Holiday

Cinnamon Baked Doughnuts

Black and Tan Chocolate Popcorn

This Black and Tan Chocolate Popcorn recipe by Andrea Nguyen is a two-toned sweet snack with caramelized white chocolate and bittersweet dark.

1 hr 45 min

Parker House Rolls

Soft, buttery, golden brown Parker House rolls are a classic. Learn how to make the iconic folded dinner rolls with tips for shaping, and make-ahead prep.

Maple Sweet Potatoes With Crispy Almonds and Sage

Drizzled with maple syrup and roasted until caramelized, these sweet potatoes make an easy autumnal side dish to serve as part of a larger festive spread, and can be served both warm or at room temperature. If getting ahead, make the crunchy, garlicky almond-and-sage topping well in advance to be spooned on top when needed. Be sure not to walk away when frying the garlic, as it can quickly turn bitter if over-fried, so stir often and adjust the heat as necessary.

45 min

Easy Apple Cake

This buttery apple cake is pure fall comfort. Spiced with cinnamon, it has a bright kick from apple cider vinegar and a crunchy brown-sugar-and-walnut topping.

Mudslide Cookies

Rye flour is the secret to these gooey, super-chocolatey cookies. Because rye is a soft grain that doesn't develop gluten when mixed, these cookies have an unbelievably tender crumb, plus the benefit of a sweet, grassy flavor, also from the rye. Toasted pecans and chocolate chips provide a bit of texture. —Matthew James Duffy in his book, "Bread Etc.: Recipes + Techniques for Baking with Sourdough, Yeasted Dough, Pizza Dough + More"

Chewy Chai Gingerbread

Soft and chewy, these gingerbread cookies come together quickly and easily. Using oil instead of butter keeps the rounds moist and lets the warmth of the spices shine. A chai blend, which often highlights ginger and cardamom and includes the surprising heat of black pepper, gives them even more verve. If you don’t have one on hand, you can simply mix your own (see Tip). That spiced coziness is echoed in the glaze, but the cookies are just as satisfying unadorned. (For more of Genevieve's holiday cookie tips, see this article.)

1 hr 30 min

The Food Lab's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Learn the secrets and science behind the best browned butter chocolate chip cookies in this classic recipe from The Food Lab.

1 hr 15 min

Cheesy Cauliflower Nests

There’s something undeniably celebratory about a dish wrapped in crisp, golden phyllo, especially when it gives way to golden, roasted cauliflower and a rich, creamy custard. These cheesy cauliflower nests make for an excellent vegetarian centerpiece, offering comfort and elegance in equal measure. The cauliflower, cut into six individual wedges, gets tucked into phyllo nests, then a gently spiced custard, fragrant with nutmeg and cloves, seeps into the crevices and binds everything together. Much of the work can be done ahead — the phyllo nests can be assembled and refrigerated the day before, ready to bake when needed, and so can the custard — which makes this dish a stress-free option for festive gatherings.

1 hr 30 min

Popcorn Bucket Cookies

These candy-studded cookies take all the fun of your favorite concession stand players and bake them right into and atop a simple sugar dough. Toffee bits feature in a supporting role, never overshadowing the stars (the popcorn and candy, of course). If using gummy candy, be sure to save them for the top; otherwise, the cookies will spread too much as they bake. Feel free to play around with the mix, but make sure your popcorn (microwave or stovetop) is freshly popped for a crisper and more even coating.

1 hr

Red Velvet Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Chewy, tall red velvet cookies studded with semi-sweet and white chocolate chunks. The dough is chilled for shape and deep color, yielding soft-centered cookies with set edges.

Persimmon Cardamom Cake

This bouncy, tender spiced cake celebrates winter persimmons in all their glory. Baking wedged Fuyu persimmons — the squat, tomatolike ones — until their flavor concentrates and their moisture dissipates leaves you with syrupy fruit that doesn’t sog up the cake later. A little coconut extract, a whisper of the tropical, props up the gentle sweet aroma of the orange fruit, with cardamom playing a major role in bringing out its floral, pumpkiny qualities. Whipped cream folded into the batter at the end, a trick from the baker Heather Dekker-Hurlbert, results in a light, even crumb. Thanks to a sprinkling of cardamon sugar on top before baking, the cake gains a glorious caramelized crust with cinnamon toast vibes (but cardamom).

1 hr 45 min

Malted “Forever” Brownies

Claire Saffitz named these her “forever” brownies because it took so much work to get them right that she’s vowed to never develop another brownie recipe again.

French Onion Baked Brie

The flavors of French onion soup meet gooey melted Brie in a buttery puff pastry crust in this irresistible appetizer.

1 hr 20 min

Ultra-Crispy Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder

Pull-apart tender meat and ultra-crisp skin: slow-roasted pork may not be the most gorgeous looking, but the flavor more than makes up for it.

8 hr 25 min

Millionaire’s Shortbread

Our version of the luxurious bars, featuring buttery shortbread (with a twist!), salty-sweet caramel, and rich chocolate.

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

This rich, creamy chocolate cheesecake recipe layers a dark chocolate filling with an Oreo cookie base and silky ganache for the ultimate decadent dessert.

Nigella Lawson's Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake

On creating this cake, Nigella Lawson explains, "I remember very strongly wanting to create what we call a loaf cake—and what is generally called a pound cake Stateside—that had a richness and squidginess of texture that this form of cake normally doesn't major in." And she did. Recipe adapted very slightly from How to Be A Domestic Goddess (Hyperion, 2005)

Double-Chocolate Cream Pie Recipe

A crisp, flaky crust filled with creamy chocolate custard and topped with an airy vanilla meringue.

5 hr 10 min

Baked Oatmeal

This baked oatmeal is the make-ahead breakfast your holiday plans need—it’s easy to execute and feeds a crowd. Substitute coconut oil and your favorite alternative milk to make this dairy-free.

Greek Lemon Potatoes

For the dreamiest roasted potatoes — with creamy insides and very crispy outsides — follow this classic Greek method of roasting peeled potatoes in equal parts olive oil, lemon juice and chicken stock. The potatoes soak up the flavorful liquid, allowing the insides to remain tender while the outsides crisp in the oven’s high heat. You can follow the same method for russet potatoes, though the final result will be less moist.

1 hr

Three-Ingredient Cranberry Chocolate Bites

Freezing slices of canned jellied cranberry sauce then coating them in a snappy chocolate shell transforms a Thanksgiving side into an irresistible sweet treat, perfect all year round. Thanks to cranberries’ high pectin level, which delivers its characteristic jelly consistency, plus the hefty amount of corn syrup that is commonly found in canned cranberry sauce, these cranberry slices develop a smooth, fudgy, sorbet-like texture when frozen. (Watch Carolina Gelen make this dish in this video.)

2 hr 45 min

Green Bean Salad

Crisp-tender green beans meet a punchy Parmesan dressing in this easy, make-ahead fresh green bean salad that’s perfect for dinner parties or holidays.

Pecan Cake

This tender butter pecan cake channels all the gooey richness of pecan pie, with toasted nuts and a sticky bourbon caramel glaze.

Caramelized Shallots

Seared and simmered in white wine and chicken broth, these buttery caramelized shallots are an ideal holiday side dish. Stack the leftovers on a sandwich.

Cranberry-Wine Swirl Cookies

These pinwheel-style swirls pair classic sugar cookie dough with cranberry and red wine jam. They’re equally at home on a cheese plate and served as dessert.

Peppermint Black-and-White Cookies

A riff on the New York classic black-and-white cookie, featuring refreshing peppermint extract and a sprinkle of festive crushed candy canes.

Cinnamon Roll Bundt Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

There’s only one problem with cinnamon rolls: They taste best fresh out of the oven with runny icing. This Bundt cake is also delicious warm, but gets only better as it sits, so you can get a hit of cinnamon roll goodness for days. Including panko in the spiced brown sugar swirl allows the cake layers to pull apart the way yeasted rolls do. The simple vanilla pound cake batter is tender and tangy with cream cheese. More cream cheese — a lot more — cloaks the cake in the form of frosting. Just as there’s no end to holiday cheer, there’s no limit on cream cheese frosting.

3 hr

Turkey and Stuffing Meatballs

It’s Thanksgiving any night of the week, any day of the year, with this easy sheet-pan dinner featuring turkey meatballs, green beans, and potatoes.

Sweet-and-Spicy Squash With Scallion Oil

Roasted squash loses its bland reputation and turns glossy and fragrant thanks to a gingery miso-glaze and a quick scallion oil.

Our Best Mashed Potatoes Ever

The best homemade mashed potatoes are ultra-creamy, extra-silky, and perfectly fluffy. Get our best tips for making superior mashed potatoes here.

Deep-Dish All-American Cinnamon Apple Pie

Rose Levy Beranbaum's recipe for a deep-dish cinnamon apple pie makes an impressive, satisfying finale to any Thanksgiving meal or fall dinner. The buttery shortcrust shell is filled with tart sliced apples tossed in a spiced apple syrup.

6 hr 20 min

Pear and Radicchio Salad With Blue Cheese

This is the quintessential salad for autumn and winter, stunningly colorful. For the best-tasting result, look for pears that are ripe but still firm. But if soft pears are all you have on hand — or can find, substitute crisp apples. The crunch here is key.

15 min

Sweet and Salty Puppy Chow Recipe (Chocolate Peanut Butter Snack Mix)

This sweet-and-salty puppy chow recipe upgrades the classic with browned butter, miso, and cayenne for a crunchy, chocolatey snack that's wildly delicious.

45 min

Pistachio Bundt Cake

An easy but impressive cake fit for many an occasion. Rich and tender, with an arresting green interior. Topped with a lemony cream cheese glaze.

Butternut Squash Soup With Apples and Bacon

Rich, creamy butternut squash soup topped with sliced apple and crispy bacon is a perfect cold weather meal that can be made in one big pot, for easy cleanup

Zuppa di Pesce (Hearty Italian Seafood Stew)

Zuppa di pesce is a tomato-based seafood stew rooted in Italian coastal cuisine. This version pairs a rich tomato broth with shrimp, squid, fish, clams, and mussels for a celebratory meal perfect for holiday gatherings or cold winter nights.

1 hr 25 min

Cheddar Caramel Slices

A shortbread base made with cheddar cheese provides a salty contrast against a chewy caramel in this playful cookie bar that pays homage to Chicago mix popcorn.

Breakfast Bread Pudding

Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage Walnut Pumpkin Butter

These homemade ravioli are simple to make but add a wow factor to the holiday table. And they can be made ahead and frozen, and cooked up in minutes on the day. Two (15-ounce) cans of pure pumpkin purée may be substituted for the fresh pumpkin if desired.

2 hr

Cinnamon Roll Pull-Apart Bread

Soft, buttery pull-apart loaves layered with a gooey cinnamon-sugar filling and finished with a tangy cream cheese frosting. Each slice tastes like the center of a cinnamon roll — perfect for breakfast or dessert.

Cinnamon Roll Focaccia

This cinnamon roll focaccia recipe pairs airy yeasted dough with swirls of buttery cinnamon sugar and cream cheese glaze for a sweet, chewy riff on two classics.

3 hr

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies (aka Magic Middles)

Ask the internet about magic middles and you’ll be told they are a Keebler product, all the rage in the ’90s, but since discontinued. In 2012, Serious Eats’ Stella Parks brought them back to life when she whipped up her own version—a sugar cookie with a chocolate belly—calling long-lost magic middles America's Most Wanted Cookie (you know, in a good way). For what it’s worth, this was the most-wanted cookie in my family when my brother and I were growing up. The only catch is that “magic middles,” to us, means a totally different thing. Instead of a vanilla-outside and chocolate-inside, our version has a chocolate-outside and peanut butter–inside. My mom says she scored the recipe from another mom at a school bake sale a few years pre-millenium, but…did she? When I started digging into this almost two years ago for an article, the closest lookalike I could find was in King Arthur’s The Cookie Companion, which was published not in the ’80s or ’90s, but in 2004 (hat tip to King Arthur’s Baker’s Hotline for the detective work). Which means that either my mom and I are confusing timing, or the recipe we got preceded the book—but then, where did it come from? When I wrote about my conundrum last year, our community hopped right in with clues: “I looked in Google Books and found a recipe from a 1991 Beta Sigma Chi cookbook for “Magic Peanut Butter Middles,’” Jenne wrote. “Looks like Keebler Magic Middles were introduced in 1989, so my guess is that it started as a copycat recipe—there was also a version called ‘Peanut Butter Filled’ that looks pretty much exactly like these.” “The recipe appeared in my newspaper coupons, with coupons for Pillsbury flour, Skippy peanut butter and Mazola margarine,” J.K. added. “There is no salt in the recipe. The earliest expiration on the coupons is January 19, 1991.” According to Steffany: “My mom came across the recipe and asked me to bake these one Christmas, it would have been right around 1989 or 1990. She loved them so much I've made them for her every Christmas since, almost 30 years now.” “I've been making these since about that time as well—the recipe was printed in a lot of community/church fundraising cookbooks,” Brenda replied. “I still have one or two! No attribution there other than the woman who shared it.” Add all this up and you’ve got this: an influx of not-Keebler magic middles sometime in the early ’90s, and a bunch of families who can’t stop craving them to this day. Of course, I couldn’t help but put my own spin on my mom’s index card–documented, cocoa powder–stained recipe. I swapped out the sweetened peanut butter with unsweetened (this means you can sub in any nutty/seedy cousin, from cashew to sesame); bumped up the salt; decreased the flour for a fudgier vibe; and increased the cookie-smush so they turn out extra-slim. You should know that these are a project, and a messy one at that. But messy in a satisfying way, a way that reminds you that you baked something good. You should also know they freeze perfectly—if there’s a better late-night snack, I need not know it.

Lemon-Garlic Brisket

My mother, Rita Clark, adapted this recipe from Edda Servi Machlin’s “The Classic Cuisine of the Italian Jews," tweaking it slightly by using brisket instead of eye of round, and adding plenty of minced garlic. It’s fresh and lemony tasting, much zestier than the usual brisket, and far more tender, too, thanks to the acid in the lemon juice. It lasts for days in the fridge and makes excellent sandwiches. Best of all, it’s one the easiest brisket recipes out there.

3 hr 15 min

Louisa's Cake

Louisa is a family friend, gardener and chef from Castellina in Chianti, Italy, where we gather several times a year. She cooks everything from memory and threw this together one night last spring. When we pressed her for the recipe she hastily rattled some ingredients off and we scrambled to write it all down on a napkin. Along with my husband and children, we've tested this cake about 6 times, and friends are constantly asking for the recipe. —SML Office

Turkey Pot Pie With Puff Pastry Crust

The gravy of this puff-pastry-clad creamy turkey pie has a secret: American cheese. The super-melter imparts a silky texture, eliminating the need for cream.

Hot Chocolate Cookies

A swirl of marshmallow fluff melts into the tops of these hot chocolate cookies while a pinch of cinnamon imparts the taste of a wintry mug of warm Nesquik.

Ultimate Chocolate Mousse

This dark chocolate mousse recipe comes from legendary former New York Times restaurant critic Craig Claiborne. The simple dessert comes together in just half an hour before chilling and gets its fluffy texture from both whipped cream and egg whites.

4 hr 30 min

Dark ’n’ Stormy Cookies

The Dark ’n’ Stormy is a festive and fiery cocktail made with spicy ginger beer, warm dark rum and a refreshing hint of lime — a welcome wake-up call for your taste buds. This cookie recipe is no different. Cayenne joins the classic spice mix of ginger, cloves and cinnamon, and candied ginger, infused with dark rum, is mixed in, adding chewiness and sweetness. It’s all finished with a tart, refreshing lime-and-rum glaze. But perhaps the best part is that, unlike the cocktail, there is no limit to how many you should consume. 

1 hr 55 min

Flan de Queso (Cheese Flan)

Enriched with cream cheese, flan de queso is a wobbly custard with a cheesecake-like flavor. Learn to make this popular Latin American dessert here.