Holidays recipes

Bread machine cranberry walnut bread with fresh orange juice and zest, sweet-tart cranberries, and chopped walnuts. A quick-bread holiday loaf with zero kneading required.

Peanut butter blossom kisses with sugar-rolled cookies and a chocolate kiss pressed warm into each top. The classic holiday cookie tray standard, soft and chewy with a crackly sugar crust.

Lightened green bean casserole with low-fat cream of mushroom soup, nonfat sour cream, and a Parmesan-breadcrumb topping instead of fried onions. Six-ingredient holiday side.

Pateles are Puerto Rican green banana tamales: grated green banana and potato dough wrapped around achiote-spiced pork in banana leaves, then boiled until tender. Holiday tradition across the Caribbean and beyond.

Traditional German braised red cabbage with Granny Smith apples, red wine, and a splash of vinegar to lock in the ruby color. Sweet-tart side dish for pork roast, sausages, and holiday tables.

No-bake peppermint fudge pie layered into a chocolate wafer crust, with a creamy marshmallow filling studded with crushed peppermint candy. A holiday classic with cool, minty crunch.

Soft molasses sugar cookies with cinnamon, cloves, and ginger, rolled in sugar with a thumbprint filled with extra crunch. Crisp edges, chewy centers, warm holiday spice.

Poinsettia pie with a chocolate wafer crust, creme de menthe chiffon filling, and decorative red and white chocolate leaves arranged like the holiday flower. A Christmas centerpiece dessert.

Hungarian-style cream cheese triangles (kiflis) with a tender pastry dough wrapped around prune butter or fruit jam, baked golden, and dusted with powdered sugar. A classic holiday cookie tin staple.

Lester's fruitcake is a heirloom holiday loaf: pounds of candied fruits, figs, dates, raisins, pecans, and walnuts bound in spiced molasses batter. Slow-baked, brandy-soaked, aged a month.

Traditional German Spekulatius Christmas cookies spiced with cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves, made with ground almonds and butter. Thin, crisp, and warmly spiced, these are a holiday cookie tin essential.

Haselnussmakronen, traditional German hazelnut macaroons: a cocoa meringue folded with crushed hazelnuts and lemon zest, baked low into chewy, flourless cookies. A naturally gluten-free holiday treat.

Turkey Creole simmers cooked turkey with tomatoes, onion, celery, bell pepper, and chili powder in the slow cooker. A dump-and-go post-holiday meal served over rice for six.

Orange star anise biscochitos: traditional New Mexican holiday cookies flavored with anise and orange juice, rolled and cut into shapes, then dusted with cinnamon sugar. Crisp, fragrant, and built for gifting.

Traditional Austrian Ischli cookies with ground almonds, sandwiched with raspberry jam and topped with mocha chocolate icing. A classic European holiday cookie worth the overnight chill.

Cranberry-swirled cheesecake on an Oreo chocolate crust with orange zest, ribboned filling, and a tart cranberry topping. A stunning holiday centerpiece that cuts like a dream.