Recipes

Deliciously buttery, nut-filled Mexican wedding cookies have a crumbly texture and a sweet powdered sugar coating. These melt-in-your-mouth treats are a welcome addition to your holiday cookie tray. Make an extra batch to wrap in festive cookie bags and share as holiday gifts.

This apple-cranberry crisp is delightful combination of apples and fresh cranberries topped with a crisp, pecan topping. Serve warm or at room temperature with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

In a class at Point Reyes's new culinary center, students learn to top focaccia with pears and blue cheese.

This cranberry pie makes a light, delicious holiday dessert that's super simple to make with fresh or frozen cranberries. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

Nan-e barbari is a classic Persian flatbread that gets crisp and golden in the oven, thanks to roomal, a flour paste that's spread over the bread before it's baked. Jessamyn Rodriguez likes to serve it with feta and olives.

Good News Lionel Vatinet developed this hearty bread—a good source of fiber—to satisfy his Eastern European customers.

King cake is a New Orleans tradition that involves sweet cinnamon dough, a tiny plastic baby, and a party! The cake is baked with a tiny plastic baby hidden inside; whoever gets the slice with the baby in it has to host the next party. Sprinkle with purple, green, and gold sugar, or decorate with whole pecans and candied cherries.

These chewy pretzels from chef Hans Röckenwagner develop a shiny, professional-looking crust as they bake.

These Russian tea cakes are rolled in powdered sugar for a sweet finish and a snowball-like appearance. My grandmother "Bubba" brought this Russian tea cake recipe with her when she came from Lithuania, and now my family has made it for many generations. I pass it on in the true spirit of the holiday season!

Jessamyn Waldman, founder of Hot Bread Kitchen, grew up in Canada eating challah, the Jewish Sabbath bread. Unlike the eggy challahs of the Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern Europe, this version comes from the Sephardic Jews of the Mediterranean, who flavored their challahs with caraway and anise. Many challahs are braided, but this one is twisted into a round, turban-shaped loaf.

This rich, buttery toffee is layered with smooth chocolate and topped with crunchy almonds. The recipe is easy to make and perfect for holiday gift giving or bake sales. I always get compliments and requests for more of this toffee candy.

The trick to these crisp, chewy bagels is the poolish, a fermentation starter (also known as a mother dough) made with bread flour, yeast, and water. It is quickly assembled the night before the bagels are made.

I made these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies by modifying Beatrice's Excellent Oatmeal Cookies recipe. My boyfriend went crazy over them! I've never seen him enjoy cookies to that extent! He said I blew his mother's recipe away.

Sour cream, cocoa powder, and melted butter take this from breakfast banana bread to a decadent dessert chocolate banana cake.

These pecan pie cookies look and taste just like mini pecan pies! Perfect for festive cookie platters where you want to make something slightly different. You can spice up the cookies by adding cinnamon, ginger, or nutmeg to the cookie dough.

I got this from my mom. When she makes it, we all fight over it. It's delicious and easy to make.