Southern Dutch Squares

These cookies are inspired by speculaas, traditional stamped cookies introduced by Dutch settlers who found their way to South Carolina around the 1670s. This variation captures the spiciness and texture of speculaas, but we’ve skipped the classic wooden stamp, and created simple rolled-and-cut squares pressed with almonds.

• Recipe: Southern Dutch Squares

Jam Kolache

Four-ingredient gems with a flavorful burst of strawberry jam tucked inside, these little treats are the big attraction at the annual Kolache Festival. This Caldwell, Texas, event is more than 20 years old and is hosted by proud descendants of early Czechoslovakian immigrants to Central Texas.

• Recipe: Jam Kolache

Gingerbread Squares with Lemon-Cream Cheese Frosting

These scrumptious squares demonstrate the traditional pairing of gingerbread and lemon for delicious treat fit for the holidays.

• Recipe: Gingerbread Squares with Lemon-Cream Cheese Frosting

Bayou Brownies

Don’t think chocolate when you try these brownies; instead, think pecans and a sweet cream cheese topping. Yellow cake mix makes the recipe extra convenient for busy cooks to whip up in minutes.

• Recipe: Bayou Brownies

Kitchen Sink Brownies

Decadence abounds in each bite of these chunky, candy-studded brownies full of good things you might already have in the pantry.

• Recipe: Kitchen Sink Brownies

Oatmeal Carmelitas

Caramels, chocolate morsels, and pecans combine for a fast-disappearing treat.

• Recipe: Oatmeal Carmelitas

Pecan Squares

Use salted butter and bring the filling to a rolling boil before pouring it over the crust.

• Recipe: Pecan Squares

Cappuccino Frosted Brownies

These delicious little treats received our Test Kitchen's highest rating.

• Recipe: Cappuccino Frosted Brownies

Mudslide Brownies

Yummy ingredients from the popular drink make a splash in these decadent bars.

• Recipe: Mudslide Brownies

Death by Caramel Bars

These showy brownies are nice and tall, with pockets of soft caramel. They are wicked enough on their own, but for an over-the-top dessert, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce.

• Recipe: Death by Caramel Bars

Double Chocolate Brownies with Caramel Frosting

These indulgent bars are filled with toasted chopped pecans and semisweet chocolate morsels, and topped with a warm Caramel Frosting. What more can you ask out of a brownie?

• Recipe: Double Chocolate Brownies with Caramel Frosting

Chunky Chocolate Brownies

Chocolate chunks make these brownies fudgy; use the 23-minute baking time to make them extra gooey.

• Recipe: Chunky Chocolate Brownies

Key Lime Bars with Macadamia Crust

Found in the southernmost tip of Florida, Key limes are small, yellow, and have a tarter flavor than other lime varieties. Macadamias contribute to the perfect crust for this creamy filling.

• Recipe: Key Lime Bars with Macadamia Crust

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

Take these festive bars to your next gathering―you can make them ahead of time and transport them easily.

• Recipe: Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

Cheesecake Swirl Squares

Cheesecake brownies get a splash of rum flavor and extra richness from eggnog. Cut them into large bars for a special-occasion splurge.

• Recipe: Cheesecake Swirl Squares

Cocoa-Almond Biscotti

Biscotti are elegantly sliced, intensely crunchy Italian cookies, perfect for dunking into a cup of hot coffee. Enjoy them for breakfast or dessert.

• Recipe: Cocoa-Almond Biscotti

Cranberry-Pecan Rugalach

A version of the European Jewish pastry rugelach, these cookies are another testament to the Southern foodways’ varied influences.

• Recipe: Cranberry-Pecan Rugalach

Peanut Butter-Candy Bar Brownies

Peanut butter sandwich cookies become the crumb crust for these hunky bars loaded with chunks of your favorite candy bars.

• Recipe: Peanut Butter-Candy Bar Brownies

Chocolate-and-Almond Macaroons

For easy cleanup, place a sheet of wax paper under the wire rack to catch the excess chocolate as you drizzle it on the cookies.

• Recipe: Chocolate-and-Almond Macaroons

Red Velvet-Peppermint Swirl Brownies

If you're a peppermint lover, use peppermint oil instead of extract. You can find it at cake supply stores and a little goes a long way.

• Recipe: Red Velvet-Peppermint Swirl Brownies

Shortbread Cookie Sampler

Buttery bites make for well-received packages. We used a 9- × 6-inch box and inserted individual white treat boxes as dividers ($8 for six at kmart.com)

• Recipe: Chocolate-Peppermint Bars
• Recipe: Bourbon-Pecan Snowflakes
• Recipe: Cinnamon-Orange Squares
• Recipe: Sweet Potato-Marshmallow Sandwich Cookies
• Recipe: Key Lime Stars
• Recipe: Cherry-Chocolate Thumbprints

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Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

How do you sneak gooey melted goodness into every oat-filled bite without the extra fat? Replace half the butter with an extra bar of chocolate.

• Recipe: Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies