This time of year it seems everywhere you go—from the office to grandma's living room, from your friend's apartment to your partner's holiday party—you find a plate of cookies: decadent, sweet, sticky. It's wonderful and enjoyable, but if you're like me, at some point all that gooey sweetness fails to satisfy, and you find yourself wanting to nibble on something a little lighter, simpler, yet still festive and fitting to the season. More

Fresh, warm cinnamon rolls are a special breakfast for the holidays (or any day), but who wants to wake up at 5 am to start the process of making them from scratch? Instead of reaching for canned rolls, try this technique from King Arthur Flour: parbake and freeze cinnamon rolls, then fully bake them just before serving. You'll have hot, homemade cinnamon rolls on the table in just 20 minutes. More

Frankly, I don't really understand the December cookie craze. If you ask me what my favorite Christmas cookie is, I'll tell you chocolate chip. Only chocolate chip. At least, that would have been my firm answer right up until last week when I discovered Regan Daley's butter-toffee crunch shortbread and had a change of heart. It was love at first bite, and it took everything in me not to hide in the pantry and devour the whole pan.

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Last year, I shared an old favorite recipe for Peppermint Cream-Filled Butter Cookies, which are infamous in my family for being both ridiculously tasty and also ridiculously tedious to make. This year, I thought I'd try tweaking the recipe just enough to keep all its most swoon-worthy qualities while trimming away the labor. The result might, just maybe, be better than the original. More

Do you have a perfect recipe for cut-out sugar cookies? One that rolls out beautifully and bakes up sturdy yet chewy? What about that killer Nutella cookie recipe — the one that will climb to the top of the cookie exchange? We have these for you today and more — a list of our own very favorite recipes for this high season of holiday cookie baking. More

No, I didn't make these amazing sweet cookies that look like savory things, but I really, really want to. And I probably won't.

I am quite sure that I'm not alone when I say my kitchen has been extra busy these days. Even as I write this, several jars of freshly canned fig chutney are lined up on the counter waiting for their labels while a pot of experimental mincemeat simmers on the stove and two sticks of butter slowly soften in a mixing bowl. (It's that Most Wonderful Time of the Year when one can automatically place two sticks of butter out to soften every morning upon rising, for surely they will be needed before the day is done.) It's a little crazy, a little stressful, and I love it. More

Pine nuts aren't cheap, but for a special holiday gift, or personal indulgence, we love the idea of a little jar of roasted pine nut butter. More

If you happen to be into chick flicks, which I am, then maybe you love the Christmas movie The Holiday as much as me? (Unfortunately I have to watch it alone, because it doesn't meet my fiancé's manly standards.) In one scene in particular, Kate Winslet offers to whip up some "Christmas fettuccine" for Jack Black, who is in need of some much-needed cheer. More

Coffee lovers encompass a range of obsessions: it's about the bean, the flavor, the caffeine, the ritual, the process, the experience. Whatever your coffee lover's particular focus, we have a gift idea for you. More

Q: My friend and her husband are expecting their first child on Christmas Eve and so will not be celebrating the holiday with their family this year. I've offered to make Christmas dinner for them, but I'm Jewish so I'm not totally sure what to make. Any suggestions?

Sent by Mollie More