Recipe Sifter

Lighter applesauce cinnamon waffles made with buttermilk, whipped egg whites, and a splash of maple syrup. Cinnamon-sugar dusted on top, optional raisins folded into the batter.

Gourmet chocolate chip cookies use both light and dark brown sugar with optional ground coriander for warm depth. Big quarter-cup-sized cookies with semi-sweet chips and walnuts. Makes 3 dozen.

Homemade Jos Louis cakes (gateaux Jos Louis): French Canadian chocolate sandwich cakes with fluffy marshmallow-style vanilla filling and a rich chocolate icing coat. A Quebec childhood classic.

Classic pecan pie from Dear Abby columnist Abigail Van Buren, built on corn syrup, brown sugar, and whole pecans scattered across the top instead of stirred in. The old-school Southern holiday standard.

Old-fashioned stovetop fudge made with real unsweetened chocolate, evaporated milk, and walnuts. Cooked to soft ball stage and beaten until thick and glossy, this is the kind of homemade fudge that wins county fair ribbons.

A show-stopping New York-style cheesecake with citrus-scented filling on a buttery graham crust, crowned with raspberry sauce, peach puree, and fresh fruit. Worth every minute of the wait.

Cute and tasty. These mini tarts are filled with creamy and silky Mascarpone cheese and fresh raspberries.

A no-bake coconut cream pie with a sticky pecan praline layer on the bottom, fluffy vanilla pudding filling loaded with flaked coconut, all in a pre-baked pastry shell. Chill, slice, and swoon.

Rich no-bake chocolate cheesecake with a graham cracker crust, semi-sweet chocolate cream cheese filling, and folded-in whipped cream for an airy texture. Set with gelatin, no oven needed.

Dark zucchini bread made with brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg. Deeply spiced and extra moist from three cups of grated zucchini.

White Lily pound cake bakes a classic Southern butter-and-shortening pound cake with vanilla and almond extracts in soft White Lily flour. A Southern grandmother's pound cake recipe.

This recipe, though fussy to make, is attractive and tasty. Cheryl Kaufenberg of Darien said it came from a very old Better Homes & Gardens magazine

Angus Barn chocolate chess pie copies the famous Raleigh steakhouse dessert: rich, fudgy filling baked into a crackly-topped pie that's somewhere between brownie and pudding. Seven ingredients, no fancy steps.

A quick and easy recipe to make your own granola bars, and they taste better and a lot healthier than store-bought ones. They can be breakfast or a quick snack whenever you feel hungry.

These can be served warm or at room temperature with a pat of unsalted butter. Because there’s so much sweetness inside—from the cranberries, chocolate and orange zest—preserves would be overkill. This holiday recipe is so festive, why not gather some friends to enjoy them with some good coffee or tea before the season gets too busy. Find more recipes on TheNibble.com.

Buttery and crunchy, they are great for making holiday cookies.