23 Slice-and-Bake Cookies to Keep Stashed at All Times
Technically, cookies made with cookie cutters are slice-and-bake cookies, right? Those recipes call for cutting the dough (with a special tool and into a more complex shape than a circle or rectangle, sure, but it’s still a one-punch “snip”) and then putting the pieces into a hot oven. Even if it’s technically true, though, we decided to omit recipes that require cookie cutters from this list of slice-and-bake cookies. We want to keep things simple, so for all that you see below, a sharp knife will do.
Also, they’re all make-ahead cookies. That means the prep time is already handled; the only things you need to be concerned with day-of are when to preheat the oven and what the cook time is. And how many cookies you’ll eat.
TL;DR: Make slice-and-bake cookies, win the day—for you and for everyone else too.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, food styling by Jesse Szewczyk, prop styling by Hazel Zavala and Caroline Newton1/23Chile-Cheese Cookies
A savory pick for the first of our slice-and-bake cookies? Yes. Be sure not to call them crackers: these cheesy, buttery cookies aren’t a vehicle for something else. They’re the main event.
Kelsey McClellan2/23Honey-Vanilla Sablé Cookie Dough
This seemingly simple cookie hides big flavors: vanilla (beans, not vanilla extract), a good amount of honey, and a whisper of ground cardamom. We love them just like this, but the same dough can transform into pistachio thumbprints, which multiple staffers proclaim their all-time favorite holiday cookie.
Alex Lau4/23Toasted-Flour Sablés
While there are all sorts of flours for all sorts of reasons, if you only stock your pantry with one, it should be all-purpose flour. That, salt, and sugar are the only dry ingredients you need for this recipe. Otherwise, it’s just large eggs and unsalted butter.
Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Susan Spungen, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski5/23Zebra-Striped Shortbread Cookies
When first published, these cookies dominated our Instagram feed and fans come back to them year after year. Play around with the sugar coating: try using crushed peppermints or candy canes instead.
Kelsey McClellan6/23Blood Orange and Poppy Polenta Shortbread
Now, here we sort-of cheated: This is a bake-and-slice cookie recipe, not a slice-and-bake cookie recipe. Let’s agree to allow it just this once, okay? (Unless we could interest you in some spiced and iced hermits?)
Photo by Laura Murray, Food Styling by Susan Spungen7/23Roasty Toasty Pecan-Caramel Shortbread Cookies
Store-bought dulce de leche and pulverized pecans give this shortbread a nuttiness and depth of flavor. We love the contrasting look of white nonpareil, but feel free to mix in whatever sprinkles you please (Dutch chocolate, anyone?).
Kelsey McClellan10/23Honey-Vanilla Linzer Cookies
No cookie cutters are required to make this Linzer cookie variation. (See the intro for why this matters and how we came to take the stand that we did.) Grab a whisk, bowls, parchment paper, plastic wrap, baking sheet, and a sharp knife and you’re good to go.
Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Kate Buckens12/23Rye Shortbread Cookies
The holidays may be mostly for sugar cookie dough shot through with food coloring and edible glitter, but we’re all for throwing something unassuming into the mix too.
Photo by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Cyd McDowell, Prop Styling by Paige Hicks13/23Caramel Crunch–Chocolate Chunklet Cookies
Make sure you buy extra unsalted butter, because you’ll need some to grease the muffin pans. (Yes, these cookies are baked in muffin pans.) If walnuts aren’t your thing, substitute with more chopped chocolate—or even white chocolate? Point is: Do you.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, food styling by Jesse Szewczyk, prop styling by Hazel Zavala and Caroline Newton14/23Buttery Jam Diagonals
To really bring the fruity flavor in this riff on thumbprint cookies, we love Bonne Maman’s Intense line of jams, which are more concentrated than most and less likely to spill over.
Photograph by Laura Murray, food styling by Sue Li15/23Brown Butter and Pistachio Sablés
An electric stand mixer with a paddle attachment will make your life easier when making these cookies. For other pistachio-flavored slice-and-bake treats, try our Oat and Pistachio Sandies and Chocolate-Pistachio Sablés.
Michael Graydon + Nikole Herriott16/23Chocolate–Almond Praline Cookies
Don’t swap in almond flour here; we purposefully ground skin-on almonds in a food processor for a deeper color and the slight bitterness the skins bring, balancing the sweet flavor of these perfect-for-Thanksgiving cookies.
Kelsey McClellan17/23Cranberry Wafer Cookies
Honey-Vanilla Sablé Dough meets dried cranberries, the mixture is pressed into a loaf pan, and there you have it. You could also use dried tart cherries, whole dried figs, dried apricots, golden raisins, dates, or a combination if you want to mix it up.
Photo by Michael Graydon and Nikole Herriott20/23Salted Butter and Chocolate Chunk Shortbread
Less chocolate chip cookie and more brown sugar shortbread with chocolate chunks, these treats are already Internet-famous. No one’s talking about how good they are with a little swipe of peanut butter on top, though...
Danny Kim21/23Savory Black Pepper–Parmesan Cookies
You don’t need leavening agents like baking soda or baking powder for these savory slice-and-bakes. Hard-boiled yolks are the secret to their tenderness.
22/23Speculoos Buttons
This holiday cookie recipe yields 90 servings. You read that, right? Ninety. NINETY. 90. You’ve got five days to disseminate them amongst your friends and family. (They’ll taste fresh for that long when stored at room temperature in an airtight container.)
Jesse David Green23/23Thyme-Walnut Sandies
The texture of these delicate slice-and-bake cookies is similar to a Mexican wedding cookie: crumbly but tender. That’s partly to do with all the powdered sugar—in fact, you’ll only find one tablespoon of granulated sugar in this recipe.
