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Christmas baking is the one time of year I clear my schedule for the kitchen. I've tested and reworked every one of these until my family stopped being able to tell them from the originals. Cookies for decorating, fudge for gifting, cakes, hot drinks, gingerbread, and party snacks, 31 recipes total. Everything you need for a full holiday spread.
The holiday cookie plate is a non-negotiable in our house. These are the ones I make every December: cutouts for decorating, toffee for gifting, and pinwheels that look more impressive than the effort involved.
The whole point of a holiday sugar cookie is that it holds its shape, and these do. I roll, chill, cut out shapes, bake, and decorate with royal icing. Our December tradition for years now.
When I want to decorate a few cookies without committing to three dozen, this is it. Six cookies, colorful buttercream, done. Good for when the kids want to decorate something small.
Butter and brown sugar sweetener cooked to hard crack, poured flat, then topped with melted chocolate, sea salt, and crushed pecans. I make tins of this and give them as gifts every December. It's cheaper and better than most store-bought toffee.
Sugar cookie dough rolled flat, spread with a maple pecan filling, rolled into a log, chilled, and sliced into spirals. The swirl looks fancy. The technique is not difficult.
Three cookies stacked in decreasing sizes with green buttercream holding them together to look like Christmas trees. My kids decorate these every year and it's become the project they look forward to.
A Canadian holiday classic I started making years ago. Chocolate-coconut base, custard buttercream middle, dark chocolate ganache on top. Three layers, no baking. I make these every December without fail.
The showpiece desserts. The yule log gets the most comments, but the fudge is what disappears first.
Homemade sugar-free condensed milk from heavy cream, then melted chocolate chips, butter, and vanilla stirred in. It sets up smooth and slices cleanly. The easiest batch dessert I make for the holidays.
Same technique as the chocolate fudge, but with white chocolate chips, pistachios, and dried cranberries folded in. The green and red makes it look festive without trying. I do a batch of each every year.
A thin chocolate sponge cake spread with cream filling, rolled into a log, and covered in ganache. I drag a fork through it to make bark lines. No towel-rolling drama, the ganache hides any cracks.
Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes, made from scratch. Soft cake cut into tree shapes, filled with swiss meringue buttercream, dipped in white chocolate with sprinkles. More effort than most things here. Worth it.
Cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger all in one cake with cream cheese frosting. I bake this when I want the whole house to smell like the holidays.
I keep something warm going on the stove most of December. Hot chocolate, eggnog, and peppermint mocha in constant rotation.
Dark cocoa and boiling water first, then heavy cream, nut milk, and sugar-free chocolate chips simmered in. Thick and rich. I make a pot and leave it on the stove for people to help themselves.
White chocolate chips melted into cream and nut milk with peppermint extract. Cozy and sweet. My favorite mug to hold while holiday movies are on.
The hot chocolate recipe blended with ice until it's thick and frozen. Heavy cream and sugar-free chocolate chips keep the richness. A cold version of my winter standby, which sounds counterintuitive but it works.
Egg yolks tempered into warm nut milk with cream and powdered sweetener, finished with nutmeg. Spiked or plain, it tastes like the holidays. I make a batch and keep it in the fridge all month.
White chocolate, peppermint, and espresso. My homemade take on the seasonal coffee shop drink. I make it at home because it costs a fraction of what they charge.
Every form of gingerbread I could figure out. Muffins, chaffles, pancakes, and a chaffle house that's more fun to build than it looks.
Spiced muffins with cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, with protein powder in the batter for structure. I frost them with cream cheese and eat them all December, usually while standing at the counter.
Brewed coffee in the batter deepens the spice flavor in a way that's hard to explain but easy to taste. Ready in five minutes. I warm one up and eat it with butter before anything else in the morning.
Cream cheese pancakes with cinnamon and ginger, made on the griddle. Christmas morning breakfast. The boys wake up early for these, which is saying something for teenagers.
A gingerbread house built entirely from chaffles, held together with royal icing. The kids decorate it and then we eat the whole thing, which is the part they look forward to most.
The savory options, the shareable snacks, and one thing cold for when you need a dessert that isn't a cookie or a cake.
Fathead dough rolled flat, layered with pepperoni, provolone, and marinara, then cut into strips and twisted into Christmas tree shapes. A pizza-flavored appetizer that actually looks festive on a party table.
Cremini caps stuffed with a sausage, cream cheese, and shallot filling, baked until golden. I make 20 at a time and they're gone fast. A reliable party appetizer that takes about 30 minutes.
Almond flour dough balls coated in cinnamon sugar, piled in a bundt pan, baked, drizzled with brown butter caramel. Pull-apart monkey bread for Christmas morning.
Heavy cream churned with peppermint extract and crushed sugar-free candy. Scoopable straight from the freezer because of the vodka in the base. My December dessert when I want something cold to end the night.
Cream cheese and butter mixed with cocoa, cinnamon, and a pinch of chili powder, rolled into balls, dusted with cocoa. A little spicy, a little sweet. I put these out by the tree and they go steadily throughout the evening.
7 more recipes from the collection.
