10,000 bitter recipes

Tender butter cookies studded with chopped fresh strawberries and scented with nutmeg and brandy, dusted in powdered sugar. Little jewel-like bites that melt on the tongue.

Lemon slice pie uses paper-thin slices of the whole lemon (peel and all) baked into a sugary egg custard between two crusts. Like a Shaker lemon pie with surprising bites of citrus marmalade.

Honey pecan pie sweetened with honey and brown sugar instead of corn syrup, for a softer, more floral filling. A simple six-ingredient classic with a glossy candied top.

Creamy mocha fudge made with cocoa powder, butter, strong coffee, heavy cream, and chopped pecans. The no-cook fudge that skips the candy thermometer and sets up smooth in the fridge.

Flambe bananas in brown sugar butter sauce with raisins, walnuts, and brandy. A 15-minute showstopper dessert with caramelized fruit and a dramatic flame finish.

Orange biscuits rolled jelly-roll style with butter, orange juice, and zest, then sliced into spirals and baked hot. The breakfast pinwheel that turns plain biscuit dough into citrus-perfumed swirls in 45 minutes.

Classic buttery shortbread squares with unsalted butter, powdered sugar, and a candied cherry on each. Tender, crumbly, and they improve with age stored in a tin.

Old-fashioned oatmeal icebox cookies made with brown sugar, lard, butter, and buttermilk. Slice-and-bake dough that chills overnight for thin, crispy oat cookies.

Pistachio torte with 2 cups of finely chopped pistachios and breadcrumbs standing in for flour, lifted with beaten egg whites, and topped with a cup of lemon curd. A proper European-style celebration cake.

Classic anise cookies build a meringue-like base from eggs whipped with sugar for 30 minutes, then rest overnight before baking into pillowy, licorice-scented Italian cookies.

Old-fashioned cake doughnuts with nutmeg and ginger, deep fried and tossed in cinnamon sugar. A simple from-scratch doughnut recipe that rests before frying for a tender crumb.

Flaky biscuit dough rolled with sour cherries, sliced into pinwheels, and baked golden. Served warm with a homemade cherry sauce and ice cream or sherbet.

Easy bread machine oatmeal bread with a soft tender crumb and gentle nutty flavor from rolled oats. Eight ingredients, one bread machine, hands-free everyday sandwich loaf.

Mako shark steak au poivre borrows the classic French steak au poivre treatment for meaty shark, seared in cracked pepper and napped with a Cognac-cream pan sauce. A 1980s steakhouse twist on a bistro classic.

Old-fashioned butterscotch pie with a homemade caramel custard filling cooked in a double boiler. Brown sugar and real caramel syrup give it deep, toffee-rich flavor in a pre-baked crust.

Maple butterscotch brownies (blondies) packed with brown sugar, walnuts, and warm maple flavor. Chewy New England-style bar cookie with a caramel-rich crumb and dense, fudgy center.