Stand Mixer

The zing of ginger and the sweetness of molasses combine in perfect proportions in this cookie, sent to us by Jane Booth Vollers of Chester, Connecticut. Her grandmother, Helen Dougherty, made batches and batches of them every holiday season.

These lightly spiced butter cookies are similar to Janhagel, a popular Dutch cookie. Jane Valentine Talbert of Encinitas, California, uses pecans instead of the more traditional almonds.

When Abby Cohen of Oakland, California, was in college, her friend Michael Gevelber would receive these cookies in care packages sent by his Czechoslovakian mother. They taste best when made and filled 1 day ahead.

It's best to have a napkin handy when eating these crunchy chocolate cookies — the confectioners-sugar coating can get messy. After Catherine Rieger of Martinez, California, found the recipe in The Babbo Cookbook, the cookies became a staple in her home.

Fredricka Schwanka of Terryville, Connecticut, re-created her grandmother's recipe for these pastrylike cookies. This dough is extremely tender — if at any time during the filling process it gets too soft to work with, chill it on wax paper on a large baking sheet. You will have leftover filling, which is wonderful spread on toast or an English muffin.

The pleasant bite of anise gives these beautiful cookies a grown-up appeal. This recipe is from Mary McAvoy of Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, who has been baking since she was ten years old.

Ambrosia may sound exotic, but it's simply chilled fruit (typically oranges or bananas) tossed with coconut and sugar. In some homes, it is served as a salad as well as a dessert. Here, food editor Alexis Touchet put her own spin on this southern classic by bringing cake into the picture, and moving the oranges to the filling and pressing the coconut into the frosting.

These moist, chewy cookies have an intense almond flavor. Barbara Bruno of New Portland, Maine, enjoys hers with a glass of chilled Champagne.

A mixture of mushrooms gives these Mexican tamales a rich, almost meaty flavor.

While any yeast dough can be kneaded by hand, this one is done in a heavy-duty mixer with a dough-hook attachment — it's the fastest, easiest way to get the best texture. Use a clip-on deep-fry thermometer to gauge the oil temperature when frying these doughnuts: too low and they'll absorb oil, turning leaden and soggy; too high and they'll burn before the insides are cooked through.

The longer you wait to use the proto-dough, the tangier the bread will be.

Like all the names of the desserts at Sugar, this one is a play on a literary work (André Gide's The Immoralist). The campfire favorite is made at once more refined and more scrumptious: Meltingly soft, homemade marshmallows are caramelized atop tender, crumbly chocolate sablé cookies. You will need to use a stand mixer to prepare the fresh marshmallows, and a kitchen blowtorch to caramelize them.

(Iced Coffee with Vanilla Ice Cream)

This recipe is used to make: Spritz Wreaths
Raspberry Hazelnut Triangles
Orange Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
Mocha Butter Balls
Jewel Bowl Cookies
Spiced Icebox Butter Cookies
Apricot Stars
Almond Butter Crisps Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.