Food and Recipes Desserts Cookies Cookie Recipes That'll Earn You Top Dollar At The Bake Sale Win Mom-of-the-year award when you show up with any of these delicious treats. By Cameron Beall Cameron Beall Cameron Beall is a writer, marketer, photographer, and creative with over a year of experience with Southern Living in the realm of homes and home building. She was infatuated by home design from a young age, credit to her mother and grandmother. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Published on February 11, 2023 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Photographer: Isaac Nunn, Prop Stylist: Julia Bayless, Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn If you’re looking to impress at your child’s next school bake sale, look no further than this list of cookie recipes that’ll bring in the big bucks. While pies and cakes always look impressive on the bake sale table, the easy-to-grab cookies are always a winner, plus they don’t require laborious hours in the kitchen on your part. If you’re bringing any of these to the table, you’ll want to double your quantity because you’re bound to sell out. While we love seasonal treats like pumpkin cookies and chocolate peppermint cookies, these recipes are guaranteed to be a hit year-round. And whether you’re an avid baker or only break out the mixer once in a while, these no-frills recipes are easy enough to whip together the night before the bake sale. 01 of 19 Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Jennifer Causey Once you make these brown butter cookies, it’ll be hard to go back to the regular chocolate chip kind. Chocolate chip cookies are known to be the first treat to be devoured off the bake sale table, and these are no exception. 02 of 19 Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies Caitlin Bensel Chocolate kisses make anything better, right? These no-fuss, bite-size(ish) cookies are always irresistible and make for a cute display. 03 of 19 Chocolate Crinkle Cookies Micah A. Leal The chocolate-lovers will be oohing and aahing over these confections that are a meld between a brownie and a double chocolate cookie. And while they might look impressive with the crinkle effect from the powdered sugar, they’re a breeze to make. 04 of 19 Soft Oatmeal Cookies Caitlin Bensel; Food Stying: Torie Cox Oatmeal cookies might not be your first thought for a crowd-pleaser, but these aren’t your run of the mill oatmeal cookies. These old-fashioned cookies are perfect for those who love a soft, chewy cookie rather than a crispy one. 05 of 19 Brownie Cookies Photography: Caitlin Bensel, Prop Styling: Audrey Davis, Food Styling: Rishon Hanners Can’t decide between making brownies or cookies? Get the best of both worlds with this sweet treat that has the fudginess of brownies in cookie form, plus a crunch from toasted walnuts. 06 of 19 Brown Butter Snickerdoodles Photographer: Isaac Nunn, Prop Stylist: Julia Bayless, Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn For the sugar cookie fans out there, these buttery, melt-in-your-mouth goodies are sure to impress. While they might look like plain-Jane snickerdoodles, the brown butter brings a slightly nutty flavor to the cinnamon cookie. 07 of 19 Kitchen Sink Cookies Jennifer Causey These cookies are everything in the kitchen sink and more! Packed with chocolate chunks, almonds, corn chips, and oats these sweet treats bring together the best of both worlds—salty and sweet; soft and crunchy. Plus, the nature of the recipe lends itself to additions or substitutions to your liking. 08 of 19 Birthday Cake Cookies Photographer: Antonis Achilleos, Prop Stylist: Christine Kelly, Food Stylist: Ali Ramee These sprinkle-filled cookies aren’t reserved just for birthdays! Break out this recipe to add a colorful splash to the table without the hassle of colorful icing. Best of all, just change out the sprinkles to fit any occasion—Halloween, Christmas, St. Patricks Day etc. 09 of 19 Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cookies The classic marking of the hashtag from a fork across the top of a cookie on the bake sale table means you know it’s a peanut butter cookie. In this case we’re adding chocolate chips for that lovable, rich chocolate-peanut butter combination. 10 of 19 Apple Pie Cookies Micah A. Leal While apple pie is generally reserved for the cool months of fall, we think this recipe is a year-round winner too because, well—everyone loves apple pie! The miniature hand pies are a cinch thanks to store-bought apple pie filling and round cookie cutters. 11 of 19 Pan-Banging Chocolate Chip Cookies Greg DuPree; Food Styling: Rishon Hanners; Prop Styling: Christine Keely Crowd-favorite chocolate chip cookies are always bound to make an appearance at the bake sale, but you’ll be wowing everyone with this recipe. The secret to these cookies is in the name—pan banging. And yes, we literally mean dropping your pan onto the counter. It makes all the difference, creating a ripple effect for crispy edges and gooey centers. 12 of 19 Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies Micah A. Leal If you’re not one to enjoy baking, but trying to win mom-of-the-year status, this recipe is for you. Rely on your favorite handy-dandy boxed red velvet cake mix (which no one has to know) for this eye-catching dessert. 13 of 19 Toffee Cookies Photographer: Isaac Nunn, Prop Stylist: Julia Bayless, Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn There’s nothing you won’t love about these chewy cookies. The perfectly sweet and salty cookie is best when freezing the dough balls four hours before baking. You can also make them a day before and refrigerate overnight before popping them in the oven. 14 of 19 Butterscotch-Toasted Oatmeal Cookies Recipe Linda Pugliese Take your classic oatmeal cookie up a notch by toasting the oats and folding in butterscotch chips. If butterscotch flavor isn’t your thing, use chocolate chips or an ingredient of your choosing instead. 15 of 19 Pecan Snowball Cookies Micah A. Leal These buttery and powdered sugar-covered cookies are often thought of as a holiday dessert, but we think they deserve to shine all year long. What sets these apart is taking time to toast the pecans first—trust us, it’s worth the extra few minutes. 16 of 19 Fudgy Flourless Chocolate-Pecan Cookies Will Dickey; Prop Stylist: Julia Bayless; Food Stylist: Ali Ramee No one would ever guess these are made without flour. They’re perfect for checking the gluten-free box while still being a gooey dessert everyone will love…and want more than one of. 17 of 19 Bourbon-Caramel Cookies Photographer: Antonis Achilleos, Prop Stylist: Claire Spollen, Food Stylist: Margaret Dickey Don’t shy away from these because of the name—the alcohol cooks out as they bake, so you needn't worry about that when bringing them to a school bake sale. Or you can just as well substitute vanilla for a still delicious dessert topped with an easy caramel spread. 18 of 19 Cowboy Cookies Photographer: Jen Causey, Prop Stylist: Josh Hoggle,Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn These Texas-sized cookies from Laura Bush are stuffed with an abundance of mix-ins like oats, coconut, pecans, and chocolate chips so every bite is guaranteed to delight. 19 of 19 Chocolate Mint Cookies Greg DuPree; Food Stylist: Ali Ramee; Prop Stylist: Hannah Greenwood We’re looking to our favorite minty-chocolate candy, Andes mints, to make these cookies sing. The combination of refreshing mint and dark chocolate results in a cookie everyone will love. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit