Recipes

Desserts

Mama's Cranberry Salad

I usually eat this with the main portion of my Thanksgiving meal, but as I double the recipe and make it from the time ripe cranberries appear in the stores until they no longer do, it serves very well for dessert too. And for breakfast and for a late-night snack, for that matter. This has been on every holiday table I can remember, and its origins are lost in time—I'm not sure if it was a grandmother's recipe, or if Mama came up with it—but I can no more imagine Thanksgiving or Christmas without it than I can the one without turkey, and the other without ham!

Desserts

Mint Chocolate Harbor Bars

Harbor Bars are enormous, chocolate-dipped ice cream sandwiches made with soft chocolate chip cookies.

Desserts

Red Bean Ice Cream

This is one of my absolute favorite flavors of ice cream, and I was thrilled to be able to recreate it at home with the help of a Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams base. This is adapted from her Roasted Strawberry & Buttermilk Ice Cream.

Desserts

Triple Chocolate Madness Cookies

I have been making different variations of this cookie for years and this is its current incarnation. It all started as a child when i would come into the city to work with my dad. We would stop at the now defunct David's cookies in what is now the park central hotel. Never a fan for chocolate chip i fell in love with the dark chocolate cookie with white chunks and thus the love affair began.

Desserts

Pumpkin Flan

We are a family of flan eaters, all 30 or so of us, so it was just natural that I should start bringing a pumpkin flan to the Thanksgiving dinner. This recipe makes a bit more than will fit in the loaf pan so we generally make a couple of ramekins on the side for, um, quality control.

Desserts

S'mores Semifreddo

Last week at a beach picnic, my friend Stephen (coffee aficionado, Big Green Egg aficonado, everything food aficionado) told me about a s'mores variation that I couldn't resist trying. He'd read about s'mores semifreddo online, abandoned it for being too complicated (home-made graham crackers and ice cream, who can blame him?), and struck out on his own with a pared down version using storebought ingredients and a little culinary improv. Adapted from Stephen Cornick.

Desserts

Spiced Maple Pecan Pie with Star Anise

This recipe is from Melissa Clark's new book, Cook This Now. It's pecan pie that's taken a little walk on the wild side: Melissa uses maple syrup instead of the more traditional corn syrup and infuses it with star anise and a little rum. Best of all? Her crust is tender and flaky, as well as easy to handle.

Desserts

Chocolate Donut Holes

Sure, making donuts at home is a bit more work than running out to the store, but the extra effort is worth it. These guys are almost obscenely chocolatey thanks to the addition of both cocoa powder and melted unsweetened chocolate. My coffee has finally met its soulmate.

Desserts

Homemade Moon Pies!

Moon Pies (or MoonPies), often associated with the southern part of the U.S., are usually two round graham crackers with a marshmallow crème filling, and dipped in chocolate (or other flavored coatings). While it is probably hard to get the exact flavor and texture of commercial moon pies, this homemade version is more far more wholesome and uses no high fructose corn syrup.

Desserts

Puffy Pillow Beignets

This Japanese-inspired yeast doughnut incorporates the use of tapioca flour to give these beignets a unique chewiness. And a tiny bit of baking powder creates a hollow center, ready to be filled with your wildest imaginations.