Holiday Recipes

These muffins are great. They are not too sweet, have just the right amount of cream cheese, and are nice and filling.

Homemade Purim ravioli with a tender spinach and chicken filling, sealed between paper-thin sheets of pasta and boiled, then served with marinara or meat sauce. An Italian-Jewish holiday labor of love.

Rugelach four ways: a single cream cheese pastry dough turned into raspberry-almond crescents, layered chocolate-pecan squares, apricot pockets and honey-pecan triangles. Holiday cookie tray showstopper.

A dense, buttery Spanish-style almond cake spiked with tequila añejo, orange and lemon zest, and freshly grated nutmeg. Dusted with powdered sugar for an elegant holiday dessert.

Spiced gingerbread with cinnamon, mace and nutmeg, brightened with orange zest and brandy, studded with raisins. A moist, dense holiday loaf perfect for Christmas tea trays.

Sweet potato ginger rolls with fresh ginger, orange zest, and nutmeg in a soft yeast dough, egg-washed and topped with sesame seeds. Tender dinner rolls with warm, spiced flavor.

Christmas pudding steams grated carrot and potato with raisins, currants, suet, and warm spice blend into a moist holiday dessert. Serve with brown sugar sauce or custard.

Peanut butter reindeer cookies use a boxed cookie mix, an egg, and a reindeer cutter for shape, then decorate with chocolate chips, candy-coated chocolates, and sprinkles. Easy holiday baking project for kids.

Halloween black cat cookies turn rich chocolate cookie dough into spooky-cute pops, with pinched ears, fork-pressed whiskers, candy corn eyes, and red-hot noses. A fun bake the kids can help shape.

Fruit solitaire tarts with orange-scented butter pastry shaped like playing card suits, filled with cherry and blueberry pie filling. A festive New Year's Eve dessert.

A rustic apple tart where pieces of buttery shortcrust are patched together top and bottom, layered with apricot jam and clove-spiced apples. A forgiving, no-fuss bake for anyone shy of rolling perfect pastry.

Cranberry orange bread folds whole tart cranberries and chopped nuts into a quick bread brightened with fresh orange juice and zest. A Christmas-classic loaf that gets better the day after baking.

Traditional British Christmas plum pudding: a dense steamed pudding rich with suet, dried fruit, candied orange, and brandy. Made weeks ahead to mellow, then reheated and flamed for the holiday table.

Banana Spice Lemon Drops are soft drop cookies with cinnamon and cloves, topped with a bright lemon butter frosting. A 3-dozen batch in 30 minutes with an unexpected banana-citrus flavor contrast.

Buttery thumbprint cookies with a gross-out Halloween twist: pale, tender shortbread rounds dimpled and filled with dark blackberry jam that looks like a 'blackhead.' Easy, funny, and good enough to disappear fast.