Recipes with sugar

General Tso's chicken with orange zest, Sichuan peppercorns, and dried red chiles in a dark soy and rice wine stir-fry. A lighter, more authentic take without deep-frying or heavy batter.

Passover bagels made with matzo meal, eggs, oil, and water. No yeast, no flour, no boiling pot — just a stovetop dough and a quick bake. Chewy on the inside, lightly crisp on the outside, and kosher for Passover.

Soft apricot cream cheese cookies with flaked coconut. Butter and cream cheese creamed with apricot preserves for a tender, fruity drop cookie in 30 minutes.

Beef ribs soaked in cider vinegar, dusted with garlic salt and black pepper, then grilled over hickory chips for a smoky crust. No-fuss backyard technique with a molasses-boosted barbecue sauce.

Old-fashioned boiled chocolate icing with just four ingredients: chocolate, sugar, milk, and water. Sets glossy and firm on a cooled cake.

This is one of the basic dessert sauces. It is luscious simply served with fresh fruit.

Chocolate-butterscotch brownies use butterscotch pudding mix as the secret base, folded with semisweet chocolate chips for a chewy bar with deep caramel notes. Mid-century pantry baking that delivers fast.

Fresh peach cobbler with four variations: classic Southern cobbler with batter underneath and hot syrupy peaches poured over top. Swap peaches for blueberries, strawberries, apples, or blackberries.

Maple pecan crescent twists made with store-bought crescent roll dough, a cinnamon-nutmeg pecan sugar filling, and a maple powdered sugar glaze. A quick breakfast pastry in 30 minutes.

Chinese steamed spareribs with fermented black beans, ginger, garlic, and rice wine. Pork ribs cut into bite-sized pieces and steamed until fall-apart tender in about an hour.

Buttery pecan shortbread balls rolled in snowy powdered sugar for these melt-in-your-mouth Mexican wedding cookies. A holiday favorite that's actually simple enough for weeknight baking.

Buttery shortbread bars studded with mini chocolate chips and crowned with a glossy melted chocolate topping. One-bowl batter, no ganache, no double boiler required.

Basil and garlic focaccia with fresh herbs in the dough and sauteed onions on top. A food-processor Italian flatbread with dimpled olive oil pockets and a crisp golden bottom.

Molasses sandwich cookies with a hidden strawberry preserves filling, spiced with cinnamon and ginger, and topped with a vanilla powdered sugar glaze. The secret is inside.

Swedish rye bread for the bread machine with fennel, caraway, cumin seeds, molasses, orange zest, and cracked wheat. A deeply flavored Scandinavian-style loaf with complex seed aromatics.

Diabetic-friendly frozen orange bars with a fluffy whipped filling sandwiched between graham crackers. No-bake, low-sugar, and made with orange juice concentrate and skim milk powder.

Lighter banana spice cake with whole wheat flour, ripe bananas, buttermilk, and warm cinnamon-nutmeg-clove spice. A lower-fat sheet cake that bakes in 30 minutes and slices into 24 lunchbox-friendly squares.

Nothing expresses the German love of edible art more succintly than marzipan candies, which are shaped into piglets, cats, poodles, flowers, fruit and all sorts of other objects. They are delicious to eat, too.

Salmon teriyaki broiled with a homemade soy, brown sugar, white wine, and ginger marinade. Just five ingredients and 10 minutes under the broiler.

Raspberry chocolate swirl cheesecake on a cocoa-vanilla wafer crust. Two batters marbled together for a dramatic black-and-pink presentation.

Cranberry-barbecued chicken wings glaze grilled wings in a sweet-tangy sauce of cranberry, brown sugar, mustard and Worcestershire. Sticky, glossy and festive, a holiday-leaning twist on classic BBQ wings.

Smoker pork ribs marinated overnight in a tomato, vinegar, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce, then smoked low for 2 to 3 hours. Sticky, tender backyard barbecue.

Fudgy cocoa brownies with a full cup of melted butter, four eggs, and optional chopped nuts. One bowl, no melting chocolate, and the edges pull away when done.

Orange macadamia nut cookies are buttery shortbread diamonds with chopped macadamias and bright orange zest. Just five ingredients, no eggs, rolled and cut for a tea-tray cookie that bakes up tender and crisp.

Tropical fruit salad with mango, papaya, Asian pear, and kiwi tossed in cinnamon sugar. No cooking, no dressing, just ripe fruit and warm spice.

Chocolate chip cheesecake with a chocolate wafer crust and a dense, creamy filling studded with mini chocolate chips throughout. A rich baked cheesecake finished with whipped cream.

Beef scallops with fresh tomato sauce: top round steak pounded paper-thin, pan-seared, then napped with a quick sauce of fresh tomatoes, green onions, and basil. The Italian veal-scaloppini technique applied to budget beef.

Carrot square cake with walnuts, golden raisins, and a tangy orange-flavored cream cheese icing. A 9-inch square pan version of the classic carrot cake, perfect for small gatherings.

Lemon and white chocolate mousse parfaits layered with fresh strawberries in tall glasses. An elegant make-ahead dinner party dessert built from lemon curd mousse and creamy white chocolate mousse.

Pink lemonade cake stacks yellow cake layers around a frozen pink-lemonade ice cream filling, then frosts the whole thing in lemonade-spiked whipped cream. A picture-perfect summer dessert.

Hershey's 50% Reduced Fat Oatmeal Chip Cookies recipe

Fat-free chocolate cake made with cocoa powder, egg whites, and corn syrup instead of butter, oil, or whole eggs. Topped with a cocoa-powdered sugar glaze. Rich chocolate flavor, zero fat.

Light chocolate layer cake from Hershey's with cocoa, skim milk, margarine, and a splash of vinegar for tender crumb. An egg-free, reduced-fat layer cake that bakes up moist and fluffy.

Vietnamese-style marinade with nuoc mam (fish sauce), shallots, garlic, peanut oil, and sugar. A tangy, umami-rich five-minute marinade for grilled meats and seafood.

Golden fruitcake with dried apricots, raisins, candied cherries, orange peel, citron, and shaved almonds in a light cake flour batter. Baked low and slow for 4 gorgeous holiday loaves.

Italian rainbow cookies (seven layer cookies): three almond paste sponge layers tinted red, green, and yellow, stacked with raspberry jam, and coated in chocolate. A classic holiday bakery tradition.

Lowfat saffron bread for the bread machine swaps butter and oil for applesauce, then tints the loaf gold with saffron threads. A fragrant, fat-free yeast bread that tastes far richer than its nutrition stats suggest.

Crab gumbo simmered with okra, tomatoes, and Cajun seasonings served over rice. A rich, tomato-based Louisiana-style seafood stew loaded with sweet crab meat.

Low-cal pineapple cheese pie blends low-fat cottage cheese with crushed pineapple and gelatin, baked over a wheat germ base. A high-protein, sugar-free dessert with crustless cheesecake vibes.

Three-layer apple torte: buttery shortbread crust, sweetened cream cheese filling, cinnamon-sugar apples, and slivered almonds. German-style baked in a springform.

With a true honey flavor, Santa won't be able to resist these cookies when he stops by your house!

The hot fudge sauce, the chocolate cake and the brownie like texture will make you touch the heaven.

Chili-rubbed barbecue chicken with a brown sugar-cayenne dry rub and hickory mop sauce with orange juice, soy sauce, and hot sauce. Smoky, spicy grilled chicken.

Whole wheat cranberry bread for the bread machine, with maple-soaked fresh cranberries, citrus zest and buttermilk powder. Hearty wholegrain crumb with tart-sweet bursts in every slice.

Vegan cardamom almond muffins made with whole wheat pastry flour, pear puree, and soy milk. Fragrant, low-fat, and egg-free with warm spice and almond flavor.

Ricotta souffles with raspberry sauce are light, puffed individual desserts baked in a water bath with lemon zest, vanilla, and cinnamon. Slashed open at the table and filled with bright raspberry sauce.

Soft yeast cinnamon rolls baked in muffin tins for tidy, individual swirls. A rich milk-and-butter dough gets a generous cinnamon-sugar filling, rolled, sliced, and baked golden. A from-scratch classic.

Steamed cranberry pudding, a brighter take on Christmas pudding: tart cranberries, walnuts, and apricots in a suet batter, steamed moist and served warm with caramel or hard sauce. A festive holiday dessert.