Faith Durand, author of Not Your Mother's Casseroles has a pretty loose definition when it comes to defining the word "casserole." She basically says that any baked dish falls into the category. Using this definition, all sorts of desserts fall under the casserole category, including these insanely delicious Salted Caramel and Walnut Slices. While I'm not totally sold on these crazy rich chocolate-caramel-coconut-walnut cookies as a casserole, I sure am glad that Durand shared the recipe. More

Baked for the 2010 Serious Eats Cookie Swap "Another recipe borrowed from my mom. When she was growing up in Minnesota, her neighbor used to bake these every year for Christmas." —by Rachel Heise Bolten, SE intern... More

Blondies or brownies? It's a delicious dilemma: they're both bar cookie classics, one rich in brown sugar, the other redolent of chocolate. But why should you have to decide? Because they taste so much better when baked together, in layers. More

Magic Cookie Bars are, as their name might imply, no ordinary treat. Starting with layer upon layer of unrelentingly rich layers of buttery graham cracker crumbs, toasted coconut, chocolate and butterscotch chips, and nuts, they get even better from a rich smothering in sweetened condensed milk. With all that awesome, some might argue that a small serving is best. But I disagree, and to prove it, I've created it in a deliciously thick pie form. More

This variation is heaped with serious holiday cheer including a spicy, nutty white chocolate top layer and a rich, creamy, eggnog-and-booze-infused middle layer. More

The year's biggest eating weekend is over (sigh). But there's definitely some sweet eating to be had from the little leftovers left, as proven by these cranberry nut squares. This is a revamped version of a pecan bar but composed instead with leftover cranberry sauce and the mixed nuts that played a supporting role in so many Thanksgiving recipes. The result is surprisingly addictive: sweet, salty, tart, and buttery, all at once. More

While they don't taste exactly like the ones at Starbucks, they are pretty excellent in their own right, with an extremely dense, moist cake studded with tart cranberries, spicy ginger and sweet white chocolate, all crowned with a winter wonderland of rich cream cheese frosting and white chocolate drizzle. More