Sift magazine celebrates

Sift magazine is here for the holidays, with more recipes than ever before. For us, that's cause for celebration. We're excited to give you a quick tour through its pages. Come with us as we give you some ideas of all the delicious ways we can bake our way through the season together.

Sophisticated comfort

Let's start with a timeless comfort food: crêpes. Because they're so simple to mix and make – and can become part of breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert – they're a great addition to your recipe repertoire.

Holiday sweet breads by the handful

This year, we wanted to feature some of the world's great sweet breads, in individual sizes. The St. Lucia Buns above are a perfect way to give personal treats to anyone you please. Also in the issue are small bread recipes from the Czech Republic, the British Isles, Scandinavia, and France.

Cookies by the book

No holiday season is complete without cookies, so it's time to start planning your creations for this year! The holiday issue of Sift magazine dedicates 15 pages to cookies from several experts. Mindy Segal, Dorie Greenspan, Alice Medrich, and the King Arthur Flour crew have all contributed creative, flavorful cookies for you to try. Discover 14 cookie creations that will delight your friends, family, and guests.

A Texas Christmas feast

Our entertaining feature explores a holiday meal tradition from the Lone Star State: tamales. Katharine Hysmith, from the Young Austinian, tells the tale of her family gathering around the table on Christmas Eve to a menu of tamales, beans, salsa, cornbread, and salad, with sugar cookies and hot cocoa for company. Come along and explore; you'll meet Texas Santa and maybe start a new tradition or two of your own.

Snacking heaven

Obviously, company's coming soon, and we've put together a collection of recipes that are sure to bake a great impression. Homemade crackers are easy, incredibly tasty, and bring a whole new level of pleasure to any gathering. Quick, fresh, and custom-made to your taste; give them a try.

Rediscovering strudel

Our great friend and inspired baker Erin McDowell shares the story of her quest to re-connect with her maternal great-grandmother through baking. She was inspired by an old family photograph of whisper-thin pastry on top of a kitchen table, strewn with fruit. Her great-grandmother regularly made strudel, and Erin was determined to recapture the recipe, flavors, and textures of this family tradition. You can try this old-world technique for yourself, as she takes you through the process, step by step.

Great cakes, straight up

The renaissance of the great American cocktail scene is worth noting, and in this issue we decided to turn craft cocktails into sliceable delights. For your New Year's party, consider making one of our cocktail cakes, for a sophisticated way to celebrate.

There are many more treasures in the pages of the Holiday 2016 issue of Sift magazine. Give yourself (and everyone you bake for) the pleasure of this bountiful collection of recipes. Your holidays will be the sweetest yet.