Our Best Egg Recipes & How-Tos

Master this easy method.

This is the one breakfast casserole you need.

Down to the buttery breadcrumb topping.

Just trust me on this one.

Pumpkin cheesecake has become a fall and winter dessert classic for good reason. The lively, familiar spices of classic pumpkin pie are balanced by the cool and creamy goodness of a New York-style cheesecake. The combination makes each bite memorably delicious and worthy of any celebration — especially Thanksgiving. Even if you have never made a cheesecake or pumpkin pie before, this is a dessert that is within your reach.

Bonus: You can assemble it ahead of time.

What food is a purer comfort than hashbrown casserole? You’ve got tender, creamy shredded potatoes floating in a rich sauce, all hidden under a golden crust of hot cheese. It walks a delicious line between breakfast and side dish. There are many kinds of potato casseroles, but for pure yumminess the crown goes to Cracker Barrel’s hashbrown version.It’s so good, in fact, that I set out to make my own version at home.

No holiday table is complete without sweet potatoes. Some people like theirs mashed and marshmallow-ed, while others serve theirs for dessert, but me? I prefer mine souffléd. In this sweet potato soufflé, sweet potatoes are puréed until silky-smooth, topped with a candied pecan crumble, then baked until light and puffed. They’re elegant yet rich and always hit the spot — and it’s high time they made an appearance on your spread.

Every year as the holidays approach, I eagerly anticipate holiday baking and decorating sugar cookies. And every year, they don’t exactly turn out as planned. That’s because decorating cookies is a lot easier said than done — especially if you’re a perfectionist like me who likes straight lines and clean edges. But this year, I’m prepared. I recently got to work developing a simple royal icing recipe that makes cookie decorating as stress-free (and mess-free!

One scoop is never enough.

They’re gonna be, gonna be golden.

It’s got the perfect crunch.

If your vegetable drawer is still stuffed with squash after you’ve already grilled it, made gratin, or packed it into a quick bread, it’s time to take a cue from Southern potlucks and holiday spreads, and make a cheesy yellow squash casserole. Squash casserole is a classic meat-and-three side dish in which mild yellow squash is baked in a creamy cheddar cheese sauce, and topped with a buttery cracker topping.

Traditional lasagna is a once-a-year project for me. I love it deeply, but it’s rare that I can carve out time for it. When it does happen, it’s in the dead of winter when I have absolutely nothing else to do but spend the entire day in the kitchen.While it’s impossible to beat the classic version — with a homemade bolognese sauce and, when I can manage it, homemade pasta — I’m all about an easier version that makes lasagna a much more frequent occurrence.

Only better!

A creamy, dreamy mac & cheese that you can prep days ahead of time and just pop in the oven.

Who doesn’t love mini marshmallows?

A fast and fancy at-home cocktail you can serve all year long. Egg white included!

Everything I know about cornbread dressing — and Thanksgiving — I learned from my mother, which she in turn learned from her mother. It is a long line of resourceful Southern cooks, and I trust them with this important meal completely. The secret? It’s all about the butter! My very wise nanna once said, “Whatever the amount of butter called for in a dressing recipe, double it, triple it, heck, even quadruple it!

Easy and impressive.

I married into a family that believes pretty much everything is made better with cheese. I can’t say I blame them, because these potatoes are so decadent and showstopping that I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to go back to the original. What’s more is that these mashed potatoes are the ideal make-ahead side dish.

Ah, pumpkin pie. It’s a recipe filled with nostalgia, a creamy combination of sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and custardy filling, baked in a homemade pie crust and topped with a dollop of whipped cream. Thanksgiving isn’t the same without it.

Ready in a jiffy.

Mashed potatoes are a requirement on most Thanksgiving tables, and we set a high bar. They must be lush and creamy with enough flavor to stand on their own, but not so assertive that they clash with the turkey gravy. I don’t like to brag, but I think this is the ultimate potato side dish you’re looking for. It’s the perfect make-ahead side dish.

Your morning routine just got a little easier.

It's shockingly simple.

Not only are eggs delicious, but they are also one of the most versatile foods in the world. You can eat them for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. They can be scrambled, poached, baked, fried — you name it. They taste amazing in their simplest forms, but they can easily be transformed into complex, layered dishes. Personally, my favorite part about eggs is how quickly and easily they usually come together for a meal.

Unlike any other pancake.

They're not just for breakfast.

Have you made an airy pavlova or crunchy meringue lately? Or did someone in your family abscond with all the egg whites for his breakfast scramble, leaving you with an excess of egg yolks? Don’t be annoyed! Step up to the challenge and look at this as an opportunity to use these protein-packed, sunny spheres in new recipes. We promise that whatever you choose to make, it’ll be delicious.

On Thanksgiving, I don’t think any dish inspires quite as much love and jealousy as classic stuffing. Or, for that matter, technical debate over stuffing vs. dressing. Sure, if it’s baked inside the turkey it’s stuffing, and if it’s not, it’s dressing. But to me, it will always be stuffing — it sounds so much more satisfying than dressing, which brings to mind vinaigrette. And on my table, the stuffing is always some version of this classic sage and onion mix.

All you need is two ingredients.

My Italian in-laws approve.

Because leftover Thanksgiving sandwiches are overrated.

You don’t have to be Italian to appreciate the bake-and-serve simplicity of a big plate of stuffed shells. It’s the kind of Sunday supper that transcends tradition to make everyone happy. So when you’ve got a crowd of people to feed, this is the dish that benefits both host and guests. Here’s how to make it. It’s perfectly simple. There’s no unexpected additions of spinach to keep picky eaters away, and no hidden meat, so vegetarians will be happy.

It feels totally fancy, and is surprisingly easy.

If we’re being honest, no one is more surprised than me at how legit these cottage cheese pancakes are. As someone who claimed for years not to like cottage cheese, these pancakes were the gateway that finally made me a believer. These are high-protein, low-fat pancakes with three simple ingredients that cook up fluffy and actually taste good. If it sounds too good to be true, I assure you it’s not.

lasagna's lazier cousin.

Impossible to eat just one.

A heavy hand of pepper and grated cheese is the secret.

Jell-O poke cake is one of my favorite recipes for jazzing up a box of cake mix. The ingredients are accessible, the method is easy, and, for me, the taste is pure nostalgia. My mom first got this recipe from a college roommate back in the ’70s and has been making it ever since. In fact, it has frequently been my dad’s birthday cake over the years. He was born on July 5, but he loves celebrating on the night of the 4th after fireworks.

Cheesy enough to squash your concerns.

It’s unbelievably creamy.

This is the sweet, sky-high cake that dessert dreams are made of.

I rarely find a recipe that stops me in my tracks, but that’s exactly what happened when I took my first bite of Cook’s Illustrated’s lemon tart. My husband and 7-year-old daughter made it for our Christmas dessert, and while it took them the better part of the day (and left us with a sink full of dishes), it was picture-perfect and honestly the best lemon tart I’d ever had, fancy bakery versions included.

A sponge cake (also called a foam cake) is a light and tender cake that gets its texture from whipped eggs. Cakes like angel food, genoise, chiffon, and Victoria sponge all lie under the umbrella of “sponge.” Here, I’ll let you in on all the details — and share the recipe for my very favorite one. I’ve made it even easier to make. There are many variations of sponge cake, but this recipe is closest in ingredients and technique to a chiffon sponge.

Of all the iconic cookies — chocolate chip, sugar, snickerdoodle — a really reliable, chewy peanut butter cookie has always eluded me. Some recipes bake up a tender, crisp cookie or a snappy cookie, and there are those recipes that call themselves chewy, but end up soft after storing. The premise of a classic peanut butter cookie is pretty simple: Take a basic cookie and swap some of the butter and sugar for peanut butter to make a peanut butter-flavored cookie.

Bonus: It's ready in 30 minutes.

You’ll definitely go back for seconds.

They’ve got a kick!

It’s the ultimate comfort food.

Light as air.

In this dish, earthy potatoes mingle with mellow yellow onions and golden, savory schmaltz in a casserole as light and fluffy as a perfectly tender baked spud. Basically, potato kugel is potatoes, onions, and eggs at their very best. Here’s how to make it. It’s way easier to make. I feel the urge to start with an “oy” here. The “real” way to make this is with a handheld box grater. It produces a fine grate that is neither mushy purée nor stringy.

They're worth a little extra time.