25 Creative Christmas Cookie Recipes

Sweet Potato Casserole Bites

Turn a favorite side dish into an appetizer with just sweet potatoes, marshmallows and pecans! Now you'll never worry about the potato-to-marshmallow ratio in your casserole ever again. (via Wonky Wonderful)

Baked Brie with Roasted Maple Cranberries

You can never go wrong with baked brie. Creamy, sweet and savory all at once, no one will believe it only took four ingredients. (via The View from Great Island)

Easy Cranberry Chipotle Cocktail Meatballs

A seasonal take on the Pinterest-famous jelly meatballs, these have just the right amount of spice for those who can’t stomach too much heat, while still staying tart and sweet. (via Host the Toast)

Cheesy Mashed Potato Puffs

Customize some leftover mashed potatoes with your favorite flavors: curry, Italian seasonings, or even spinach and goat cheese! These bite-sized appetizers are warm and creamy inside and crispy on the outside. It doesn’t get any better than that! (via The Kitchn)

Vegan Jalapeño Poppers

Crunchy, spicy, and creamy all at the same time, these vegan jalapeño poppers are easy to prep with minimal ingredients. (via Crowded Kitchen)

Cranberry Brie Puff Pastry Bites

Presenting the ultimate make-ahead Thanksgiving appetizer recipe: these bites can be assembled and frozen — either baked or unbaked — weeks before a party. Oh, and they’re delicious. (via Well Plated)

Cranberry, Butternut Squash, Brussels Sprouts, + Brie Skillet Nachos

One dish is all you need for these fancy nachos. Caramelize your veggies, add your spices to balance the sweetness, add cranberries (because fall) and then add the brie for the creamy, nacho-y goodness. Pretty simple, yet pretty awesome! (via Half Baked Harvest)

Dill Pickle Cheese Ball

For the brine lovers out there, this pickle-flavored cheese ball delivers all the best flavors. Serve with crackers for a total Thanksgiving snack win. (via Averie Cooks)

Spicy Fontina Spinach, Artichoke + Chorizo Stuffed Mushrooms

As the love child of Mexican food and spinach and artichoke dip, these mushrooms are very addictive. You can stuff the 'shrooms in advance and just bake them before serving, leaving you free to socialize with your guests and pour another glass of bubbly! (via Half Baked Harvest)

Roasted Cranberry Pancetta Sweet Potato Skins

The best appetizers are definitely sweet and salty. Reduce some food waste from your Thanksgiving dinner with this recipe by using the skins from your mashed sweet potatoes, and extra cranberries from your cranberry sauce! (via Whitney Bond)

Onion, Cranberry + Pecan Cheese Ball

Skip the fancy appetizers — people always go for the simple and delicious ones. You can never go wrong with a cheeseball. The pecans and cranberries make this one a new holiday classic. (via Real House Moms)

Spicy Maple Baked Chicken Wings

Maple is a staple flavor when it comes to fall foods – combine it with some spice, and you've got something truly magical on your hands, and ultimately, in your belly. (via Completely Delicious)

Bacon-Wrapped Brussels Sprouts

Paleo, gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free… this recipe is perfect for almost any dietary restrictions your guests may have (minus vegetarian or vegan). And bacon-wrapped anything is delicious, right?! (via Fit Foodie Finds)

Rosemary Spiced Mixed Nuts

Nuts are always great to have on hand for an easy appetizer! Prepare them up to four days before your party and store at room temperature in an airtight container to keep every bite fresh. (via Kitchen Konfidence)

Pumpkin Pecan Baked Brie

Wrap pumpkin butter, pecans, and brie in some puff pastry and bake it for out-of-this-world perfection. Serve this dish with crostini, crackers, or even apple and persimmon slices! (via Lemon Tree Dwelling)

Caramelized Onion & Fig Galette with Goat Cheese

Everything about this pull-apart appetizer is *chef's kiss.* (via Vanilla and Bean)

5-Ingredient Cranberry + Brie Cinnamon Sugar Puff Pastry Swirls

This recipe has five ingredients, and one is cinnamon sugar, which you’re sure to have in your pantry already. These also make a nice light dessert alongside some vanilla ice cream! (via Half Baked Harvest)

Cranberry Salsa

Even if you’re not a fan of cranberry sauce, you’ll be a fan of cranberry salsa. Make a little extra for leftover turkey burritos. (via Let’s Get Together)

Salami + Cream Cheese Roll Ups

An upgrade on plain old cheese, crackers, and salami, no one can say 'no' to this salty, savory snack. (via Sugar Apron)

Stuffed Mushrooms

Make a touch too much stuffing? Fill up some mushroom caps with the stuffing leftovers, sprinkle on a little cheese, and pop them in the oven for a quick savory bite that still has all the fall flavors you love. (via A Pumpkin and A Princess)

Before we get into peppermint hot chocolate season, give this pumpkin hot cocoa a try. It features a dose of dark rum but if you want to leave that out, it will still taste amazing.

Roasted eggplants get an extra dose of flavor with a tomato sauce featuring onion and garlic. Chickpeas also add another texture.

These fries add some healthy fat into your diet while also keeping things gluten-free. Sounds good to us.

Mac and cheese is the ultimate comfort food as far as we're concerned. Making it in the slow cooker makes it easier than ever.

This might be your average comfort food but it's got two of the most important elements: dough and cheese. The spice adds a nice flavor contrast as well.

Pasta dishes make for excellent weeknight dinners because they're easy, warm, and filling.

The next time you go to bake cookies, get a lesson from chocolatier Jacques Torres with this recipe. Our favorite part of the recipe? Adding a little bit of salt on top.

There's no need to use the stove top for this streamlined baked ziti recipe that only requires a few ingredients, making it a perfect choice for a weeknight meal.

This easy and soul-warming soup — perfect on a cold, rainy day — gets a flavor boost from smoked paprika.

Don't be put off by the time and labor required to make this recipe: These savory, rich and creamy veggie-packed potpies topped with flaky vegan biscuits are totally worth it!

When only creamy, decadent mac and cheese will satisfy your desire for classic comfort food, this recipe featuring vegan cream cheese and vegan parmesan hits the spot. Plus, it's ready in 20 minutes! Add your favorite veggies, like broccoli, peas or carrots, to get more "plants" into your dish.

With a complex and flavorful broth spiked with ginger, cloves, star anise, white peppercorns and coriander seeds, this Vietnamese-inspired soup is pure comfort in a bowl.

This vegan version of classic French onion soup evokes the rich, satisfying flavor of the original, thanks to the savory broth made with caramelized onions, red wine and soy sauce and croutons topped with gooey cashew cheese.

Loaded up with your favorite toppings and condiments, these easy kidney bean burgers will be your new game night go-to. Bonus points: The recipe requires only five ingredients!

Tuck into a bowl of creamy coconut milk-infused chickpea curry spiked with Indian spices—so yummy over basmati rice!

This super satisfying one-pot meal features a layer of creamy mashed potatoes atop gravy-laden veggies that have been sautéed with red wine and fresh herbs. Make it vegan by using olive oil instead of the butter and a splash of nondairy milk in the potatoes.

An old-school favorite gets a new school update: Sweet, tangy spiced lentils take the place of ground beef in this hearty plant-based take on sloppy Joes. Try it with a side of vegan slaw—yum!

Banana bread is already delicious, but add in chocolate *and* pumpkin and you have something that is unbeatable.

Is Mamma Mia 3 happening?

Yes, Mamma Mia 3 is in its early planning stages! Christine Baranski just told The Hollywood Reporter that she's met with producer Judy Kramer, and that Kramer has plans for the third movie. "She gave me the narrative plotline of how it’s going to happen," Baranski says. "That’s all I can say! But, it’s not like, 'Oh, I wish it could happen!' Judy Kramer makes things happen. She made number two happen, and it was a phenomenal hit. I wouldn’t put it past Judy Kramer to get everybody back together."

A third installation was first mentioned way back in 2020, during a Collider interview with Mamma Mia! star Amanda Seyfried. Seyfried said she was on board — and at the time, she thought the rest of the star-studded cast would be too.

"Listen, every single person in that movie would say yes in a heartbeat because we want to hang out with each other," Seyfried told Collider at the time. "That's what we talked about last time, like did we ever think that we'd end up here again on an Island in Croatia?"

When will Mamma Mia 3 come out?

We don't have an official answer about when to expect this highly anticipated sequel. The project is in the "earliest stages," according to creator and producer, Judy Craymer. Cher also revealed to Entertainment Weekly that everyone is "talking about it," but she doesn't "know when they're going to do it."

Has casting information been shared about Mamma Mia 3?

While nothing's been made official, Amanda Seyfried just said something that made my heart skip a beat. She told ABC News she loves Sabrina Carpenter's music and dropped this admission: "If Sabrina Carpenter wants to play my daughter, I’ll make it happen."

But before she admitted that, the actress said something else that made me raise my eyebrows. "Everybody says it’s gonna happen, but I mean, I haven’t seen a script."

Cher is also eager to return to the beloved franchise and is rooting for Meryl to make an appearance again. "I keep saying, 'Meryl, you've got to come back,'" she said (via Entertainment Weekly). She also said she's told her, "'It'll be fun. You'll have a good time. You'll be able to sing.'"

I don't know what it'll take, but hope someone gets a script in Amanda Seyfried, Cher, and Meryl Streep's hands ASAP!

What is the first Mamma Mia about?

The first film follows Donna (Streep) and Sophie (Seyfried) as mother and daughter living on a remote Greek island. When Sophie is about to marry Sky (Dominic Cooper), she sets out to learn who her real father is after discovering it could be one of three men (played by Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgard, and Colin Firth).

Who does the second Mamma Mia follow?

Mamma Mia 2takes viewers back to 1979, where young Donna (Lily James) embarks on a series of adventures throughout Europe following her Oxford University graduation. On her journeys, she makes the acquaintances of Harry, Bill and Sam – the latter whom she falls in love with. In the present day, pregnant Sophie dreams of renovating a taverna while reuniting with her mother's old friends and boyfriends on a Greek island island.