The classic flavors of red velvet cake are transformed into cookies with the cream cheese baked right inside. It's such a welcome surprise inside this soft, chewy and festive dessert.

Christmas morning calls for a special breakfast — and a comforting casserole makes it easy to make breakfast for everyone at once. This dish has everything you love about a traditional bagel breakfast sandwich, but it's all baked into a creamy, cheesy casserole that can be made the night before.

Stuff store-bought pizza dough (a handy shortcut we love for holiday appetizers) with tomato sauce, sausage, pepperoni and mozzarella, and with a few easy snips and twists, you've made a holiday centerpiece that everyone will love to pull apart — the melty cheesy bits are so satisfying!

A super-creamy, Parmesan-packed bechamel sauce replaces the usual tomato sauce in this twist on baked ziti. The result is a silky, savory and nutty dish that's perfect for a cozy celebration — and the leftovers are great for a weeknight.

During Hanukkah it is customary to eat lots of sweet and savory foods fried in oil, and there is no more comforting (or more delicious!) way to honor that tradition than by making these sweet, pillowy, lemon-scented sufganiyot. These jelly doughnuts are typically filled with raspberry, strawberry or apricot jam — and pleasingly powdered with confectioners' sugar.

This creamy dip will remind you of the spoonfuls of cookie dough everyone loves to sneak out of the mixing bowl. Its light, fluffy texture pairs well with a variety of fun dippers. Top the dip with sprinkles in holiday colors to add even more flair.

While it's common to make tamales all year round, these delicious bundles are traditionally made and shared around the holidays. In our version, the pork shoulder filling is cooked low and slow in a flavorful sauce of dried chiles, aromatics and spices and then wrapped in a fluffy, tender masa dough. We bet you'll be back for seconds ... and thirds.

This pretty, pearl sugar-topped bread is a Danish Christmas tradition. The dough is enriched with butter and eggs, perfumed with cinnamon and cardamom, and studded with dried fruit. Each slice is tender, sweet, warm and bright all at once — but the flavors and textures are balanced perfectly.

We love this holiday trick — take something ordinary (a hot cocoa packet) and turn it into something extraordinary (this lovely, chocolately pudding!). Topped with whipped cream, this easy dessert as elegant as it is comforting.

Rows and rows of shingled potatoes look even more impressive on a large sheet pan than in a casserole dish, but that's not even the best reason to make this classic dinner party dish this way. The larger surface area maximizes the crunchy, cheesy bits without sacrificing the creaminess of the potatoes underneath.

Cream puffs are a classic dessert, but their adorable shape and pillowy filling make them playful and fun. Don't shy from trying your hand at piping choux dough — your platter of puffs will look inviting whether the sizes are all uniform or more free-form and casual.