Holiday Staples You Should Make Ahead This Year

Don’t forget about a special holiday brunch to celebrate the season. Strata makes early-morning entertaining attainable and delicious, and it has to be prepared the night before. An hour before you’re ready to eat, just bake in the oven. Meanwhile, put out a bowl of peel-your-own clementines, brew a pot of coffee and set the table – brunch is sorted.

Heavily spiced and filled with dried fruit, citrus peel, and brandy, mincemeat pie is a holiday classic. The filling benefits from sitting for a few days (some old-school recipes call for more booze-forward fillings to cure for months!), as does the pie crust.

A cheesy way to get your greens this holiday season, broccoli and cheese casserole is always a crowd pleaser. Make the broccoli base a couple of days ahead and top with the cracker crumbs immediately before baking.

Tourtière is a savoury pie that appears around the holidays in Québécois households (more on the history of the pie here). The spiced meat filling and pastry can both be made a couple of days in advance of baking, kept separately, covered in the refrigerator and then assembled and baked right before serving. You can also assemble the entire pie, wrap and freeze for up to a month, and then bake from frozen.

Sweet and savoury, creamy and crunchy, this decadent vegetable side can be made a few days in advance and then baked up right before serving. Add it to your buffet table or bring along to a holiday potluck.

Whip up a big batch of basic sugar cookie dough to transform into a range of colourful, buttery cookies that will put a smile on anyone’s face. This cookie tree gets its sparkle from crushed candies.

You’re sure to see Canada’s own Nanaimo bars appear more often on festive sweets trays during the holiday season, and they can be made well in advance. Freeze prepared bars tightly wrapped for 1 to 2 months, defrost, slice and devour.