The Best Time of Year: When Everyone Wants to Bake

Gingerbread everything! No Images? Click here   Dear Serious Eaters, For me, the holidays truly are the most wonderful time of the year, a brief window when my normal nine-to-five becomes a seasonally sanctioned way of life. Everyone's in the kitchen making pumpkin pie and hot cocoa and gingerbread, and otherwise channeling their inner baker like never before. Dessert is often considered frivolous or unnecessary, but come December, it's easy to see how it occupies such a special place in our family traditions. I couldn't love it more. The Holiday Recipes That Speak to Me Classic, Quick Gingerbread Could there be a more festive Christmas cookie? It's loaded with holiday spices, decorated to the nines, and so thin you can get away eating half a dozen at a time. Gingerbread Sheet Cake I love how the tart ’n’ tangy cream cheese frosting plays off the ginger's heat in this rich and spicy cake. Plus, the sheet cake format is an easy way to feed a crowd, especially for more casual holiday gatherings. Gingerbread Ice Cream Sensing a theme? 'Tis the season for brown sugar and spice! After rolling (and re-rolling) and cutting out all those gingerbread men, don't toss out those scraggly dough scraps. Instead, bake them off to grind into crumbs, then churn up a batch of this supremely Christmasy ice cream.   My Must-Have Gift Pick A French Rolling Pin If you plan on tackling those gingerbread cookies, you'll need a rolling pin. Tapered French rolling pins are more maneuverable and more durable than other styles, and they're easier to clean as well.     Serious Eats 88 35th St Ste 602 Brooklyn, NY 11232 Click Preferences to control which emails you receive from Serious Eats. Clicking Unsubscribe will remove you from all Serious Eats emails…which would be sad. Preferences  |  Unsubscribe