9,206 base recipes

Sparkle cookies rolled in red and green sugar for a festive Christmas look. Made with cookie mix, almond extract, and cream of tartar for a soft, tender bite. Makes 4 dozen.

Nutty wheat germ crunch muffins with a toasty golden top, ready in 45 minutes. A versatile base recipe with built-in variations for apple cinnamon, berry, jam-filled, and dried fruit muffins.

Moist applesauce cake with molasses, cinnamon, and raisins baked in a square pan, then glazed with lemon icing while still warm: tender, spiced, and just sweet enough.

Coconut beer shrimp with sweet and tangy sauce: beer-battered shrimp rolled in fresh coconut, fried crisp, served with a marmalade-mustard-horseradish dip. A Gulf Coast appetizer classic.

Fudgy brownie cake baked right in wide-mouth canning jars and sealed hot for gift-giving or storage. Cocoa, buttermilk, and walnuts make a rich, moist crumb that keeps beautifully in the sealed jar.

Old-fashioned soft molasses cookies spiced with cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg, topped with a shiny boiled gelatin frosting. Makes 4 dozen from an overnight chilled dough.

Neiman Marcus seven layer cake is a legendary Texas department-store dessert: seven paper-thin vanilla cake layers stacked with chocolate butter frosting. Stately, showy, and engineered for special occasions.

Light, tender white cake with a fine crumb made from sifted cake flour and whipped egg whites. Works as a layer cake or cupcakes and pairs with any frosting.

Dark, moist bran muffins made with whole wheat flour, buttermilk, and molasses. High fiber, barely sweet, and mixed in minutes. Makes two dozen from one batch.

Hazelnut lemon biscotti, twice-baked Italian cookies with toasted whole hazelnuts and fresh lemon zest. Perfect dunking texture for coffee, tea, or vin santo.

Spiced refrigerator cookies with sour cream, sliced almonds, cloves, and nutmeg. Make-ahead dough keeps for 2 weeks refrigerated or freezes for months.

Quite easy to make, and these cupcakes were very moist and delicious. I doubled the bunch, and froze them in the freezer. Now I have two week worth snacks :)

Steamed maple syrup brown bread blends cornmeal, graham flour, buttermilk, and pure maple syrup with raisins. Traditional New England brown bread, steamed or baked. Pairs with baked beans.

Spiced pumpkin muffin cakes studded with raisins or dried apricots and finished with a sweet powdered sugar drizzle. Warm cinnamon, nutmeg, and orange zest in every bite. Makes 20.

Blueberry crumb cake baked in a loaf pan with fresh blueberries folded into a simple batter and topped with a buttery cinnamon-sugar streusel. A homestyle cake that's easy to slice and share.

Indiana persimmon bread bakes ripe persimmon pulp with brandied raisins, walnuts, and warm spices into moist loaves. Midwestern fall classic with a boozy twist.