Recipes with vanilla bean

French chocolate caramels made with real vanilla bean, melted chocolate, and butter cooked to the ball stage. Old-world confection technique with rich, chewy results.

Lighter chocolate oat squares with low-fat yogurt and just 3 tablespoons of butter, topped with a cocoa cream cheese icing. A fudgy, moist bar that satisfies chocolate cravings without the guilt.

Italian crostata di frutta with a lemon-scented shortcrust pastry, homemade crema pasticcera, fresh seasonal fruit, and an apricot jam glaze. A classic bakery-style tart.

Easy chocolate mint brownies built on cookie mix, melted semisweet chips, and cream-filled chocolate mints melted right onto the hot pan for a glossy mint frosting. From mixer to platter in under an hour.

Orange poppy seed pound cakes bake fresh orange juice, zest, and crunchy poppy seeds into individual butter loaves. Make-ahead holiday gift cake.

Light tortoni frozen dessert made with whipped nonfat dry milk, almond extract, and graham cracker crumbs. A low-fat Italian-style ice cream treat with no heavy cream needed.

Traditional fortune cookies made from scratch with 9 ingredients including instant tea for authentic color and flavor. Chill the batter, work with cotton gloves, and fold while hot for bakery-quality results.

Chocolaty double cruncher cookies with rolled oats, crushed corn flakes, coconut, and a chocolate filling. A crunchy sandwich cookie with triple texture.

Prune cake is an old-fashioned Southern holiday spice cake with chopped prunes, pecans, buttermilk, and warm spices, soaked with a buttermilk-butter sauce. Three-day rest deepens flavor.

Cranberry-orange bars with whole wheat flour, ground whole orange, and raisins. Low in added sugar and diabetic-friendly with a tart, fruity bite in every bar.

Lighter ricotta cheesecake with a ginger graham crust, orange-scented filling, and tangy buttermilk. All the richness of a classic, without the cream cheese overload.

Mocha layer cake built with cake flour, cocoa, and strong brewed coffee, sandwiched with sweetened whipped cream folded with dates and nuts. A vintage two-layer dessert dusted with powdered sugar.

Chocolate-filled fruit oatmeal bars: a buttery brown-sugar oat crust with a rich melted chocolate, condensed milk, raisin, and coconut filling. Sheet-pan bars for crowds and cookie swaps.

White chocolate macadamia nut brownies: buttery, chewy Hawaiian-inspired bars studded with toasted macadamias and pools of melty white chocolate. A bakery-case favorite at home.

Polka-dot brownies made with melted semi-sweet chocolate, whipped eggs tripled in volume, and reduced-calorie margarine. Fudgy, lighter than classic brownies, and dusted with powdered sugar.

Chocolate chip butter cake made with creamed butter, separated eggs, cake flour, and coarsely grated German sweet chocolate folded in and sprinkled on top. Light, tender, and rich.

Raspberry angel food cake with fresh berries folded directly into the whipped egg white batter. Light, fat-free, and bursting with pockets of fruit.

Sweet poppy seed noodles toss buttered egg noodles with prepared poppy seed filling, raisins, lemon zest, and vanilla. Eastern European-style sweet pasta side or dessert that comes together in 20 minutes.

Peanut Butter Chip Custard Pie with Chocolate Peanuts recipe

Overnight french toast soaks Italian bread in a vanilla-cinnamon custard while you sleep, then pan-fries up golden in minutes. Served with a homemade caramel-cinnamon syrup. Easy weekend brunch.

Rocky Road bars stack a fudgy chocolate brownie base with gooey marshmallows and a swirled chocolate-peanut-butter fudge topping. A rich, decadent three-layer treat with chewy, gooey, and fudgy in every bite.

Toffee crisps are light, golden drop cookies studded with almond brickle chips. A crispy, buttery cookie with caramelized toffee bits in every bite.

Triple chocolate cookies with unsweetened and semi-sweet chocolate, espresso, toasted pecans and walnuts, finished with a piped chocolate drizzle. Dense, fudgy, and intensely rich.

Classic cut-out Christmas cookies with almond and vanilla extract, rolled thin and topped with colored powdered sugar frosting. A holiday cookie-decorating tradition.

French sables are buttery slice-and-bake cookies with a crumbly, sandy texture and sparkling sugar crust. Six ingredients, no leavener, all about the butter.

Stuffed French toast sandwiches filled with cottage cheese, dipped in a fluffy vanilla-nutmeg egg batter, and browned in butter. A protein-packed brunch that's part French toast, part cheese blintz.

Eggnog log cookies are festive holiday rolls flavored with rum and nutmeg, dipped in icing, and rolled in toasted pecans. The Christmas cookie tin classic with eggnog-inspired warmth.

Halloween frosting split into two colors: chocolate for the cake's top and sides, orange-tinted for the layers and a piped jack-o'-lantern. A retro buttercream built for spooky-season showpieces.

Classic fudge cake with cocoa powder bloomed in hot water for deep chocolate flavor. A tender two-layer cake ready for buttercream frosting in 30 minutes.

Flowerpot desserts layer yellow cake, ice cream, and golden meringue in clay pots with real flower stems poking through the top. A showstopping party trick that looks wild and tastes like baked Alaska.

Triple chip brownies loaded with semi-sweet chocolate, milk chocolate, and butterscotch chips in a fudgy bittersweet chocolate batter with walnuts. Six cups of chips total. These are not messing around.

Hot fresh strawberries au sabayon, briefly poached in lemon-vanilla syrup and blanketed in a frothy Marsala egg-yolk zabaglione. A French-Italian restaurant dessert that plates in minutes.

Classic fruitcake loaded with dates, pecans, walnuts, and golden raisins. Moist tender crumb with vanilla and lemon extract, baked in a tube pan for beautiful slices.

From-scratch devil's food cake with boiling water for intense chocolate depth, topped with a fudge frosting made from melted semi-sweet chocolate and butter.

Rich chocolate cheesecake with melted semi-sweet chocolate, sour cream, and butter on a chocolate-flecked graham cracker crust. Baked low and slow for a dense, fudgy center.

Chocolate chip date coffee cake uses boiling water-plumped dates to build a moist, caramel-sweet crumb, topped with brown sugar, nuts, and chocolate chips. A brunch bake with serious old-diner charm.

Classic Zucchini Nut Bread: a traditional cinnamon-spiced loaf with shredded zucchini and chopped nuts. Makes two loaves, freezer-friendly, with timeless coffee-cake comfort.

These very chocolatey, chewy cookies are a favorite with my young nephews and nieces. When they come to visit we make them together and they have so much fun, just make sure you use an over-sized bowl so the ingredients don't go flying, the boys seem to be overly enthusiastic about stirring. LOL

Classic New York-style cheesecake with a graham cracker crust, sour cream filling, and a slow-cool method that prevents cracking. Folded egg whites give it a lighter, creamier texture.

Fudgy brownies swirled with a vanilla cream cheese batter for a marbled cheesecake-brownie hybrid. Made with real unsweetened chocolate melted with butter for deep cocoa flavor.

Pecan oat sandies are tender, snowball-style shortbread cookies rolled in powdered sugar with rolled oats and chopped pecans for chewy texture. Three dozen from one batch. The cookie tin classic with an oatmeal upgrade.

Vintage sugar cookies leaning heavy on brown sugar over white with shortening for tender texture and a three-finger ridge press. Makes 48 chewy, caramel-toned cookies.

Applesauce oatmeal raisin cookies use applesauce in place of half the fat for a chewier, lower-fat cookie. A soft-baked oatmeal raisin with brown sugar warmth and plump fruit.

Spicy bean cake made with mashed pinto beans, diced apples, raisins, and warm spices like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Add cocoa for a chocolate version.

Old-fashioned divinity candy with fluffy egg whites, crunchy pecans, and vanilla. This no-bake Southern classic melts on your tongue and comes together with just a few pantry staples.

Fruit bar dough: a chill-and-rest whole wheat cookie dough that pairs with any fruit filling. The hearty, wheat-germ-boosted base for homemade fruit-filled bar cookies.

Pecan fudge pie with eight ounces of melted semisweet chocolate, three cups of pecans, and dark corn syrup in a from-scratch shortening crust. A rich, fudgy twist on classic pecan pie.

Orange butter cakes are petite tartlet-tin cakes perfumed with Grand Marnier and candied orange peel, then dipped in orange liqueur glaze. Elegant 36-cake batch for gifts or a holiday tray.