As soon as the weather turns chilly, it’s officially Christmas cookie season. And with so many Christmas cookie recipes to try, it’s easy to end up with more cookies than you can trade away in a cookie swap or serve up on a holiday platter. If you still have plenty of snickerdoodles, ginger snaps, and other holiday favorites left in the jar, you don’t have to let them go to waste. Instead, repurpose leftover Christmas cookies (even if they’re a little past their prime and starting to get stale) into a new favorite holiday dessert with these ideas.
1. Create a Tart or Pie Crust
You might be familiar with this idea already–take any crispy cookie, like shortbread, gingerbread, or even chocolate cookies, and crush them into fine crumbs. Stir in a little melted butter, and you have the perfect crust for a pie or tart. Continue the holiday theme with a refreshing peppermint filling, or enjoy one last taste of fall with a delectable cardamom-pumpkin pie.
2. Easy Cheesecake Crust
Similar to a pie crust, crush up leftover cookies and add butter, but press the mixture into a springform pan instead, and add cheesecake filling. This is another great way to use up shortbread cookies, but this snickerdoodle cheesecake recipe also makes an intriguing case for swapping in leftover snickerdoodles instead.
3. Homemade Cookie Butter
Christmas cookies are usually packed with delicious spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. All that flavor is perfect for “churning” the leftovers into a sweet homemade cookie butter. As a bonus: once you have cookie butter, you can make these yummy sandwich cookies with a dollop of cookie butter in the center.
4. Gooey Layered Bars
Another use for chocolate cookies: these delicious, decadent Irish cream bars. Crushed chocolate cookies form the base, then layers of Irish cream-spiked pudding and melted chocolate help give new life to Christmas cookies past their prime. Plus, this adults-only treat doesn’t require any baking, just melting butter and chocolate on the stove.
5. Beautiful Layered Trifle
True, trifles are traditionally made with cake cubes and custard, but there’s no reason you can’t swap in your favorite leftover Christmas cookies. Another great use for cookies that are starting to get a little too dry, the layers of custard or pudding in a classic trifle recipe are a great way to help soften them up. Just break your cookies into a few large pieces, and sprinkle them in with the pudding and toppers of your choice.
6. Ice Cream Mix-In
Finish off the holiday season by turning your leftover Christmas cookies into your new favorite ice cream flavor. Cookies and cream is a classic, but this would also be a great way to use up chocolate or peppermint cookies, or even spiced gingerbread. Start with our no-churn ice cream recipe, and dress it up with whatever you have left in the cookie jar.
7. Quick One-Bite Truffles
With several variations, you can use up a few different types of cookies with these no-bake truffles. Crushed peanut butter cookies mixed with a generous dollop of peanut butter and dipped in chocolate make a great salty-sweet treat. You can also try out a variation with pecan shortbread cookies for more fall-forward flavors.
8. Unexpected Cocktail Garnish
Not ready to let the holidays go quite yet? Enjoy one last toast by mixing up a gingerbread negroni, and using crushed gingerbread cookies to garnish the rim of your glass. This sophisticated drink starts with a hot buttered rum base, then adds Cardamaro, vermouth, and ginger bitters. It’s the best way to say farewell to the holiday season, and use up those last few Christmas cookies.
