Recipes with sugar

Six-ingredient oatmeal cookies with butter, orange zest, and almond extract pressed with a fork and baked golden. No flour, naturally gluten-friendly, and impossibly tender with a sandy, melt-away texture.

Pennsylvania Dutch shoofly cake with molasses filling and brown sugar crumb topping baked in a pie crust. Old Lehigh County recipe ready in 50 minutes.

Overnight monkey bread coffee cake with frozen dinner rolls, butterscotch pudding mix, brown sugar, pecans, and melted butter. Five ingredients, zero effort, and a gooey pull-apart Bundt cake by morning.

Iowa applesauce cake, a moist spiced sheet cake with raisins and walnuts, crowned with tangy cream cheese frosting and dusted through a paper doily. Heartland baking at its cozy best.

Quick pickled onion rings in a sweet vinegar brine with a hit of hot sauce. Two-day refrigerator pickle that brightens burgers, sandwiches, and egg salad.

Delicious, light and fluffy! These taste of Fall, and the crystallized ginger gives then a lovely little zing. Even people who don't like pumpkin love these cupcakes. These disappear as fast as I can set them out!

Homemade fried elephant ears: sour-cream and buttermilk dough rolled thin, slit, fried golden, then tumbled in cinnamon sugar. State fair pastry made in your own kitchen.

Lemon cheese dessert bombe with cream cheese, lemon yogurt, and unflavored gelatin set in a mold. A light, no-bake mousse-like dessert garnished with fresh strawberries.

Classic Girl Scout-style trefoil shortbread cookies with butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Roll-and-cut sugar cookies for the trefoil cutter, makes 4 dozen.

Award-winning gingerbread with molasses, brandy, orange juice, and four warm spices: ginger, cinnamon, mace, and nutmeg. A moist, deeply spiced loaf studded with raisins.

Southern sweet potato pie with mashed sweet potatoes, warm spices, and a brightening splash of fresh lemon or orange juice. Pecan halves on top add Southern charm. The two-stage bake delivers a custard that sets without cracking.

Graham cracker cake with blanched almonds and folded egg whites, frosted with a homemade apricot whip made from apricot puree, whipped cream, and vanilla. A vintage two-layer cake with a fruity cream frosting.

Pasta green salad tosses rotini and shredded Swiss with green beans, peas, cucumber and bell pepper in a creamy lemon-dill yogurt dressing. A bright, make-ahead potluck salad you dress right before serving.

Buttery currant oatmeal muffins with walnuts, orange zest, pumpkin pie spice, and a cinnamon sugar top. Tender, warmly spiced breakfast muffins that bake in just 25 minutes.

Thai sweet rice cakes (khanom tom) stuffed with yellow mung beans, coated in coconut and sesame sugar. Chewy, sweet-savory dumplings with a unique double-coating finish.

Peanut butter bars are no-bake crowd-pleasers with a graham cracker and peanut butter base topped with melted chocolate. Five ingredients, one pan, refrigerate overnight. Buckeyes in bar form.

Cheesecake cookie bars with a buttery brown sugar shortbread crust, creamy lemon-vanilla filling, and crumbly streusel topping. Cut into squares for a portable cheesecake fix.

Old-fashioned cooked fondant made from scratch with sugar, cream, and butter. Silky smooth candy base for truffles, mints, and filled chocolates. A real confectioner's skill worth learning.

Vera's buttermilk cookies use powdered buttermilk and a half-sugar, half-sweetener blend for a lower-sugar tangy sugar cookie. Crisp edges, soft centers, ready in 35 minutes.

German chocolate layered apple cake with sliced apples and cinnamon-nut batter in alternating layers, topped with cream cheese frosting. A semi-homemade cake that tastes fully from scratch.

Gulf-style shrimp and crab spaghetti simmered in a rich tomato sauce with chili powder, basil, butter, and garlic. Whole crabs in the sauce make this a messy, hands-on feast.

Soft, spiced rhubarb drop cookies with warm cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove, plus walnuts, raisins, and a kick of crystallized ginger. A clever way to use up springtime rhubarb stalks.

Vegan tofu cheesecake blends silken tofu with lemon, vanilla and sugar into a creamy, dairy-free filling that bakes up smooth and sliceable. No cream cheese, no eggs, just a blender and a crumb crust.

Rich, fudgy Mississippi mud cake loaded with coconut, crunchy nuts, and gooey marshmallow cream under a thick cocoa frosting. A Southern classic that's sinfully easy to make from scratch.

Thai rice balls in sweet coconut milk made with rice flour and arrowroot, boiled then simmered in warm coconut sauce. A naturally gluten-free Southeast Asian dessert served hot.

Classic zucchini bread bursting with golden raisins, toasted walnuts, and warm cinnamon spice. This tender quick bread bakes up moist and flavorful for breakfast, snacks, or dessert.

Granny Smith apple crumble with raisins and apple cider, topped with a cinnamon-oat whole wheat crumble. A rustic fall dessert that's bubbling hot in under an hour.

Classic shortbread cookies packed with ground nuts and rolled in powdered sugar while warm. This cherished family recipe makes 60 tender cookies perfect for gifting or holiday parties.

A European-style carrot cake with walnuts, whipped egg whites for lightness, and a layered filling of cream cheese, jam, and sweetened whipped cream. Elegant and unforgettable.

Old-fashioned potato sourdough starter built on potato water, flour, sugar, and a pinch of yeast. The starches feed wild and added yeasts together for a tangy, vigorous base for breads, pancakes, and biscuits.

Slow cooker BBQ beans with golden raisins, Granny Smith apples, brown sugar, and bacon strips on top. Canned baked beans transformed into a sweet, smoky crockpot side dish.

This showstopper three-layer chocolate buttermilk cake gets its velvety crumb from tangy buttermilk and sour cream, while instant coffee deepens the cocoa flavor. Each layer splits in half for six tender tiers.

Boozy whiskey cake made from a doctored box mix with vanilla pudding and walnuts, then soaked in a hot butter-whiskey-brown sugar syrup. Outrageously moist and dead simple to pull off.

Hawaiian macadamia coconut squares: a chewy coconut-macadamia topping over a buttery brown-sugar-coffee shortbread crust. Tropical bar cookie that travels well and freezes beautifully.

Five-spice chicken thighs in a soy, sherry, ginger, and brown sugar sauce, cooked in the microwave in 30 minutes. The pan juices thicken into a glossy sauce spooned right over the top.

What a great way to cook with seasonal veggies. I used both green zucchini and yellow summer squash that grew in my garden as well as tomato, and it was yummy and refreshing.

Peanut butter meringue cream pie with a silky stovetop custard, a whisper of ginger, and golden-peaked meringue. A diner classic with proper technique behind every step.

Bread machine oatmeal whole wheat loaf with molasses and instant oats. A hearty, slightly sweet sandwich bread with nutty flavor and soft crumb.

Carrot cake spiked with vodka and orange zest, loaded with pecans and warm spices, baked in a Bundt pan and finished with a boozy orange glaze. Cocktail hour meets cake hour.

Orange-glazed bananas baked in fresh orange juice, Grand Marnier, butter, and brown sugar with toasted walnuts. A 15-minute warm fruit dessert. Spoon over vanilla ice cream.

Banana cream pie with a tempered egg custard, sliced bananas folded in, and fresh whipped cream on top. Old-school diner-style cream pie made from scratch with no boxed mix in sight.

Sugar-free cherry pie with a golden meringue topping, made diabetic-friendly with sugar substitute. Tart unsweetened cherries in a creamy custard filling make this guilt-free treat sing.

Buttermilk pie whisks tangy buttermilk with sugar, eggs, melted margarine, flour, and lemon extract into a sweet-tangy single-crust pie. Classic Southern five-minute pie filling.

Flourless chocolate cake studded with dried mission figs simmered in dark rum. Dense, fudgy, and boozy with deep cocoa flavor. Serve chilled with soft whipped cream for a dinner party dessert that feels effortlessly sophisticated.

Rich chocolate pumpkin mini bundt cakes with warm pumpkin pie spice, topped with an orange-tinted brown sugar frosting and cookie stems. Adorable fall treats that taste as good as they look.

Ischler hearts: Austrian sandwich cookies with almond shortbread, apricot jam filling, and a glossy chocolate-rum glaze. Named after the spa town Bad Ischl, favorite of Emperor Franz Joseph.

Learn how to make pita bread with this basic pita recipe. Fragrant homemade pita is obviously superior to store-bought pita and is quite thrilling to watch bake.

Homestyle barbecue sauce simmers ketchup, beef stock, Worcestershire, lemon, and brown sugar into a tangy sweet-savory sauce in 30 minutes. A pantry-friendly homemade alternative to store-bought.