Holiday Recipes

Fermented black beans can be found at Asian markets; but if unavailable, you can substitute prepared black bean sauce.

Cocoa sponge cake hearts cut from a sheet pan, dusted with powdered sugar, and plated with pools of raspberry sauce and chocolate syrup. A stunning Valentine's Day or special occasion dessert for 8.

Old-fashioned Christmas fruit cake with boiled raisins, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. No eggs or butter needed, just cold water and shortening for a dense, spiced holiday cake.

Cool Whip graveyard dessert layers a chocolate wafer crust, creamy cheesecake filling, orange gelatin, and whipped topping dusted with cookie dirt. Easy Halloween party dessert.

Cranberry sauce for holiday meringues: a glossy, ruby-red dessert sauce made from cranberry juice, sugar, lemon, and a touch of cornstarch. Perfect spooned over crisp meringues, ice cream, or pavlova.

Cranberry nut bread with fresh orange zest, orange juice, and chopped walnuts or pecans. A tart, citrusy quick bread loaf that also works as muffins for holiday breakfasts and gifting.

Two-layer cranberry Jello salad with cranberry sauce and juice on the bottom and a creamy sour cream and walnut layer on top. A classic holiday gelatin side dish.

No-bake Halloween spider cookies made by stacking peppermint patties on butter cookies, then piping frosting legs and candy eyes. A spooky craft kids can eat!

Sausages stuffed with mustard and wrapped in flaky crescent roll dough to look like creepy caterpillar cocoons. A fun, spooky Halloween snack kids love to make and eat.

Adorable Halloween ghost biscotti dipped in white chocolate with candy decorations. Crunchy orange-almond cookies perfect for trick-or-treaters and fall parties.

Cranberry apple relish with cider-cooked apples, raw cranberries, sugar, cinnamon, and cloves. A ratio-based holiday condiment you can scale to any batch size.

The crisp, densely chocolaty cookies, with an unusually long baking time, were an annual favorite among the 20-plus recipes that Susan Couchman of Hartland remembers were made each year by her mother, Gloria Kuchler.

A quick, fun Halloween soup made with artichoke hearts, celery, and rice with chicken. Just toss everything together, simmer, and serve with crackers.

Triple-chocolate Halloween brownies with espresso, walnuts, and chocolate chips, chilled and cut into festive shapes with cookie cutters, then frosted in orange.

A hilariously gross Halloween cake decorated to look like a head with frosting 'hair,' cherry eyes, and a fruit roll-up tongue. Kids go absolutely wild for this one. Easy box cake base.

Ear Wax Wieners on Cotton Swabs, a gross-out Halloween party appetizer. Broiled cocktail franks with a mustard-mayo dipping sauce on cotton-ball toothpicks.