104 christmas cake recipes

Karen's pumpkin pie uses fresh roasted pumpkin, heavy cream, brown sugar, warm spices, and a splash of whiskey for the richest holiday pie. From-scratch Thanksgiving classic.

Christmas sugar cookies are buttery rolled cut-out cookies for decorating. Crisp edges, tender centers. Big-batch dough yields four dozen festive shapes for the holidays.

Spice cookies with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and clove rolled and cut into festive shapes. The perfect Christmas cookie for decorating with royal icing.

Chewy spice cookies are low-fat molasses cookies sweetened with applesauce, scented with ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice, then drizzled with lemon icing. Holiday spice cookies without butter or eggs.

Classic Thanksgiving pumpkin pie with cinnamon, ginger, and cloves bound by evaporated milk and eggs in a flaky shell. The straightforward holiday standard, two pies from one batch.

Classic Kentucky pecan pie with dark brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, and a heap of pecans on top. The Dear Abby reader-favorite recipe from the back of newspapers nationwide.

Easy pecan pie with butterscotch chips folded into a classic Karo syrup filling. The Thanksgiving and Christmas pie that bakes up glossy, gooey, and dotted with caramel pockets.

Soft, warmly spiced gingerbread cookies made with molasses, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg. Roll and cut into festive shapes for Christmas decorating with simple icing.

Spicy pumpkin pie with two teaspoons of cayenne pepper hidden in the warm spice blend, balanced by honey, half-and-half, and ground pecans. A Thanksgiving showstopper that surprises every guest at the second bite.

Miniature pecan pies bake up in 17 minutes for a one-bite holiday treat. Dark corn syrup filling, chopped pecans, and an egg-white-sealed tart shell keep the bottoms crisp. Sixteen tarts per batch.

Pleasure's Pumpkin Pie: a lighter Thanksgiving pie made with whipped egg whites and skim evaporated milk, packed with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice for classic fall warmth.

Farrah Fawcett's pecan pie is the classic: a rich corn syrup and vanilla custard packed with pecan halves in a flaky crust. The actress's simple, foolproof holiday pie bakes up with a glossy, crackly top.

Golden pecan pie pours brown sugar, light corn syrup, and vanilla over toasty pecan halves in a flaky shell. A classic Thanksgiving pie with deep molasses sweetness and a glossy top.

Maple leaf pumpkin pie sweetens the spiced pumpkin custard with a half cup of pure maple syrup, then crowns the cooled pie with pastry maple leaves baked separately to a golden brown. A festive Canadian-style holiday dessert.

Pumpkin pie cognac with a silky custard of half-and-half, dark brown sugar, candied ginger, and a generous splash of brandy. The grown-up holiday pie that smells like Thanksgiving in a glass.

Pecan tarts with caramel sauce: flaky homemade pastry shells filled with a brown-butter pecan filling, baked golden, then drizzled with silky amber caramel. Individual holiday tartlets worth the effort.