Christmas 2024: Recipes, Menus, Gift Ideas, More!

Like the boxed stuff, but so much better.

Hot mulled cider is a must-have at all our fall and winter shindigs. It’s a great non-alcoholic drink option for holidays like Thanksgiving — guests of all ages never seem to turn down a mug, but grown-ups can also take the opportunity to do a little self-spiking and mix with their alcohol of choice. Slow-cooker mulled cider is the easiest way to serve a crowd.

You'll never want to prep it any other way.

Save room for seconds.

No-bake cookies — the kind made with oats, peanut butter, and chocolate — are a classic dessert and an easier option than homemade cookies from scratch. Mothers and grandmothers around the country regularly make this stovetop cookie, to varying results. I remember at least a few times eating failed no-bake cookies with a spoon because they never fully set. Here’s my secret to better no-bake cookies: Think of the process more like candy-making than cookie baking.

The humble banana gets the spotlight.

Pork loin roast might be the smartest meal to serve when you’re feeding a crowd. If you like pork chops or pork tenderloin, this cut will be right up your alley. Though it calls for a longer cook time, pork loin is simple enough to cook on a weeknight and more economical than beef tenderloin or prime rib.If you’re buying a pork loin roast for the first time, there are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind.

Southern biscuits are the perfect fictional device for telling the narratives of Southern families. One cook makes his biscuits with White Lily flour only because that’s how his Maw Mae did it. Another swears by lard, as her family never had the funds for high-dollar butter or shortening. Most Southern cooks bake biscuits at least once a week — a ritual and rite of passage as the recipe is handed down through the generations. My biscuit recipe is much the same.

When it comes to holiday hams, whether it’s a Bourbon-Glazed Ham or a Copycat Honey Baked Ham, there are always, always leftovers. Yes, even if you’ve done your research on how to cook a ham and made estimates based on how many people you’re feeding. But honestly, leftover ham dishes can be even tastier than the centerpiece itself. There are plenty of ways — big and small — that we all can use leftover ham, now and later.

Whether you plan to serve roasted leg of lamb, pan-seared lamb chops, or grilled lamb chops for a special dinner, you’ll want to choose some sides. The beauty of serving lamb as the main is that you can serve it with a wide variety of sides and the meal will taste great. Hearty potatoes dishes pair just as well as bright snappy veggies like green beans.

Bubble and squeak, with its cutesy name, is a classic British day-after-holiday dish. It is incredibly versatile, as you can throw in any leftover vegetables or mashed potatoes into this comforting recipe — perfect for a relaxing meal after a hectic holiday. Usually made to use up leftovers after a Sunday roast dinner, or a major holiday like Easter or Christmas, bubble and squeak is quintessentially British and makes for a hearty breakfast, lunch, or even a quick weeknight meal.

Restaurants have a secret that they do not want to share, and it’s this: Cooking crab legs is one of the easiest meals you can make at home. It’s true. You can make impressive, restaurant-quality crab legs — boiled, broiled, or steamed! — in your own kitchen. Because most crab legs are sold already cooked and frozen, all you really have to do is reheat them, and that only takes about five minutes. Here are three ways to make impressively easy crab legs at home.

The sauce is everything.

This Chocolate Martini Is Made For Chocolate Lovers

A bowl of chocolate mousse is a decadent treat, but a layered chocolate mousse cake with a cookie crust is next-level. There are many varieties of chocolate mousse cake. Some have chocolate cake crusts rather than the cookie crust; others are chocolate cake layered with a mousse frosting. But we think our double-layered chocolate mousse cake is one of the best. This mousse cake is set in the refrigerator rather than baked and is served cold.

Let’s talk caramels. The candy kind. The chewy, melt-in-your-mouth, deeply sweet, and insanely addictive kind. These make some of the best gifts ever, whether the event is Christmas, a birthday, a thank you for a favor, or a thoughtful hostess gift. Or no reason at all. You probably already have the ingredients in your pantry, and if you haven’t made caramels recently, you probably don’t know how easy they can be. Grab a bag of sugar and your candy thermometer, folks!

Irish coffee is one of our favorite St. Patrick’s Day treats — though we also enjoy it on Black Friday (staying home, skipping shopping) and on both Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. So when Sheela Prakash shared her uncle’s rules for making the very best Irish coffee I had to give his method a try. It turns out, just a few key points make for a better Irish coffee that is perfect for celebrating the everyday.

Give this gift to yourself.

Our favorite way to eat cauliflower isn’t as a cauliflower pizza crust or cauliflower rice, it’s an extremely creamy mash. But before we designate mashed cauliflower as just a lighter version of mashed potatoes, let’s consider why it is a side dish with merits all its own. You can’t over-mash or over-whip cauliflower the way you can potatoes. Without potato’s starch to contend with, you can purée the cauliflower all day with no risk of gumminess.

You can prep it the day before.

Think Pocky stick, but peanut butter.

It's perfectly retro.

Tastes like a ticket to Paris.

You won't believe how I do it.

You had me at crispy bacon and gooey cheese.

They're a new tradition.

Fondant potatoes look like a dish you’d order in a fancy restaurant. But don’t be intimidated by their appearance — they take less than one hour to make and use humble ingredients you might already have on hand. They also come together using just one pan, making cleanup a breeze. Serve them with seared steak or roast chicken for a restaurant-quality dinner at home. Or serve them alongside prime rib for an impressive holiday meal.

It doesn't get any fancier than this.

Hosting a holiday gathering means planning the menu, music, and atmosphere. I always include a festive appetizer to make the evening feel more celebratory and buy a little extra time to finish last-minute preparations once the doorbell starts ringing. Cranberry jalapeño dip is a play on the crowd-pleasing classic: pepper jelly and cream cheese. With its vibrant red hue and sweet-tart flavor, this cranberry jalapeño dip is a must-make this holiday season.

Whether it’s a small, intimate celebration with my family at home or a gathering with the extended family, my favorite way to kick off a holiday morning is with an extra-special breakfast. But since I’d much rather enjoy my time with my family than spend it in the kitchen, I make a point to stick with a breakfast that can be cooked through (or at least totally prepped) the day before.

Every year as the holidays approach, I eagerly anticipate holiday baking and decorating sugar cookies. And every year, they don’t exactly turn out as planned. That’s because decorating cookies is a lot easier said than done — especially if you’re a perfectionist like me who likes straight lines and clean edges. But this year, I’m prepared. I recently got to work developing a simple royal icing recipe that makes cookie decorating as stress-free (and mess-free!

Over my years of writing for The Kitchn, I’ve shared almost all of my favorite holiday cookies, from my mother’s famous peppermint cream-filled butter cookies (followed by the much less finicky peppermint cream squares the following year) to rugelach and gingerbread cookies. I’ve saved one of my most beloved cookies for last. These candy cane cookies are the best.

It was only a few years back when my mom first decided to bake stollen for Christmas morning. Traditionally, she baked her signature coffee cake after stockings, but with a house filled with more holiday guests than usual, she decided to expand the morning menu.I can still remember her kneading the dough on the 23rd, and when I later walked past the countertop, I encountered the most supple, glistening dome of dough I had ever seen.

Looking for an exciting holiday showstopper desert or no-bake summer stunner that’s ridiculously easy to make? Let us talk you into making trifle. In case you’re new to the dessert, trifle is a classic English dessert that usually consists of layered sponge cake, fruit, and custard, but there’s a lot of room for creativity. Serve it in a traditional glass trifle bowl to display the layers and you will be thankful trifle is so deceivingly impressive.

It's an easy and impressive way to feed a crowd.

They're a holiday miracle.

You'll make it on repeat.

You've never had creamed corn like this.

It's ridiculously good — and surprisingly easy to make.

Grab some candy canes.

It's a showstopper that only requires four ingredients.

There’s nothing better than freshly baked cookies on Christmas. But do you need an occasion to bake them? Of course you don’t! A lazy Saturday or a rainy weeknight is absolutely reason enough. After all, it doesn’t get any more satisfying than biting into a warm cookie fresh from the oven — and we could all use a little extra cozy right now. Everyone has their own cookie preferences, be it chocolate chip or shortbread.

A hot and fruity Mexican Christmas punch.

It’s so easy.

Consider them the ultimate comfort cookie.

It's all about the icing on the cake.

And it's so easy!

People love them.

It’s not what you think.

So rich, so buttery.

They look so fancy.

They taste like Reese's, only better.

‘Tis the season.

They’re a family favorite for a reason.

They're a classic for a reason.

The secret’s in the cream cheese.

They make a statement.

So easy and delicious.

Calling all chocolate-lovers!

Prepare to win the “best guest” award!

Because we all know the big feast isn't complete without it.

The very best gifts are the edible sort!