
Photo by Elizabeth Humphreys
1. Almond Horn, $2.50 at Sugar + Twine
Almond flour makes for a moist, tacky center that’s also gluten-free. This pastry comes shingled with toasted almonds that crunch to a marzipan-like middle, lighter and more buttery than that almond paste.
2. Gingerbread People, $1.60 at Westhampton Pastry Shop
“Would you like a boy or a girl?” “How can you tell?” I respond. Both are pants-less, unisex by design. Now I know that pink icing outlines the gingerbread girls and blue buttons mark the males. These guys are spicy, regardless of gender.
3. Sugar or Red Velvet Cookie, 50 cents each or $5.40 per dozen at Mo’s Sweet Minis
Mo’s sugar cookies remind me of the Dutch biscuit tins we passed around the tree as kids, while the red velvets could be color swatches from Santa’s suit.
4. Peppermint Kiss Macaron, $1.75 at A Peach in a Pear Tree
Two crispy, airy shells get glued by fluffy, Swiss meringue rife with crushed peppermint. This desserterie also spreads the holiday fever with iced sugar and red-and-green M&M cookies in its new Sycamore Square location.
5. Caramel Bar, $2.50 at Proper Pie Co.
Think turtle bar, but with the heft of a paperweight. There’s a good quarter-inch of dark chocolate covering a caramel ribbon atop a coconut cookie base. Divide this one and leave a hunk next to the eggnog.