Baking for the Holidays: 50+ Cozy, Seasonal Treats to Get You Through the Winter

In this cheerful collection, Kieffer (100 Cookies), founder of The Vanilla Bean Blog, shares dozens of sweet recipes perfect for the holiday season. In addition to Christmas classics like triple chocolate peppermint bark and fruit cake, she offers a number of desserts—coffee-cardamom monkey bread, crème brûlée pumpkin pie, cruffins (a hybrid of croissants and muffins)—that are ideal for cozying up with in the colder months. Throughout, there are plenty of fun twists: after sharing the recipe for classic cinnamon rolls, Kieffer pivots to instructions on how to make a cinnamon braid, while a recipe for vanilla bean sables includes citrus and rosemary chocolate chip variations. She thoughtfully includes several post-holiday-rush recipes—including blueberry streusel buns, passion fruit-poppy seed muffins, and lemon pull-apart bread—that use a pop of fresh or frozen fruit to help readers get through the “long, winter days.” In addition to the recipes, Kieffer shares lighthearted anecdotes (“I have plenty of memories of my sister and I fighting over cookie cutters,” she reminisces before introducing her cut-out cookies) and even suggestions for music to bake to. Avid holiday bakers should put this on their wish list. Agent: Jane Dystel, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Sept.)