Vegetarian

The last thing you need to worry about tomorrow morning is breakfast. With this brioche French toast, you assemble it today, let it sit in the fridge overnight, and tomorrow slide it in the oven. By the time gifts are open, breakfast will be on the table.

Those of us who prefer a restrained sweetness and a more pronounced cocoa taste will adore these muffins. Nothing overtly sweet here. And we're okay with that.

Not Portuguese? Not a problem. It won't lessen your appreciation for these little lovelies with the shatteringly crisp pastry cradling ridiculously creamy custard.

In Portugal, deep-frying beans is a long-standing tradition. Serve these peixinhos da horta as a starter, snack, or, as the Portuguese do, a side dish.

What's with the thankfulness, you ask? For starters, this sleek, sophisticated, tender-crumbed cake smothered in butterscotch and stacked to the heavens.

Irresistible in terms of both taste and texture. Those with a weakness for these classic Italian cookies, consider yourself warned.

An exceptionally, deeply chocolate dessert that feels light and cool. It makes an elegant finish on a warm summer night.

A superlative version of the classic American quick bread that everyone loves. And that everyone pretty much always has the ingredients for on hand.

Panettone, which makes its traditional Italian Christmas appearance, is gussied up here with any dried fruit you fancy. An ever so slight twist on a classic.

These chocolate-y devil's food cupcakes boast a creamy cheesecake-y addition. You may never go back to plain chocolate.

You're going to feel like a cheat when you serve these obscenely simple tarts to guests. Shhhh. Your secret's safe with us.

For this Armenian dish, homemade yogurt cheese is made into balls and marinated in oil infused with garlic, dill, and Aleppo pepper.

This classic French dessert is an eggy cake that's studded with currant, soaked with a vanilla-rum sauce and brushed with an apricot glaze.

Alice Medrich strikes again with this flaky, buttery crust filled with rich chocolate custard infused with a hint of espresso.

A most gratifying use for a gangly gourd, this silken butternut squash soup all but defines autumn.

What makes this apple cake so incredibly moist that it stands out from the rest? Lots of things, including a lovely swirl of cream poured on top of the batter and baked right in.

These doughnuts have a wonderful crisp gold-brown crust and tender insides, like a dessert version of hush puppies.

Ripe pears and sweet-tart dried cranberries are the stars of this fruit crumble. The topping is an old-fashioned mix of oatmeal, brown sugar, and butter.

Dinner doesn't get any easier or more elegant than pasta tossed with butter, olive oil, Parmesan and pecorino Romano cheeses, and dusted with lots of black pepper.

An ethereally creamy, subtly sweet, wickedly pistachio-y gelato that derives its pure flavor from nothing more than the essentials.