Recipes with vanilla bean

Gramma's chocolate cookies are old-school cake-style cookies: soft, pillowy, brown sugar deep, then topped with a glossy chocolate icing. Walnuts add crunch to a tender, milk-and-cocoa crumb.

Buttery Italian-style shortbread cookies made with powdered sugar, vanilla, and three-quarters of a pound of real butter. Chill the dough, roll it out, cut your favorite shapes, and bake until golden.

Slow cooker chocolate pudding cake with cocoa, chocolate syrup, and chopped pecans. The batter steams into a fudgy, gooey cake with its own chocolate sauce on the bottom. Served warm with cream.

Thick, fudgy cocoa cookies loaded with white chocolate chips, crunchy pecans, and golden raisins. These bakery-style cookies are crisp on the edges and chewy in the center, ready in just 30 minutes.

Poppy seed pound cake muffins made with butter, yogurt, and vanilla for a dense, tender crumb. Bakery-style muffins with a subtle crunch from poppy seeds.

Chewy brown sugar walnut bars made with just seven ingredients, no mixer needed. Bake in a square pan, cut into squares, and serve warm for a simple treat.

Butter cookie press poinsettias for Christmas with red flower shapes and hand-formed green leaves topped with silver dragees. A beautiful, festive holiday cookie with almond and vanilla flavor.

Chocolate walnut bar cookies cut into neat triangles with a smooth vanilla butter frosting. Fudgy, nutty, and cute enough for a cookie tray or bake sale.

Peanut crisps made with crunchy peanut butter, crisp rice cereal, and just five ingredients total. Flourless peanut butter cookies with an extra-crunchy snap in every bite.

These are my favorite brownies ever! Yummy rich brownie nestled between a soft sweet oatmeal crust and a thick fudgy chocolate frosting. Might cause food coma.

Oatmeal lace cookies from a 1930s recipe with just seven ingredients. Thin, crispy, and caramelized with no flour at all. Quick or regular oats, never instant.

Vintage 1930s special cocoa cake: a tender chocolate layer cake made with bloomed cocoa, brown sugar, and cake flour. Old-fashioned recipe that beats most modern boxed mixes.

Paper-thin lemon cookies sliced from refrigerated dough, loaded with fresh lemon zest and juice. A crisp, buttery slice-and-bake cookie that spreads into translucent wafers with caramelized edges.

Pureed dates blended with water and vanilla extract into a thick, caramel-like paste. A natural sugar substitute for baking, smoothies, and oatmeal in 5 minutes.

Soft sour cream cookies with a sugar-pressed top, made from simple pantry staples. The sour cream keeps them pillowy and tender for days.

Pennsylvania Dutch cake-and-custard pie: a soft cake batter and a spiced applesauce-molasses custard poured into one crust bake into two distinct layers, finished with a coffee glaze. A clever heritage dessert.

Peach ambrosia dessert made with fresh peaches, vanilla shake mix, unflavored gelatin, and coconut. A light, creamy, low-fat treat that sets up in an hour.

Malted coconut marble cake baked in a tube pan with swirled vanilla and chocolate malt batters, topped with coconut frosting browned under the broiler. A retro bakery-style cake with a toasty malt flavor.

A no-bake cream cheese pie set with sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice, piled high with fresh strawberries and glossy strawberry glaze. Ten minutes of work, then the fridge does the rest.

Buttery drop cookies with crushed frosted flakes for crunch and melted chocolate swirled through the dough for wild tiger stripes. A fun baking project kids will love.

Fudgy, chewy brownies packed with over a pound of chocolate: semisweet in the batter and Swiss dark chocolate chunks folded in and scattered on top. Walnuts add crunch. An overnight rest deepens the flavor and gives you clean-cut bars.

Dessert pizza topped with homemade pistachio custard cream and fresh fruit. A from-scratch pistachio milk custard spread over a baked pizza shell.

Showstopping frozen dessert layered with scoops of ice cream, rainbow sherbet, whipped cream, and sugar wafer crumbs in an angel food pan. No baking needed.

Make these delicious brownie cupcakes for your Easter party, not only kids will love them, but also grown-ups.

Orange chocolate crunch cake with fresh orange segments baked into the batter, topped with a crunchy layer of brown sugar, chocolate chips, and walnuts. No butter needed.

A nearly flourless Italian chocolate cake made with melted semi-sweet chocolate, ground amaretti cookies, rum, and nine whipped eggs. Three thin, crackle-topped layers that are rich, dense, and deeply chocolatey.

Lighter New York cheesecake made with homemade yogurt cheese instead of cream cheese. Sweetened with honey and thickened with arrowroot for a smooth, guilt-free slice on a graham cracker crust.

No-bake cherry cheese pie with a creamy lemon-spiked filling in a graham cracker crust, topped with cherry pie filling. Five ingredients, no oven required, sets in 3 hours.

Giant flourless peanut butter oatmeal cookies loaded with chocolate chips and candy pieces. Each cookie uses a third cup of dough for bakery-sized results with chewy centers.

Fudgy brownies made with pureed tepary beans, carob powder, and honey instead of butter and sugar. Loaded with walnuts and raisins. The secret ingredient? Nobody will guess.

A creamy water-bath cheesecake with a walnut graham cracker crust, lemony cream cheese and cottage cheese filling, topped with fresh berries and double strawberry sauce.

An exotic and decadent cake that is made with the wonderful fruit taste of passionfruit.

Apricot poppy seed muffins use a clever shortcut: a jar of apricot baby food gives the batter even fruit distribution and a tender, almost cake-like crumb dotted with crunchy poppy seeds.

A three-layer chocolate cake with cocoa and walnut extract, blanketed in fluffy marshmallow icing and showered with chopped black walnuts. All the joy of an ice cream sundae, no melting required.

Fruit-filled puffs made with matzoh cake meal instead of flour, stuffed with fresh strawberries and kiwi, piped with whipped topping, and drizzled with chocolate syrup. A Passover-friendly choux pastry dessert.

Semi-homemade marble cake with swirls of cinnamon and melted chocolate, drizzled with a glossy cinnamon-chocolate glaze. Starts with a pound cake mix for easy baking.

Vintage ribbon cake: plain vanilla and spiced molasses batters layered in stripes with a tart lemon-raisin filling between. An old-fashioned American cake worth reviving.

Caramel surprise cake, individual molten chocolate cakes hiding frozen caramel candies that ooze when cut. Served over pooled caramel and feathered chocolate sauce.

Microwave apricot-strawberry compote in white wine and cranberry juice with crystallized ginger and lemon zest. A no-sugar-added fruit dessert ready in minutes.

Fudgy chocolate pudding cake that bakes its own gooey sauce underneath. Made with baking mix, cocoa, condensed milk, and chocolate syrup. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

Warm flour tortillas baked with fresh strawberries, bananas, and cinnamon brown sugar butter, then topped with vanilla sour cream whip. A fun 30-minute dessert the whole family will love.

Healthier apple pie packed with granola and raisins for texture, using less sugar than traditional recipes. Tart apples get spiced with cinnamon, cloves, and vanilla. Optional lattice top.

Orange nog blends fresh orange juice, a whole egg, sugar, and a dash of bitters into a frothy single-serve breakfast drink. Five ingredients, blender to glass in 5 minutes.

Indulgent challah French toast dipped in heavy cream, eggs, vanilla, and a splash of Triple Sec, then griddled golden with cinnamon. Weekend brunch that earns its name.

A showstopper lattice pie with three layers: almond cream cheese, fresh raspberries, and glazed cherries, all in a flaky homemade vinegar crust. Bake-sale worthy.

Bachelor's Buttons are old-fashioned drop cookies with a buttery vanilla dough topped with half a cherry before baking. Crisp edges, soft centers, and adorable enough for a cookie tray or holiday tin.

Elegant meringue pie shell filled with fresh strawberries, chocolate drizzle, and billowy whipped cream. This crispy, nutty crust bakes overnight in a cooling oven.

Buttery sour cream coffee cake studded with bittersweet chocolate chunks and chopped walnuts, baked in a fluted bundt pan. Rich, moist crumb with no frosting needed. Serves 12.