Holidays recipes

Sesame seed cookies are an Italian-American holiday classic with a tender shortbread-like dough rolled in toasted sesame seeds before baking. Massive batch (240 cookies) for cookie tins.

Cheesy popover ring built on classic French choux pastry, studded with sharp cheddar and baked into a golden, crackly wreath. Pull-apart bread for brunch, soup, or holiday tables.

Holly Cluster cookies: chewy brown-sugar chocolate chip cookies topped with green marzipan holly leaves and red cinnamon candy berries. Holiday cookie tray showpiece with old-school decorating charm.

Buttery brown sugar shortbread cut into triangles, topped with a glossy chocolate dollop and a crunchy shower of toffee bits. Makes 8 dozen bite-sized treats for holiday platters.

Cranberry cheesecake pie with a tart cranberry-pecan layer beneath a creamy cream cheese filling, finished with a vanilla sour cream topping. A holiday dessert in a pie shell.

Sweet noodle kugel with egg noodles, raisins, walnuts, and lemon juice baked until golden with a bread crumb topping. A classic Jewish comfort dish for holidays or any day.

Roasted turkey with fresh sage leaves tucked under the skin and rosemary, stuffed with aromatic vegetables. A low-fat, herb-forward holiday bird with minimal seasoning and maximum flavor.

Big bunch doughnuts make 80 yeast-raised doughnuts from one rich dough of milk, butter, sugar, eggs, and yeast. Old-fashioned recipe for fundraisers, holidays, or feeding a crowd.

Sleigh Belles are angel food cake mix cookies in three festive flavors: chocolate chip walnut, coconut, and chopped date. Light, airy holiday cookies from one box of cake mix.

Old-fashioned Pennsylvania Christmas drop cakes loaded with currants and lemon. Thin, buttery, crispy-edged holiday cookies made the way they were a hundred years ago. A vintage gem.

Wild and brown rice pilaf with a full pound of fresh mushrooms, thyme, parsley, and optional pecans, simmered in chicken broth. A nutty, earthy side dish for holiday tables.

No-bake peanut butter cookies shaped into acorn points, dipped in melted chocolate, and rolled in chopped nuts. 60 cookies from 7 ingredients. A fun holiday or party treat.

Peanut butter buckeyes are no-bake candy balls of crunchy peanut butter and powdered sugar dipped in chocolate, leaving the signature peanut center exposed. An Ohio State holiday classic.

Golden fruitcake with dried apricots, raisins, candied cherries, orange peel, citron, and shaved almonds in a light cake flour batter. Baked low and slow for 4 gorgeous holiday loaves.

Festive cocoa cards are large chocolate-molasses cookies cut into rectangles and decorated with frosting to look like greeting cards. A fun holiday baking project for kids and adults.

Peppermint meringue kisses with crushed red and green candy canes sprinkled over delicate egg-white peaks. The light-as-air holiday cookie that's naturally gluten-free and fat-free.