Midwest Living Holiday Cookbook 2007

Top these gooey-center, intense chocolate desserts with powdered sugar.Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes

We gussied up chocolate cake mix with sour cream and red food coloring for Fabulous Red Velvet Cake. Then, we crowned the cake with a white chocolate-cream cheese frosting and toasted coconut.Fabulous Red Velvet Cake

Chicago's MK the Restaurant used an English tradition as inspiration for this molasses-date dessert with honey-toffee sauce. Buttery toffee originated in England, but a Robinson, Illinois, company named Heath launched an empire when it began making toffee commercially in 1914.Sticky Toffee Pudding

A dip in melted chocolate dresses up jam-filled Santa's Midnight Cookies, a popular treat at Dinkel's Bakery in Chicago. In our Key Lime Spritz cookies, lime juice gives new-American flavor to old-world butter spritz (the name derives from the German word spritzen, which means "to squirt").Santa's Midnight CookiesKey Lime Spritz Cookies

The crispness of fried wontons and the bite of wasabi alongside cooked tuna and greens create the flair in Sesame Seed-Crusted Tuna Appetizer, featured at Entourage on American Lane in Schaumburg, Illinois.Another Entourage on American Lane specialty: Indian Summer Cocktail, a beautiful green drink with a nice balance of liqueurs and fruit juice.Sesame Seed-Crusted Tuna AppetizerIndian Summer Cocktail

To keep in step with the small-plate trend in restaurants, we created this Mini Burger Party Platter with fun sauces to choose from, including Balsamic Mayo, Herbed Goat Cheese and Citrus Ketchup.Mini Burger Party Platter

If you're thinking about holding a holiday wine-tasting party, the flavors of the red meat sauce and cheese-spinach layers in this colorful lasagna will complement the wines.Wine-Tasting Lasagna

Coat lean pork tenderloin with mustard and herbs for easy-to-prepare Herb-Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Red Currant Sauce. We like it with the Browned Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Feta also pictured on the plate.Herb-Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Red Currant SauceBrowned Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Feta

Tartar sauce gets a mango upgrade for fried walleye at Gunflint Lodge on the Gunflint Trail near Grand Marais, Minnesota. The exotic, yellow-orange mango adds beautiful color, plus lots of Vitamins A and C. Serve the state fish with the state grain: wild rice.Crispy Beer-Batter-Fried Walleye with Mango Sweet-and-Sour Sauce

This recipe comes from the Poplar Creek Guesthouse Bed and Breakfast on the Gunflint Trail near Grand Marais, Minnesota. The traditional big pancake has been adapted into a lighter version: puffed pancakes.Finnish Baked Pancakes

These butter cookies, which have a crumbly texture, are named for the French word for sand. The recipe comes from Julee Rosso, owner of the Wickwood Inn in Saugatuck, Michigan, and author of the Silver Palate Cookbook.Vanilla Sables

Cappuccino Mousse is "a creamy, cool and spoonable version of our favorite cappuccino," says Silver Palate Cookbook author Julee Rosso. "We think it's a perfect brunch treat."Cappuccino Mousse

Midwest Living Creative Director Geri Boesen credits her mother-in-law, Patsy, for creating this easy sausage and-cheese brunch recipe, a popular food at family holiday gatherings. "It's nice because you can make it the day ahead and put it in the fridge overnight," Geri says.Patsy's Egg Casserole

Rolling and shaping these Scandinavian breakfast cookies is a fun and creative family bonding activity. Just don't get too carried away with flour, which can make the breadlike pastries tough and dry.Kringla

Midwest Living Senior Travel Editor Kendra Williams shared this Easy Fudge recipe; her grandparents made it every year, and it's just not Christmas for her family without it.Easy Fudge

A festive red maraschino cherry tops each cookie in this recipe, contributed by one of our Midwest Living editors.Butter Dream Cookies

Chocolate, nuts, coconut and more fill our easy-to-make bar cookies. Mixed dried fruit bits and candy-coated milk chocolate pieces are among the layers that make this bar cookie distinctive.Holiday Seven-Layer Bars

Packed with flavor from molasses, ginger, cinnamon and brown sugar, these cookies look especially nice when cut with a scalloped or round cutter and sprinkled with coarse sugar or crystallized ginger.Fat Molasses Cookies

Choose a chocolate or apricot filling for this swirled pastry that's a holiday tradition of the family of Midwest Living Food & Features Editor Hannah Agran.Rugalach

Bring all-time favorite cherry pie into the holidays. Although we tested it with refrigerated piecrust, you can use your homemade crust, if you like. The filling gets a tasty boost from cinnamon and allspice.Spiced Cherry Pie

Maple-Baked Stuffed PearsChocolate-Banana Butter Pound CakeChocolate Bread PuddingThe Taste of Christmas Cranberry CakeEgg Nog Creme CaramelAlmond-Pistachio CrispsRoasted Red Pepper-Chipotle Hummus DipGluhwein (Hot Spiced Mulled Wine)Ripe Olive Cheese BallPomegranate SpritzersRustic Potato Skins with Basil Cream DipRoast Breast of Chicken with Mushroom and Wild Rice StuffingCarrot MoldRed Apple SaladHoliday Squash RisottoHot Biscuits and Sausage GravyStuffed French Toast