5 Best Wedding Cookies from Around the World + 5 Alternatives

Diana Barkley (Senior Editor)

Wedding cookies may sound like a modern creation, but they were actually first introduced to America via Mexico from the Middle East. Find here the best wedding cookies from around the world and tasty alternatives.

Modern wedding cookies are varied. Many are delicate pieces of art, with intricate designs made from colorful icing.

There are beautifully stamped fondant-coated cookies that feature the couple’s wedding date. There are traditional recipes that have been enjoyed by celebrating brides and grooms for decades.

As you’ll find, wedding cookies are as varied as the more common wedding cakes — and they’re useful too. We have some top tips on how you can incorporate cookies into your big day. Your guests will love you for it.

Best Wedding Cookie Ideas

Best Wedding Cookie Ideas

Wedding cookies are popular around the world. They’re great as an addition to a wedding cake or as a more budget-friendly alternative. Whether you choose to make your wedding cookies yourself, or have them brought in by a caterer, here are our top five favorite varieties.

Mexican Wedding Cookies

Mexican Wedding Cookies

The original Mexican wedding cookies are amongst the most traditional treats you can serve on your big day. They’re fairly easy to make, too, containing only a handful of ingredients.

Just follow our easy recipe below to make your own. What makes Mexican wedding cookies unique is their history as the first wedding cookies. So if you’re planning your big day around lots of historic traditions, this is certainly one to add.

When baked, Mexican wedding cookies are rolled in powdered sugar. They look like small white snowballs and make for a delicious sweet alongside some wedding cake, or on their own.

Italian Wedding Cookies

Italian Wedding Cookies

There are a few different Italian wedding cookies, depending on who you ask.

Of course if one of you has Italian heritage or you just want to incorporate a selection of Italian delicacies, you can make any of the following: pizzelle, biscotti, spumoni, anise sugar cookies, torcetti, amaretti, or cannoli.

But the original sugar cookies are called Anginetti. Anginetti roughly translates to little birds, though they’re more commonly known as lemon drop cookies.

These little lemon cookie balls are coated with a generous sugar glaze and rainbow sprinkles. They’re easy to make at home but also widely available in Italian bakeries.

Danish and Norwegian Wedding Cookies

Danish and Norwegian Wedding Cookies

Kransekage or Kransekake roughly translates to ‘wreath cake’, and is often used instead of an actual wedding cake. Yet this ‘cake’ is actually made of cookies.

Delicious ring-shaped almond cookies are stacked on top of each other until they resemble a sort of tree-shaped cake. Royal icing is drizzled decoratively over each layer along the way, and looks a little like snow.

Kransekake can be served at any time of year, but to us it looked like a particularly suitable winter wedding cake alternative. It’s served by taking away a layer at a time, which is then cut into smaller pieces for guests.

Pittsburgh Cookie Table Selection

Pittsburgh Cookie Table Selection

This isn’t a cookie in itself, but rather a selection of home bakes. The Pittsburgh cookie table is a fun tradition which, for many locals apparently, really makes a wedding.

The history of Pittsburgh cookie tables is a little divided — was it immigrants who first brought the tradition, was it a means of saving money on wedding cake, or was it just a natural progression from church cookie tables.

Either way, a cookie table is a great idea for a wedding, and you don’t need to be from or in Pennsylvania to have one. Ideally, get everyone who can bake involved so you have a lovely variety to offer to guests. This is also a great alternative to the modern candy cart.

French Wedding Cookies

French Wedding Cookies

People may rightfully argue about which country does cookies best, but the French always do add something a little bit special. Both madeleines and macarons make wonderful wedding cookies.

Madeleines are fairly easy to make, being made of a cake-like batter with creamed butter and sugar at its base. Madeleines don’t need much decoration either – a little bit of confectioner’s sugar will do just fine.

Macarons are a trickier, more delicate confection made with eggs and finely ground almonds.

Macaron towers or wedding cakes decorated with pastel-hued macarons are things of beauty. You may also give out individually-decorated macarons as wedding favors. These sweet treats are well-loved all around the world, and are sure to be a hit amongst guests.

Simple Recipe for Easy Wedding Cookies: A Guide

Simple Recipe for Easy Wedding Cookies: A Guide

If you’re looking to make cookies you can decorate with beautiful icing, then these butter cookies are the best. They’re easy to make, you can cut them out in any shape you like, and they make budget-friendly favors.

If you wish to cater to any food allergies, you can substitute the flour with a gluten free variety, and the butter with a vegan alternative.

Ingredients for 24 cookies:

• 2 ¼ cups of all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp of baking powder
• ¾ cup of salted butter (at room temperature)
• ¾ cup of granulated sugar
• 1 large egg (at room temperature)
• 2 tsps of vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp of almond extract

And here’s how you do it:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F, and prepare two baking tins by lining them with greaseproof paper.
2. Sift the dry ingredients together into a bowl, including the flour and baking powder.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the butter and sugar until creamy and pale in color. Add in the egg, and the vanilla and almond extracts. Whisk until just combined.
4. Mix in the dry ingredients, taking care not to over-whisk your dough.
5. Chill your dough in the fridge for around an hour before rolling it out to ¼” thickness. Top tip: work with small batches of the dough at a time, leaving the rest in the fridge as you go.
6. Use any cookie cutters of your choice to cut out your cookies, and transfer to your prepared baking sheets.
7. Bake your cookies for around 10-12 minutes or until just lightly browned at the edges. Once cooled, you may frost them with icing of your choice or add fondant.

Recipe for Mexican Wedding Cookies

Recipe for Mexican Wedding Cookies

Mexican wedding cookies are arguably the oldest wedding cookie tradition you’ll find. You can serve these instead of a wedding cake, alongside it, as part of a cookie table, or even at an engagement party.

They’re easy to make, particularly because they only contain a handful of ingredients.

If you or your guests have any food intolerances, you can substitute the flour for a gluten free variety and the butter for a vegan one.

Ingredients for 36 cookies:

• 1 cup of salted butter (at room temperature)
• ½ cup of confectioners sugar
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 2 ¼ cups of flour
• ¾ cup of chopped pecan nuts
• extra confectioners sugar for rolling the finished cookies in

And here’s how you do it:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 F and prepare 2-3 baking tins by lining them with greaseproof paper.
2. Whisk the butter and sugar until fluffy and creamy.
3. Add the flour and vanilla extract. Gradually mix until your dough is just combined. Stir in the chopped pecans.
4. Chill your dough for about an hour.
5. Form the dough into balls around 1 ¼” in size each and add them to your prepared baking pans.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until just lightly browned around the edges. Once your cookies have cooled down ever so slightly, roll them in the remaining confectioners sugar. You may wish to repeat this process once they’ve cooled fully.

Simple Wedding Cookie Designs and Decoration Ideas

Simple Wedding Cookie Designs and Decoration Ideas

The best cookie designs are frequently the simplest. The key being that your cookies taste good first, and look beautiful second.

To achieve this, always make sure you thoroughly read and understand the recipe you’re using. Use high quality ingredients, especially when it comes to any extracts such as vanilla or almond.

Decorate your cookies to suit your wedding: choose colors, themes, and even flavors that work with your big day.

Cookie cutters are available in a huge range of shapes and sizes, and you can make frosting or fondant in any color you need it to be.

Pastel colors are always popular, and whimsical decorations such as sugar pearls and edible glitter are very appropriate for weddings. However, you can just let your imagination run wild, too.

You can have cookies instead of a wedding cake, alongside it, as part of a cookie table, or as wedding favors.

Tips and Ideas on How to Make Wedding Cookies Yourself

Tips and Ideas on How to Make Wedding Cookies Yourself

If you’ve chosen to bake wedding cookies yourself, we’re sure you don’t need to hear about how best to stir them or how to turn on your oven.

The tips below focus more on how to make this experience the best it can be, and how having cookies at your wedding can tie in beautifully with your overall theme and vibe.

Pick a Meaningful Recipe

Let’s be honest here: everyone loves cookies. The type of cookie you serve at your wedding isn’t actually that important. There are so many delicious recipes to choose from, pick something that resonates with you as a couple.

Perhaps you shared a big chocolate chip cookie on your first date, in which case a selection of these would be fun. Maybe one of you has Nordic heritage, so you could serve a Kransekake instead of a regular wedding cake.

You might also wish to serve an entire cookie table, Pittsburgh-style. Whichever you go for, pick cookies you like that suit the style of your wedding day. And if you’re making them yourself, select things you feel comfortable making, too.

Choose a Color Scheme and Stick To It

Choose a Color Scheme and Stick To It

Unless your wedding follows a multi-colored scheme, you’ll want to be a little selective in your cookie decorations. All beige and white is completely fine, but you can also add a little bit of your wedding colors.

Fondant and buttercreams can easily be dyed using a few drops of food coloring. Bakes such as French macarons and Italian cannoli can easily be colored, with the former taking particularly well to colorful creations.

If you’re choosing to still have a wedding cake, too, you may wish to add colorful cookies to it to reflect your theme.

Take Your Time and Elist Helpers

Take Your Time and Elist Helpers

Brides (and grooms to some extent) often think they can do everything themselves in the lead up to their big day. Yet it’s twice as fun to bake with some helpers.

If you’re thinking of making some wedding cookies yourself, make sure you plan ahead. Get all of the ingredients in advance and set aside some time with any helpers to bake in peace.

This is also the perfect time to put on a favorite wedding film (for example Father of the Bride) and enjoy this special time together, baking.

Alternatives to Wedding Cookies

Alternatives to Wedding Cookies

Wedding cookies are great fun, but you may wish to add alternatives for guests to choose from. Below are some other options that make for lovely and unique treats you can share. Pick one or have them all, it’s your big day.

Wedding Cupcakes

Wedding Cupcakes

If you’re wanting to bake something yourself for your wedding, cupcakes are one of the easiest ways to go.

You can find numerous cupcake recipes online or even use box mixes if your main concern is decorating them. Opt for light-colored cupcakes and frost them with white or ivory-hued buttercream.

Decorate with bespoke toppers that say ‘Mr & Mrs’, your new last name, or your wedding date.

Wedding Candy Bar

Wedding Candy Bar

Candy bars first became popular at weddings in the early 2010’s. They’re a fun way of treating your guests, and usually come stocked with a variety of sweet treats, cotton candy, and chocolates.

Candy bars are a massive crowd pleaser, which is why they’re still so popular today. Personalize yours by giving guests custom paper cones to fill with their treats.

Wedding Cheese and Charcuterie Table

Wedding Cheese and Charcuterie Table

If sweet treats aren’t your thing, a wedding cheese and charcuterie table might just be. This is a particularly fun option if you’re wanting to showcase local produce or goodies from a certain region.

Opt for a selection of cheeses, cured and cooked meats, and nibbles including breads, olives, and fruit. This is also a lovely buffet alternative for an engagement party. Just add more variety, and you’re good to go.

Wedding Popcorn Bar

Wedding Popcorn Bar

In an age where Gatsby and Hollywood-style parties are still a big thing, a popcorn bar is a no-brainer. The idea here is essentially the same as a candy cart, except you’re looking to stock it with different kinds of popcorn.

Offer bespoke paper cones for guests to fill, and give them a selection of toppings they can add to their popcorn. This is also a great choice alongside a wedding lemonade stand, for that ultimate ‘60’s cinema starlet vibe.

Wedding Waffle Bar

Wedding Waffle Bar

Who doesn’t love waffles? A waffle bar is a fun and unique alternative to the above. Offer guests a selection of sweet and savory waffles, including diet-friendly varieties that are sugar or gluten free.

Add a selection of toppings in lovely containers, which guests can add themselves. Fruit, chocolate, cream, and a variety of sauces are all a great idea. Waffles are also a fun addition if you’re expecting lots of little guests.

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