Desserts

Cream cheese is the key to making this soft dough super-easy to work with. We've played around with the classic crescent shape to expand your rugalach repertoire.

Toasted hazelnuts add a delightful nutty flavour to these buttery, jam-filled sandwich cookies

Edible lustre dust lends instant glamour to these spectacular painted square butter cookies.

Our homemade, hot-pink take on the Sno Ball—a Hostess convenience-store staple, which dates back to the late 40s—is the most delightfully OTT dessert. They're guaranteed to bring nostalgia—and sticky fingers—to any holiday table. Iced (and filled!) with decadent marshmallow frosting, these chocolatey coconut snowballs rolled in pink coconut flakes are a fresh holiday showstopper few will be able to resist, no matter how many holiday cookies they’ve already eaten.

Spoonably soft fruit and a velvety chocolate sauce get spiked with tequila and cayenne. Poach pears ahead of time for a quick dessert or skip the sauce and use a drinking chocolate mix instead, which is thicker than typical hot chocolate. Soma and ChocoSol make great Canadian options. —Chantal Braganza