With all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, picking up the phone for delivery or hitting up the drive-thru on the way home seems a whole lot easier than cooking. But I promise, if you can muster the energy to spend a little time in the kitchen, our favorite recipes from December will not disappoint. From dreamy, creamy, cheesy comfort food to luscious treats, they’re worth the effort.
Breakfast
1. Apple-gingerbread pancakes recipe
Fluffy pancakes with a hint of seasonal gingerbread? I’d get out of bed for that.
2. Homemade blackstrap molasses bread recipe
This molasses bread is ready in under an hour. It would probably take me that long to put my pants on and drive to the bakery. So… no more excuses about making homemade bread.
3. Baked mini frittatas with peas and ricotta recipe
Flipping a huge frittata is scary. Avoid the angst with these adorable mini versions.
Snacks, lunch, appetizers
4. Cheese board tostadas with fig jam recipe
All your favorite cheese board accoutrements, piled high on a tostada for a perfectly easy gourmet lunch.
5. Quince and red currant jam recipe
Stop walking by the quince at the farmers market. This jam could be in your future.
6. Kiwi caipiroska salad recipe
This boozy fruit salad version of the classic Brazilian cocktail, the caipiroska, looks like my new favorite way to kiwi.
7. Mini chicken and waffle bites recipe
That perfect combination of sweet, salty and savory: chicken and waffle bites. And you can eat way more because they’re miniature, right? Right.
Soups
8. Gnocchi chicken soup recipe
Substituting gnocchi for noodles in classic chicken soup sounds like a great idea to me.
9. Homemade SpaghettiOs soup recipe
Homemade SpaghettiOs? Kids today have it good.
10. Spicy Asian chicken noodle soup recipe
I would like to put in my order for a huge bowl of this spicy chicken soup next time I’m sick. Thanks.
11. Black bean and sausage slow cooker chili recipe
For 15 minutes of prep time, you get to come home to this hearty bowl of chili.
Sides
12. Sautéed fennel, clementines and pistachios recipe
If you got suckered into buying that 90-pound bag of clementines and don’t know what to do with them, it’s this.
13. Bourbon and browned butter garlic mashed potatoes recipe
Bourbon, browned butter, roasted garlic? The only thing that could possibly make these mashed potatoes any better is bacon. But then, I might have a slight bacon problem.
Dinner
14. Lasagna pouches with kale, pancetta and cheese recipe
Lasagna pouches. For the lazy lasagna maker. Genius.
15. Baked black bean and green chile taquitos recipe
Meatless Monday looks pretty darn good when these black bean taquitos are in front of you.
16. Malaysian-inspired super-spicy lamb stir-fried noodles recipe
If you’re a lamb newbie, then this quick, spicy stir-fry is a great place to test the water.
17. Turkey enchiladas with quinoa and cheese recipe
Would you believe these cheesy enchiladas have under 300 calories per serving? Believe it. And go make ’em.
18. Slow cooker Indian butter chicken recipe
Confession: As much as I adore butter chicken, I have never made it because I thought it sounded like too much work. I was way wrong.
19. Winter butternut squash fettuccine Alfredo recipe
Here’s a sneaky way to get the kids to love squash: Turn it into creamy Alfredo sauce.
20. Ricotta gnudi with brown butter-sage sauce recipe
Forget gnocchi. Gnudi, in all its cheesy goodness, is where it’s at.
21. Easy chicken verde enchiladas recipe
If you’ve got 20 minutes, you’ve got dinner. It doesn’t get much easier than these verde enchiladas.
22. Pear, prosciutto and watercress pizza recipe
Seasonal pears + salty prosciutto = mouthwatering pizza.
23. Salt-crusted baked potato with ground beef recipe
This drool-worthy specimen of a baked potato is a meal in itself. You can skip the veggies for one night — I won’t tell.
24. Creamy one-pot vegan Mexican macaroni and cheese recipe
Even as a non-vegan, I would do some serious damage to this creamy, dreamy bowl of mac and cheese.
25. Pizza upgrade: The Italian special
Believe it or not, this was once a lowly frozen pizza. Upgrading takes only minutes.
Dessert
26. Hot apple pie rolls recipe
For those times when you’re craving apple pie hard but just don’t feel like going to all that trouble, these bad boys are ready in 20 minutes flat.
27. Pumpkin cheese pie puffs recipe
It’s perfectly acceptable to eat pumpkin in December, especially when it looks like this.
28. Hot cocoa cookie mugs recipe
These cookie mugs fall into the “too cute to eat” category, except that I totally would eat them. All of them.
29. Gluten-free sweet potato pie with quinoa-walnut crust recipe
The classic sweet potato pie gets a gluten-free makeover with a nutty crust.
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