Don’t get us wrong, we love pie. But just because it’s pie season doesn’t mean it has to be on your menu.
The holidays are about a lot more than pie. People are hosting, gifting and gathering around tables of every kind, and there’s always a reason to show up with something special.
The chefs below are proof that you can bring the season to whatever you already make, whether that’s bagels, ravioli or barbecue. Here’s what Hotplate chefs are selling so far this season, plus a few standouts from last year.
Piscator LA’s Grilled Branzino Supper
This season (so far)
Halloween and fall
Zucca Nera Ravioli, Saint Ravioli
Black ravioli dough (colored with activated charcoal) filled with orange, slow-cooked butternut squash, garlic, sage, green onion, ricotta and Parmesan. Halloween colors, no ghosts required.Halloween Shokupan, Ginza Nishikawa
Japanese milk bread swirled with soft pumpkin, purple yam and chocolate brownie. It's as indulgent as dessert, and best lightly toasted.Freaky Clown Cake flash sale, Gabby Bakes
Freaky but fun!Cookies & Cream Soot Sprite Cream Puff, Neighborhood Bakery Provo
Possibly the cutest thing on Hotplate this October. See more photos on Instagram.Maple Cream Sourdough Bomboloni, Little Pieces of Joy
Sourdough doughnuts filled with maple cream.French Toast Bagel, Daphne's Bagels
A maple bagel with a cinnamon crunch topping, and their number one best seller.Rum Vanilla Apple Fritter and Spiced Pumpkin Sticky Bun, Capitol Jill Baking
Two fall flavors, two beloved pastries.Coconut Glazed Pumpkin Muffin and Oatmeal Creme Pies, Flake Baby Pastry
The "pies" here are cinnamony, gingery molasses oat cookies sandwiched with miso marshmallow fluff. We'll allow it.Spiced Pumpkin Cake Slice, Greenhouse Bakery
Selling by the slice makes it an easy add-on for customers who want a taste of the season.Caramel Wrapped Pretzels, B’s Bakery
Sweet, salty, spooky. And easy to gift!Marranitos de piloncillo, Charlotte Panadería
Tender, gingerbread-like pig-shaped cookies made with warm spices, molasses and piloncillo. A classic panadería treat that tastes like the season.Vanilla ghost concha, Alma's Conchería
A vanilla concha dressed up as a little ghost. The sweet bread customers already know and love, dressed up for Halloween.
Día de los muertos
Pan de muerto, Nourish the Soul Panadería
The traditional sweet bread for Día de los Muertos (November 1–2), baked for families' ofrendas and celebrations.Pan de muerto, Spellbound Sourdough
Soft, pillowy, delicately scented with orange.Pan de muerto, Samaria's Kitchen
Served alongside an arroz con leche bun and an apple pie bun that look just as delicious.
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving dinner for 4 or 8, The Speckled Pear
The whole meal, in two sizes. Customers pick the size that fits their table, and the hosting is done.
Supper clubs and gatherings
Supper club tickets, Jikoni
Chef Kiano Moju's AfriCali cooking, served as a seasonal three-course menu family-style, with a welcome drink and post-dinner chai. Seating is communal, so guests can come solo or with friends, and groups of six can book a private table. Selling tickets instead of boxes is a great way to give customers a holiday-season night out, not just something to take home.Grilled Branzino Supper, Piscator
A whole Mediterranean grilled branzino with rosé blood orange slaw, homemade sea salt focaccia, blackberries and thyme, plus chimichurri on the side. It serves one as a meal or two as an aperitivo. Each order is made fresh when guests arrive in their pickup window and is meant to be eaten on site, so it feels like a night out without the reservation.
A few of last year's standouts
This season is just getting started, so here are a few favorites from last year's holidays that may inspire you.
A full Thanksgiving preorder menu, Smokemade
Organized into meats, sides, desserts and pantry, so customers can build their whole holiday table from one drop.Thanksgiving preorder box, Panadería Salvaje
A Thanksgiving box customers can order all at once, instead of piecing it together item by item.Thanksgiving 4-pack, Churn & Co
A four-pack of fall pints.Sufganiyot, Donut Savant
Round, jelly doughnut–like pastries eaten around the world during Hanukkah: deep-fried, filled with jam or custard, and finished with powdered sugar.Falatke Box™, Falafayette
Six falatkes (mashup of potato latkes and falafel) with hummus, sauce, pickles and onions, plus a choice of dessert.Cinnamon Raisin Challah, Sourdo by Yael
Sweet raisins and a cinnamon swirl baked into soft, tangy sourdough challah.Holiday cookie box and holiday leche flan, Kora Bakery
A classic cookie box, plus a leche flan for the holiday table.Classic Heat-and-Frost 6-Pack, Gooey Center
Rolls ready to warm up and frost at home on Christmas morning, because fresh is best.
Make it yours: 5 ways to bring the season to your menu
You don't need a brand-new menu. Start with what you're already known for, and give it a holiday twist:
Swap in a seasonal flavor. Maple, pumpkin, apple, warm spices. Daphne's Bagels, Capitol Jill Baking and Little Pieces of Joy all took something they already make and gave it a fall flavor.
Play with color and shape. Saint Ravioli brought black dough and butternut squash filling together. Ginza swirled Halloween into their classic milk bread.
Bake the holiday's own traditions. Pan de muerto for Día de los Muertos, sufganiyot for Hanukkah. If a holiday is personal to you, your customers will be glad to celebrate it with you.
Sell the whole table, or a box of it. A Thanksgiving dinner for eight, a full menu of meats and sides, a cookie box. Bundles take the planning off your customers' plates, and they make for bigger orders.
Make the holiday morning easy. Gooey Center's heat-and-frost rolls let customers serve something fresh on Christmas morning, without anyone waking up at dawn.
Want to see a chef who built a holiday season around soul food? Read how Chicken's Kitchen made $70,000 in 13 minutes.
Bring the season to your storefront
Pick one item, give it a holiday twist, and open orders. Hotplate handles the payments, the limits and the pickup schedule.
Not sure where to start? Work through your Hotplate holiday checklist, or find more ideas in Holiday HQ.
