Baking

One of the many treats my brother and I looked forward to during the Christmas holidays was having a freshly baked petit bonhomme for breakfast or for an afternoon snack. The breads seemed to have a best friend, too: hot chocolate. Still today shop windows display the petits bonhommes in sizes ranging from seven or eight inches to several feet high. Some families buy a large bread to put in the middle of the holiday breakfast table. My father made his petits bonhommes from brioche but tells me they can also be made from the kugelhopf dough.

Raisins steeped in dark rum mingle with tart and sweet apples in this updated version of an American favorite. It's a showstopper when paired with lightly sweetened whipped cream.

For my first two months in the army I was based outside Toul. In the town was a pâtisserie that made the best brioche with pastry cream. I would go to the shop whenever I could. The baker spread pastry cream over the dough, and then rolled it up like a biscuit rolé (jelly roll). My father made a brioche-and-pastrycream roll, too, but shaped it like a bretzel. Chantal still remembers them from the first time I brought her home to meet my parents—to do that you had to be serious. When I told my father I planned to put them in this book, he was so pleased.

This fairly straightforward and versatile dough can be made as drop cookies instead of icebox-style sliced logs: Chill the dough, then scoop it into rounded-tablespoon-size balls, roll in the salt-sugar mixture, arrange at least 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) apart on the baking sheet, and flatten slightly. In addition, you can substitute just about any kind of flour for the rye.

Despite some tall tales, Hostess Twinkies do not last forever. The box of Twinkies that my friends gave me as a gag gift were, in fact, hard as a rock in less than a year. These cream-filled chiffon cake snacks, made with real, unprocessed dairy and eggs and whole-grain flours, won't last nearly as long as preservative-laden Twinkies, but you will almost certainly gobble them up in no time at all.

Donettes are tiny little rounds of deliciousness that really don't bear that much resemblance to bakery doughnuts but are somehow still satisfying. You can make your own in a flash with the aid of a mini doughnut pan. While it may seem strange, the addition of rye and barley flours into the batter makes for an exceptionally flavorful treat. To make Chocolate Mini Cake Doughnuts, simply add two tablespoons of cocoa powder to the flour mixture.

A touch of sugar makes these flakey crackers equally as tasty with peanut butter as they are with cheese. Look for a fluted edge cookie cutter to make your crackers look like the classic Ritz crackers.

This tart is a tradition-forming mix of caramel, crunchy pecans, and melted chocolate. Be sure to let it rest for 30 minutes before serving.

These tender-crusted little pies are filled with orange-scented cranberries.

An easy cookie crust and a fragrant, custardy filling laced with rings of apple set this fall dessert apart from the competition.

Greek yogurt lends an unexpected tanginess to this light no-bake cheesecake. Use pomegranate juice that has been flash-pasteurized (such as Pom); fresh juice can turn brown when cooked.

Adding egg yolks, cream, and sugar transforms a standard crust into something almost cookie-like. Freeze the second crust for later use.

Pooh, my mother-in-law, makes the best easy family-style chocolate cake, which we persuade her to make whenever there's a birthday! Her secret is dissolving the cocoa in boiling water before adding it. If you prefer, you can divide this among two round cake pans and fill.

This dense quickbread is traditionally baked in empty coffee cans.

Serve at brunch, or for dessert with a scoop of lemon gelato.

"When I was a little girl, my mom imparted her joy of baking by letting me help with my grandmother's pumpkin pie. It's the perfect starter recipe: Just measure, whisk, and bake. I passed this tradition on to my daughters when they were kids, and they've been in charge of making the Thanksgiving pie ever since." —Janet McCracken, deputy food editor

Serve these little spinach pies with a main course as your vegetable side and dinner roll in one, or eat a couple for a vegetarian dinner—they're that good.

Dusted with flaky sea salt, these buttery Parker House rolls are folded, making them perfect for late night leftover turkey or roast sandwiches.

This recipe is part of the Epicurious Online Cooking School, in being made, and to learn how to make other Mediterranean classics, check out the video classes.

This coffee-cake like strawberry cake is piled high with a lemony pistachio streusel.