Christmas is just around the corner. We do hope that by now you have completed all your Christmas planning and organizing and can enjoy the spirit of the season. Now if you don’t yet know what you’re going to eat over the holidays, it’s about time to figure it out and get your grocery shopping done before the rush.

For the main course you can go with the classics, which will vary depending on where you live. For the dessert, however, the choice is ever more complicated. For Christmas it should be something special and if you dare, you could try something new. To make your research a little easier, I complied the 5 best websites for Christmas dessert recipes. For each one I also picked one recipe, just in case you’re in a hurry and need a quick recommendation.

Epicurious

Each recipe on Epicurious is clearly structured, providing preparation time, ingredients, instructions, and a photo of the expected result. You can learn different cooking or decoration techniques from the plenitude of instructional videos. Matching videos are attached to each recipe. Epicurious gets a special thumbs up for its interactive features. When you sign up you can save recipes to your recipe box or shopping list and add notes to your favorite recipes.

Epicurious hosts a special page for Christmas recipes, which is their Christmas gift to you. The dessert sections holds Cake Recipes, Candy Recipes, Pie & Tart Recipes, and Pudding Recipes. You can browse a picture gallery for each category, then click the link at the bottom of the image to see the recipe.

My dessert choice from Epicurious is Sticky Toffee Pudding, a simple recipe that is quick to prepare. Be sure to check the reviews for some good advice that will make the result even more delicious!

AllRecipes

AllRecipes is awesome because of its many details. Not only are the instructions straightforward, but the website also provides a kitchen and printer-friendly view, you can customize the recipe, you can add it to your recipe box or shopping list, and you can share it. All Recipes also offers a servings calculator that updates the ingredients and lets you switch between US and Metric measurements. This leaves me speechless.

From their Christmas Baking page I chose Mini Pumpkin Butterscotch Muffins as my favorite recipe.

Chow

Each Chow recipe comes with easy to follow step by step instructions and a picture of the anticipated dessert. Being a member, you can save and hack a recipe. Like most cooking websites, Chow features a special Christmas page.

The Holiday Desserts section takes you through a slideshow of delicious desserts. My pick is the Cranberry Pie. This is a healthy choice, if there is such a thing for desserts.

Cooking Light & MyRecipes

Some of us have to watch the waistline, even during the holidays. In Cooking Light’s Holiday Cookbook (see link above) you will find recipes for healthy appetizers, drinks, entrées, sides, as well as specials for breads, soups, salads, vegetarian recipes, and more. The video section features visual instructions for selected recipes, for example the Traditional Apple Pie.

The recipes are hosted by MyRecipes. Just in case the Sommelier is nowhere close, you can also view wine pairings for each result. Also, if you don’t have to be picky, give the full list of  Christmas Dessert Recipes on MyRecipes a glance.

From Cooking Light’s list of 31 Healthy Holiday Desserts I picked the Cardamom-Coconut Crème Caramel recipe.

Delish

Delish sports an easy to navigate interface, step by step directions, and the option to save recipes, add ingredients to your shopping list, and submit your own version of a recipe. You can switch between US and Metric measurements for the ingredients and a conversion chart is added as a bonus. However, there is no ingredient calculator.

From the Elegant Desserts provided by Food&Wine, I selected the Cinnamon-Spiced Mocha Foats.

Can you see any more recipe sites? Well, then have a look at the following ones:

• Mrs. Claus’ Cookbook at Northpole
• German Christmas Traditions at German Recipes Cookbook
• Christmas Desserts at Razzle Dazzle Recipes
• Christmas Dessert Recipes at Homemade Dessert Recipes
• Christmas Dessert Recipes at Cooking.com
• Christmas Recipes at Kaboose
• Christmas Recipes at Martha Stewart
• Christmas Dessert Recipes at Recipe Goldmine
• Christmas Baking Recipes at Joy of Baking.com

For more recipe resources after Christmas and to lose all that weight, have a look at these MakeUseOf articles:

• 5 Fascinating Recipe Sites To Brush Up Your Culinary Skills by Jessica
• 3 Free Cocktail Recipes Sites To Help You Make The Perfect Drink by Simon
• 3 Recipe Sites For The Post Fast Food Era by Tina
• 6 Great Free Weight Loss Resource Sites by Paul
• SparkPeople ““ Free Online Health & Weight-loss Community by Gary

Now let’s forget about the guilt of eating for a moment. What is your favorite Christmas treat? Please share your recipe!

Image credits: Elena Schweitzer