10,000 buttery recipes

All-purpose pie pastry combining vegetable shortening and butter for the best of both fats: shortening for tenderness, butter for flavor. Makes enough for two double-crust pies.

Apple pie topped with halved marshmallows that brown into golden, gooey peaks under a slow second bake. Tart apples, just sugar and nutmeg, no top crust. The midcentury trick that turns weeknight apple pie into something special.

Prebaked pie shell using a classic lard-and-butter pastry. Blind-baked with weights for a flaky, sturdy crust ready to hold cream pies, fruit fillings, or quiche.

Fried bananas almandine sautes split bananas with sliced almonds in clarified butter, served over warm chocolate sauce spiked with Grand Marnier. A classic French-leaning dessert that comes together in under 20 minutes.

Easy dill biscuits made from refrigerated buttermilk biscuits split, tossed in dill butter, and baked until golden. A four-ingredient side ready in under 20 minutes.

The Peace Maker, a New Orleans classic of fried oysters piled into a hollowed and buttered French bread loaf, served with parsley-flecked rice. A storied late-night supper from the Crescent City.

Classic thumbprint cookies with brown sugar dough rolled in egg white and chopped nuts, indented mid-bake, then filled with icing, cherries, or chocolate kisses.

Kratzet, the Swiss-German shredded pancake (cousin of Austrian kaiserschmarrn). Eggy crepe batter cooked, torn into pieces, and crisped in butter. Serve with stewed fruit.

Whole roast chicken brushed with butter, lemon juice, and fresh savory herb. Four ingredients, juicy meat, crisp golden skin in 90 minutes.

Popcorn cake binds popped popcorn, mixed nuts, and rainbow gumdrops with melted marshmallows and butter, then molds it all into a tube pan. A no-bake retro showstopper for parties and bake sales.

Dutch poffertjes-style doughnuts made with a quick choux-style dough and fried into puffy, golden-brown bites with a crisp shell and tender, custardy center. A simple homemade Holland-inspired treat.

Pineapple casserole: a Southern bread pudding-style side dish with crushed pineapple, white bread cubes, butter, and sugar. The traditional sweet companion to baked ham at Easter and Christmas.

Dad's basic omelet: three eggs beaten with water (never milk), cooked in butter and peanut oil for a tender, fold-in-half breakfast classic. The blank canvas for any filling.

Easy couscous from instant pearls and butter, ready in 15 minutes. Boil water or broth, stir, cover, and let stand off the heat for tender, fluffy couscous as a quick side or salad base.

Chippewa trout marinates whole dressed fish in sherry, butter, and lemon juice, then wraps each one in bacon and grills over an open fire until the bacon crisps and the flesh flakes clean.

Easy focaccia using store-bought pizza dough kneaded with chopped onion, diced tomato, and herbs, then brushed with butter near the end of baking. Bakery-style flatbread on the table in about 30 minutes.