3,736 bitter recipes

Pillowy soft buttermilk drop cookies baked until pale golden get frosted with sweet buttercream and sprinkled with colored sugar for nostalgic treats.

Easy chocolate cheese pie: a no-bake chocolate cream cheese pie filling whipped together in one bowl and chilled in a crumb crust. Six ingredients, no oven required.

A traditional Dutch spice cake (gevulde speculaas) with a ground almond filling sandwiched between two layers of cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg-spiced dough. Topped with whole toasted almonds.

Peach melba layer cake sweetened with apple juice concentrate instead of sugar, topped with fresh peaches, raspberries, and fruit spread. Refined-sugar-free homage to the Escoffier classic.

Tart de Brymlent is a medieval Lenten tart of salmon baked with spiced apples, pears, and dried fruits in a pastry shell. A genuine old English sweet-savory recipe for history buffs and adventurous cooks.

Coconut butter biscuits topped with sweetened condensed milk, mixed fruit, and more coconut. Crispy shortbread-style cookies with a chewy, caramelized topping.

Chicken breasts stuffed under the skin with creamy sour cream potatoes and chopped spinach, brushed with paprika butter, and topped with a nutmeg-spinach cream sauce. A one-hour microwave meal.

Wholesome whole wheat and oat scones made with oil instead of butter, studded with raisins or currants. Ready in 30 minutes with endless flavor variations.

Cold soups make for excellent summer fare. The best vichyssoise I ever had in my life was at a French restaurant during a Montreal summer. Humor me. Try the soup in the traditional manner but then, if you must heat it up, (sigh), go ahead.

Macaroon meets chocolate chip cookie in this co-winner in the drop cookie category, with a twist of cinnamon, nutmeg and mint; it's from Jessica Wall-Valadez of Milwaukee.

Hear these three ingredients, and use them to make brownies.... Chocolatey, creamy, rich...

Healthy and tasty low-fat curried chicken salad that's that's served hot and is loaded with a variety of textures and delivers great crunch.

A rich chocolate bread pudding made with pumpernickel, currants, and a custard of egg yolks, cream, and two kinds of chocolate. Baked in a water bath until silky and set.

High-fiber bran muffins made with whole wheat flour, orange juice, prune butter, and raisins. No oil, no egg yolks, and packed with fiber from bran cereal and wheat germ. Healthy grab-and-go breakfast in 45 minutes.

A lighter banana cake topped with cinnamon-sugar apple slices, made moist with mashed banana, yogurt, and honey instead of heaps of butter. The go-to recipe for using up your fall apple harvest.

These cookies with a candy bar center, from Bev Bosveld of Waupun, are packed with coconut.