58 Thanksgiving Cookies That Are Better Than Pie

There’s extra brown sugar in the batter, so these cookies come out of the oven both crackly and chewy, just how we like them. The cinnamon-sugar coating is the cherry on top.

If a pecan pie and a chocolate-chip cookie had a delicious baby, this would be it. Something truly magical happens when the pecan brittle melts into toffee puddles.

The name says easy, but how easy, you ask? For starters, the cookies themselves require less than ten ingredients. Use store-bought jam to make them even easier.

Who needs pumpkin pie when you have a platter of these babies? They’re soft on the outside, creamy on the inside and practically melt in your mouth.

Come for the softly spiced oatmeal cookies, stay for the dreamy vanilla cream filling.

Gingerbread houses? Yawn. This year we’re making these intricate (but still easy) lattice cookies instead.

Would you believe that these cookies take 30 minutes from start to finish? Swirl them with whatever autumnal jam suits your fancy. (We’re partial to pumpkin butter.)

Everyone will ooh and ahh when you serve them…just don’t mention that the filling came straight from a can.

Nothing against regular gingerbread, but molten caramel-filled gingerbread is *that much* better.

The beauty of an icebox cookie is that you can keep the dough in your freezer ahead of time, then slice and bake the day of. (To be filed under “genius.”)

We have a soft spot for those butterscotch chips you buy at the store, so naturally we’re eating at least three of these cookies.

“No flour, no problem” is our new mantra. Erin McDowell’s cocoa cookies are so fudgy and dense, you won’t even miss it.

There’s no better way to get ready for the holidays than with cookies that taste like a cup of spicy-sweet eggnog.

Make the dough ahead of time and bake ’em whenever.

They’re. So. Festive!

If we’re being honest, you had us at “brown butter,” but these shortbread stunners also happen to be simple to make. Don’t skip the flaky salt on top.

This won’t be the last time you whip up a batch of these soft, spicy crowd-pleasers. What can we say? We like to start the season early.

Our favorite kind of pumpkin patch is packed with cinnamon, nutmeg and a drizzle of brown butter frosting.

The key to all that autumnal flavor is to reduce the apple cider to a syrup, then whip it into the spiced buttercream filling. We’re drooling.

They’re the ideal ratio of salty and sweet…and they'll help you avoid your great aunt Sally and her weird cranberry gelatin mold.

Truth be told, we can’t think of an occasion when the classic chocolate-chip cookie wouldn’t be appropriate. The cardamom here just kicks it up a notch.

You can only get the real ones when it’s cold outside…but now you can make them at home whenever a craving strikes.

Call them Russian tea cakes, Mexican wedding cookies or snowballs—either way, they’re delicious (and gluten-free).

You could eat that stash of pumpkin butter by the spoonful…or you could put it in your cookies. It’s your call.

In a world of store-bought Milanos, be a homemade orange-chocolate sandwich cookie.

If you’re not already brewing a fresh pot of tea, you should be. These cuties were made for dunking.

Soft, sweet and just tart enough, these morsels check all the right boxes. They’re also gluten-free and totally vegan, a win-win.

They’re “healthy,” thanks to coconut and almond flours. That means you can acceptably eat half the batch, right? (Thanks, Monique Volz.)

We’ll go weak in the knees for anything that involves browned butter. Ditto for Nutella.

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It’s tough to improve a peanut-butter-chocolate-sandwich cookie, but the pumpkin-shaped cutters are doing it.

These sure beat anything red, jiggling and shaped like a can.

You don’t have to dust them with edible glitter, but it’s Thanksgiving. What better day to go all out?

When the theme of the evening is over-indulgence, it’s nice to have something tart to balance everything out. We owe you one, dried sour cherries.

In our not-so-humble opinion, vanilla is a highly underrated flavor. Serve these with a side of, yep, vanilla ice cream.

Our favorite flavor of pie just got a festive, fancy upgrade. You can cut them into whatever shape you want. (We’re doing turkeys, in case you were wondering.)

Slice and bake right before the guests arrive. (Is that a candle? No, it’s just these freshly baked cookies.)

Pumpkin, pecan and cranberry pie walk into a bar, and the rest is history.

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Carlene Thomas’s buttery shortbread cookies are spiked with rosemary and cranberry, so they’ll fit right in next to your turkey and stuffing. Seriously—they’re savory enough you could serve them with the dinner.

Permission to eat these for breakfast granted. (Psst: They only take 30 minutes to make.)

If you could capture the flavor of the season in a single cookie recipe, this would be it. For super-consistent thumbprints, use the handle of a wooden spoon instead of your fingers.

They feel fancy enough for a fete, but they’re also pretty foolproof. The base is a classic sugar cookie recipe, and the frosting is just cream cheese—easy peasy.

Melt-in-your-mouth tender, these cookies are like an itty-bitty pumpkin pie in each bite. If you use coconut butter, you can even make them vegan.

The cranberries add a pop of color to these sweet sandwich cookies. The best part? It’s a two-cookie-in-one deal. Thanks, Maria Lichty.

They’re just as chewy and spicy as your grandma’s traditional recipe, but minus the refined sugar and flour.

They’re like magical airy clouds.

Put a new spin on an old classic by adding big chunks of sea salt to your chocolate chip cookies. Heidi Larsen shared Milk Bar’s recipe for the famed treats with us.

Jesse Reilly puts her own spin on blackout cookies with a recipe that includes bittersweet chocolate chunks, cocoa powder and caramelized white chocolate.

Not technically a cookie, per se, but who can say no to cookie dough...as a dip?

Ice cream lovers, rejoice: You can make these chocolate cookies in just 30 minutes (and top them with rocky road ice cream, of course).

There’s no need to buy a premade gift basket just for the can of Pirouettes. Stefani Pollack gives us the perfect at-home recipe for the cylindrical cookies, including a tasty Nutella filling.

What’s better than a doughnut and a cookie? A doughnut cookie. It’s got all the cinnamon-sugar flavors and sprinkle-topped icing without that whole fried-in-a-vat-of-oil thing.

We love whipping up a quick batch of wedding cookies—the powdered sugar is everything. If that’s your jam too, try Jane Ko’s chai tea version.

Why do these sesame shortbread cookies taste so amazing? Jodi Moreno will tell you it’s because she added umami with two tablespoons of sweet white miso.

As long as kids aren’t involved, pass around Gaby Dalkin’s Kahlúa-infused chocolate-chip cookies.

Chunks of Oreo and peppermint candy adorn these pudding-based cookies from Maria Lichty.

If cookies are all about crunch for you, have them plain. But we promise the almond butter buttercream won't disappoint.

Sweeten up your Thanksgiving table with these berry-filled thumbprint cookies.

If you, like us, are convinced that the sweet potato casserole Great-Aunt Sally serves every Thanksgiving is more of a dessert than a side dish, then these sweet potato sugar cookies with marshmallow topping are for you.