These Russian tea cakes are rolled in powdered sugar for a sweet finish and a snowball-like appearance. My grandmother "Bubba" brought this Russian tea cake recipe with her when she came from Lithuania, and now my family has made it for many generations. I pass it on in the true spirit of the holiday season!

Jessamyn Waldman, founder of Hot Bread Kitchen, grew up in Canada eating challah, the Jewish Sabbath bread. Unlike the eggy challahs of the Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern Europe, this version comes from the Sephardic Jews of the Mediterranean, who flavored their challahs with caraway and anise. Many challahs are braided, but this one is twisted into a round, turban-shaped loaf.

This rich, buttery toffee is layered with smooth chocolate and topped with crunchy almonds. The recipe is easy to make and perfect for holiday gift giving or bake sales. I always get compliments and requests for more of this toffee candy.

The trick to these crisp, chewy bagels is the poolish, a fermentation starter (also known as a mother dough) made with bread flour, yeast, and water. It is quickly assembled the night before the bagels are made.

I made these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies by modifying Beatrice's Excellent Oatmeal Cookies recipe. My boyfriend went crazy over them! I've never seen him enjoy cookies to that extent! He said I blew his mother's recipe away.

Sour cream, cocoa powder, and melted butter take this from breakfast banana bread to a decadent dessert chocolate banana cake.

These pecan pie cookies look and taste just like mini pecan pies! Perfect for festive cookie platters where you want to make something slightly different. You can spice up the cookies by adding cinnamon, ginger, or nutmeg to the cookie dough.

I got this from my mom. When she makes it, we all fight over it. It's delicious and easy to make.

This poppy seed and walnut roll is a version of a popular and delicious Croatian sweet yeast bread with two fillings, poppy seed-raisin, and walnut-raisin.

This rhubarb custard cake is a deliciously different cake that's very popular in Germany. The base of the cake is rich and buttery and is topped with chopped rhubarb and a decadent baked almond custard. Perfect with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

This frangipane strawberry shortcake uses one of the most delicious, and most underrated food pairings of all time, almonds and strawberries. After you take a few bites of this, you will understand.

This French almond rum cake takes inspiration from the classic Gâteau Nantais, and is one of the most elegant and delicious cakes you will ever eat. It's wonderfully moist, with a luscious lemon-almond-and-slight-hint-of-rum flavor that gets better and better the longer it sits--so if you can, make it a day in advance and give the flavors more time to meld together.