Baking

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The egg makes these a little less delicate (and less likely to break) than traditional lace cookies. Arrange them in a decorative box or tin lined with festive tissue paper, then secure the package with a fancy bow.

Serina Kaker "When a good friend went out of town, I volunteered to water the plants in her apartment, and my reward was helping myself to the Christmas cookies, all nicely stored in a tin," says Jane A. Van Pelt of Alexandria, Virginia. "Well, they were delicious and had completely disappeared by the time my friend returned. She told me that the recipe had come to her through her Norwegian roots and was a favorite in her family. Now these cookies are a holiday favorite in our family, and I hope they will be shared with many others."

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

To save time, simply skip the topping.

English toffee enhances both the cake and topping of this delicious treat.

Ella Brennan, who has been called the "queen of Creole cuisine," tasted her first bread pudding long ago. "It was my mother's," she says. "You never had anything like it." These days, people say the same thing about the bread pudding at Brennan's famous Commander's Palace restaurant in New Orleans. "Our bread pudding soufflé outsells all of our other desserts by ten to one, maybe a hundred to one," she says. "We see people swoon over it." Here's a new take on this hall-of-fame comfort dessert: a pumpkin bread pudding that is served cold, except for the sugar sprinkled on top and browned under the broiler just before the sensational dessert goes to the table.

The whipping cream that is added to these slightly sweet scones gives them a delicate texture, while the lemon peel and dried apricots add terrific flavor.

There's just a wee bit of the favorite Irish spirit in these treats.

A couple of the best convenience foods of the century undoubtedly are peanut butter (introduced at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair) and chocolate chips (first sold by Nestle; in 1939). Separately, they are the basis of two of the nation's favorite cookies. Together, the ingredients are an unbeatable team.