Vegetarian

For the clearest caramel and smoothest custard, ceramic or glass baking dishes work best for cooking this Filipino-American–style dessert.

If you’d like an even more pronounced molasses flavor, use a robust instead of mild molasses. Just don’t use blackstrap in these cookies; not only will it be too strong and bitter, but it will overwhelm the spices.

If your jam is too thick, a few pulses in a food processor will loosen it up—no need to add water.

You can find pistachio paste at specialty food stores and some grocery stores, but making your own is easy. Process 1/2 cup raw pistachios, 2 Tbsp. honey, and 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil in a food processor to a smooth paste.

You can roll out the dough and punch out other shapes, but the slice-and-bake method is fast, and you won’t have any scraps.

This dough recipe produces a finely textured, surprisingly flavorful cookie that holds its shape well. Use it for our Honey-Vanilla Linzer Cookies and Pistachio Thumbprints.

Make your dough balls as even as possible so the cookies match up when stacked.

These meringue-like cookies have all our favorite granola ingredients. You can swap in equal amounts of other nuts and seeds, such as hazelnuts, peanuts, or sunflower seeds.

Make these delicate, citrusy, melt-in-your-mouth cookies and just try not to eat all of them in one sitting.

Chef Jody Williams serves this truffle mixture family-style at holiday parties, with spoons, so guests can scrape off shavings of ganache and toss them through cocoa powder or sandwich between wedges of clementine.

The orange zest and nutmeg say holiday, but you can switch up the spices as long as you keep the butter and salt.

The beauty of this mix is that it can be deployed lots of ways. Eat it out of hand as an upgrade to the usual cocktail nut or pretzel offering, or spoon it over plain yogurt as a savory topping. It can also be tossed into a bowl of salad greens or as a stir-in for a puréed soup.

Packed with flavor from curry powder and fresh ginger, this fragrant soup is wonderfully filling, but won’t weigh you down.

Original malted milk powder can be found in the baking aisle. Look for the Nestlé Carnation brand.

Yes, you can cook lentils and quinoa together. And now your life will become exponentially easier.

No pressure cooker? Cook it the old-fashioned way.

Roasting beets over high heat yields charred skin—a nice balance with the sweet flesh.

Store-bought tubes of polenta are the ultimate appetizer shortcut: just slice and toast in the oven, top with wild mushrooms and Fontina, then bake until melty and irresistible.

This version of the flaky holiday pastry is made with a cream cheese dough and filled with quince paste, walnuts, and demerara sugar. It’s simple to make—and perfectly buttery.

These meringues are intentionally oversized—just as good hung from the Christmas tree as an ornament as they are to eat—and last for ten days, so, fortunately, their use as both decoration and edible treat are not mutually exclusive options.