Christmas is the one meal a year that runs entirely on tradition. Nobody wants the new thing at Christmas — they want the cookies that came off the same trays every December, the sticky gingerbread, the cake that only appeared when the good tin came down from the top of the cupboard, the green bean casserole that has to be there or it isn't really Christmas at all.
This collection gathers the old-fashioned recipes that belong on a holiday table from the first cookie to the last slice of pie: the sugar cookies and molasses cookies for the tin, the fudge and peanut brittle for the platter, the showstopper cakes, the dressing and sides for the big dinner, and the pies to finish. Every one has been tested and written down properly, so the recipe you loved as a child works the same in your kitchen now.
Whether you're baking for a crowd, filling a cookie tin for neighbors, or just recreating the smell of your grandmother's kitchen on Christmas morning, start here — and make the holiday taste the way it's supposed to.
21 recipes in this collection
BakingOld-Fashioned Sugar Cookies
Soft, tender centers with crisp, sugary edges — chilled for thickness & never overbaked.
BakingOld-Fashioned Molasses Cookies
Soft, chewy and crackle-topped, rolled in sugar — the kind grandma kept in the big jar.
BakingOld-Fashioned Gingerbread
Dark, sticky and warmly spiced — a soft molasses gingerbread that only gets better the next day.
BakingOld-Fashioned Snickerdoodles
Soft and chewy cinnamon-sugar cookies with the signature tang & crackly crust.
BakingOld-Fashioned Fudge
Proper boiled chocolate fudge, beaten by hand to a fine melt-away crumb — no condensed milk in sight.
BakingOld-Fashioned Peanut Brittle
Deep golden, buttery and thin enough to shatter — with the baking soda trick that puts the snap in brittle.
BakingOld-Fashioned Pound Cake
Dense, buttery and tender, with a close velvety crumb — from the classic 1:1:1:1 recipe.
BakingOld-Fashioned Hummingbird Cake
The legendary 1978 Southern classic — spiced banana & pineapple layers, toasted pecans and cream cheese frosting.
BakingOld-Fashioned Chocolate Cake
Deep, moist chocolate sponge with a glossy cooked fudge frosting.
BakingOld-Fashioned Cinnamon Rolls
Soft, fluffy and generously spiced cinnamon rolls with a melting cream-cheese icing — made the proper yeasted way.
DinnersOld-Fashioned Cornbread Dressing
Moist, sage-scented and baked golden — the Southern holiday classic.
DinnersOld-Fashioned Green Bean Casserole
Crisp-tender beans in a real mushroom cream sauce under a crown of crispy fried onions.
DinnersOld-Fashioned Scalloped Potatoes
Thin-sliced potatoes baked in a simple creamy white sauce until golden — the true church-supper classic.
PuddingsGrandma's Sweet Potato Pie
Deep, spiced and silky in a buttery crust — made right, with roasted sweet potatoes.
DinnersOld-Fashioned Pot Roast
Chuck roast braised fork-tender with carrots, potatoes and a rich pan gravy.
PuddingsOld-Fashioned Ambrosia Salad
Mandarin, pineapple, coconut, cherries & mini marshmallows in lightly soured whipped cream — the holiday classic.
PuddingsOld-Fashioned Chess Pie
Rich, buttery custard under a crackly sugar top — the Southern classic nobody can quite name.
BreadsOld-Fashioned Dinner Rolls
Soft, fluffy pull-apart rolls that bake up golden & tear apart tender — made the old-fashioned way.
PuddingsOld-Fashioned Banana Pudding
Vanilla wafers, ripe bananas & a from-scratch cooked vanilla custard under toasted meringue.
PuddingsOld-Fashioned Apple Pie
A flaky, buttery double crust over spiced apples that stay juicy, not watery.
SweetsOld-Fashioned Candied Pecans
Pecans in a whipped egg white and cinnamon sugar shell, baked low for an hour and stirred as they go — crisp, not sticky, and they keep for two weeks.