Nut

This will be a hit with fans of blue cheese. It's so rich that small portions would also be great as a starter or side dish.

There will be a bit of pistachio paste left over: stir it into your next batch of brownies.

Cooking a pot of rice is much easier than tearing up and toasting bread for stuffing. Assembling the side dish a day ahead saves time, too.

Traditionally, gremolata is made with parsley, lemon peel, and garlic. Here, Parmesan adds richness and pecans add crunch.

A topping of crunchy chopped chocolate-caramel toffee and a ring of candied pecans complement the sweet nuttiness of this pie's classic filling. It's a lot. But isn't that what you're looking for in pie? 

A creamy frozen eggnog mousse layered with paper-thin sheets of crisp chocolate. Be sure to make the chocolate disks and lace before making the mousse filling.

A classic Christmas bread from one of Buenos Aires's most famous bakeries, Las Violetas.

According to lore, the original mole was served with turkey that had been fattened with hazelnuts. In this variation, which doesn't include chocolate, hazelnuts are featured in the sauce.

A sumptuous chocolate-caramel ganache alternates with layers of cake sweetened with chestnut cream.

This versatile side dish is part of a menu chef Kent Rathbun created for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program.

Don't be nervous about making meatless mincemeat if you've never tried it before—it's a knockout combination of dried fruits and spices that adds wonderfully deep flavor to baked goods. Here, chunks of sweet pear and a handful of tart fruit create a pie that's fantastic with vanilla ice cream.

Muscat-poached Seckel pears are tucked into moist almond cakes for a charming dessert. Besides being cute, these tiny cakes leave guests room for pumpkin pie.

These luscious cranberry-studded cakes enriched with bourbon and pecans break away from traditional pumpkin pie without eliminating all those beloved ingredients that say Thanksgiving.