Diabetic Christmas Recipes

Perfect meringues depend on totally yolk-free whites. The seemingly fussy step of separating each egg into a small bowl before combining them guarantees yolk-free whites for bakeshop-quality meringues every time. These crispy little morsels travel well and make great gifts too.

The genius hack in this recipe: topping sweet potatoes with marshmallows while they're still piping hot from the slow cooker yields a baked marshmallow topping that's typical with baked sweet potato casseroles.

This simple slow-cooker mashed potatoes recipe skips tedious peeling and boiling and helps save precious stovetop space by letting the slow cooker do the work. It's a great timesaving set-it-and-forget-it side dish recipe to round out any hearty meal. Buttermilk makes the mashed potatoes creamy while garlic and shallots add flavor.

Try a sweet glaze on beets or other root vegetables to help balance their earthy flavor. This easy recipe will work with steamed carrots, turnips or rutabaga too.

This rich chocolate tart dessert recipe is low in sugar, making it a perfect healthy finish to a heavy holiday meal.

Make plenty of these mildly sweet and salty nuts--they are great to have on hand over the holidays.

Learn how to roast squash in this healthy recipe adapted from Alice Waters. Look for squash varieties, including buttercup, kabocha or hubbard, at your farmers' market and try them in this tasty side dish.

These sweet peanut butter-flavored meringue cookies are perfect for special occasions. Dipped in melted chocolate and full of crunchy peanuts, they can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, or in the freezer for up to three months.

This irresistible diabetic-friendly peanut butter cookie recipe contains no flour. For Christmas or special occasions, imprint them with cookie cutters to fit the season instead of the star-shaped cutter.

In this easy one-pan dinner, boneless pork loin roast is cooked over a bed of carrots and parsnips for an all-in-one dish that makes an impressive centerpiece for a holiday meal or Sunday dinner. Choose free-range heritage pork if you can--its flavor really shines with no more seasoning than a bit of thyme and a little sea salt. If you'd like, dress up the meal with a traditional Irish apple condiment--Ploughmans chutney or Bramley applesauce, which you can find in specialty stores and online.

Suit your taste by using your choice of almond or mint extract for these crisp cookies.

This diabetes-friendly take on a classic black forest cake boasts a thick cream-cheese filling mixed with antioxidant-rich cherries and is drizzled in decadent hot fudge topping.

Sweet dates and salty prosciutto combine in a tasty bite.

Cooking bacon and green beans on a sheet pan together simplifies holiday meal prep. Red-wine vinegar and lemon juice provide a balanced, bright flavor.

Dried blueberries give these pancakes a rich blueberry flavor and pecans liven up the texture with a bit of crunch.

These curried cashews are impossibly addictive--every time we made them in the Test Kitchen they disappeared in a flash. If you use salted cashews, omit the added salt.

One batch of dough does double duty as both the crust and streusel topping to make one of the easiest desserts around.

A colorful, delicious bake of eggs and whole wheat bread layered with asparagus, spinach, tomatoes, and feta cheese makes a special breakfast or brunch entree. Best of all, you make it ahead of time.

This sweet potato and turnip mash is fragrant with fresh sage.

Serve these caramelized pear slices over ice cream, stir into plain yogurt or enjoy as a topping for pancakes or waffles. Brown-skinned Bosc pears hold their shape during cooking, but any variety of pears tastes delicious.

For a meal that's ready when you get home after a long day, try this flavorful and hearty pot roast.

Pure maple syrup, as opposed to artificially flavored and colored “pancake” syrup, is an extraordinary cooking ingredient. Here it adds body as well as rich flavor to the dressing, providing a perfect counterpoint to the smoked cheese.

Vinegar is the key to making this sautéed kale recipe special. Look for vinegar that's cloudy--it likely still has some of the mother in the bottle and will give you a sweet acidity rather than a harsh bite. Organic apple cider vinegar is usually your best bet. For the most eye-catching version of this side, use different colored varieties of kale.

This Scandinavian-style appetizer is a good way to try pickled herring if you've never had it. The potent flavor of the herring is balanced by a dollop of sour cream and the potato slice it's served on.