Recipes with vegetable shortening

Shrewsbury cakes, a traditional English rolled cookie with ginger, citrus rind, and caraway seeds. Crisp, lightly spiced, and chilled overnight before baking.

Harvest apple pie with a rolled oat crust that bakes up flakier and toastier than the standard double crust. Cinnamon and nutmeg apples bubble underneath while the lattice top turns deep gold.

Old-fashioned buttermilk gingerbread with a streusel-style crumb topping built from the same dough. Molasses, ginger, and cinnamon meet a tangy buttermilk batter for a soft, warm-spiced cake. Serve warm with whipped cream or baked apple.

Old-fashioned bran muffins made with all-bran cereal, molasses, and a simple shortening batter. Hearty, fiber-rich breakfast muffins with real home-baked flavor.

Grandma Thorpe's currant pancakes are griddled rolled biscuit-style pancakes studded with dried currants, buttered hot, and dusted with sugar. A British-Welsh heritage breakfast or tea-time treat.

Soft persimmon cookies with warming cloves and cinnamon, packed with raisins and nuts. Old-fashioned fall harvest treat.

Peanut butter and jelly streusel bars with a brown sugar PB cookie base, strawberry jam middle, and oat-crumble topping. The lunchbox sandwich reinvented for the cookie tray.

Butterscotch icebox cookies sandwich a cooked date-and-nut filling between thin slices of brown-sugar dough. A vintage refrigerator cookie that bakes up crisp and chewy.

Christmas is never complete without a visit from the aromatic, sweet-tasting gingerbread kids.

Fruit tarts with cheddar cheese pastry shells filled with pineapple and orange curd. A vintage sweet-and-savory dessert where sharp cheddar meets tropical citrus.

Brazilian-style sauteed collard greens (couve) for feijoada. Finely shredded collards cooked quick with onion in shortening, a traditional side for Brazil's national black bean stew.

Chewy molasses oatmeal cookies with pecans, raisins, cinnamon, and cloves, drizzled with melted chocolate. Three cups of oats give these a hearty, old-fashioned chew.

Strawberry chiffon pie with a cocoa-pastry shell, fluffy strawberry-gelatin filling, and chocolate-dipped berries on top. A retro pink-and-chocolate dessert that mixes in minutes once the crust cools.

Triple chocolate chip cookies with semi-sweet chunks, white chocolate pieces, and milk chocolate chips plus crunchy walnuts. Chewy brown sugar cookies loaded with variety in every bite.

Classic beef bourguignonne braised in Burgundy wine with mushrooms, onions, thyme, and marjoram. Stewing beef simmers low for 2 hours until fork-tender in a rich wine sauce.

Individual walnut brownies from a mix, flipped upside-down and coated in powdered sugar glaze with a walnut half and chocolate drizzle. Bakery-style presentation made easy.

Old-fashioned cake doughnuts made from scratch with nutmeg and vanilla, deep-fried and dusted with sugar. No yeast, no rising time, no fuss.

Tender veal cubes browned in bacon fat and simmered in tomato gravy with carrots and onions. A hearty Pennsylvania Dutch one-pot meal ready in under an hour.

Holiday appetizer quiche baked in a sheet pan with Swiss cheese, ham, scallions, and pimentos in a buttery cracker crust. Cut into 50 small squares for easy party finger food.

Old-fashioned Christmas fruit cake with boiled raisins, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. No eggs or butter needed, just cold water and shortening for a dense, spiced holiday cake.

No-bake chocolate fingers made with powdered milk, cocoa, powdered sugar, raisins, cherries, and candied peel. A fudgy, fruit-studded candy that firms up in the fridge.

Mocha cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. An airy sponge cake soaked in orange syrup, filled and frosted with a coffee-chocolate buttercream made from Italian meringue.

Concentration candy cookies: brown sugar-pecan cookies topped with matched pairs of colored candy-coated chocolates. A clever kids' memory-match game cookie for parties.

Homemade pancake batter from scratch with flour, egg, milk, and shortening. Double-sifted dry ingredients make thick, light pancakes every time.

Double peanut butter sandwich cookies with peanut butter in the dough and between two slices. A slice-and-bake cookie with freezable dough for make-ahead baking.

Cinnamon-spiced maple cookies rolled in crispy rice cereal with chopped nuts. A crunchy, unique drop cookie with a sweet maple flavor and cereal coating.

Poppy seed ravioli cookies filled with a blended almond-poppy seed-honey filling, folded like tiny ravioli, and brushed with honey after baking. A unique holiday cookie project.

Homemade graham crackers from-scratch with whole graham flour, brown sugar, and a long overnight chill. Crisp, lightly sweet wholewheat crackers ready for s'mores, pie crusts, or straight-up snacking.

Beaten biscuits, a historic Southern recipe made by beating dough with a rolling pin until it snaps. Crisp, tender, and shelf-stable for weeks. Makes about 100 small biscuits.

Cornmeal pie shell made with flour, cornmeal, and shortening. A sturdy, subtly sweet crust ideal for savory Southwest pies, quiches, or fruit tarts.

Soft, chewy drop cookies packed with chopped figs, molasses, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger with hints of lemon and vanilla. An old-fashioned spiced fig cookie recipe that makes 2 dozen.

Classic Midwestern longjohns: rectangular yeast-raised doughnuts fried golden and topped with a cooked brown-sugar maple frosting. Old-school bakery comfort.

Green-and-white peppermint pinwheel cookies, sliced from a swirled frozen log. A classic Christmas icebox cookie with spiraled layers of vanilla and mint dough.

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.

Once he perfected his Extra Crispy he had customers who wanted it to be spicy and bold so he created his Hot and Spicy Chicken. Here is his original recipe which has changed a bit in this day and age. It comes frozen and is cooked frozen and not prepared fresh in many stores.

Old-fashioned applesauce doughnuts with whole wheat flour, buttermilk, and warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and mace. Fried golden and dusted with sugar.

Honey cut-out cookies with lemon extract, rolled thin and baked until lightly golden. A sturdy dough that holds its shape for holiday decorating with powdered sugar glaze.

Praline pumpkin pie with a candied brown sugar pecan layer baked into the bottom of a flaky homemade crust, plus a bourbon-spiked spiced pumpkin custard. Holiday pie at its richest.

Brown sugar chocolate chip cookies topped with red candy-coated chocolate pieces before baking. Shortening-based for chewy centers with a 5-7 minute bake time that keeps them soft.

Radish salad with iceberg lettuce tossed in a tangy Dijon and white wine vinegar dressing. A crisp, peppery side dish that comes together in 10 minutes.

Deep-fried buttermilk hush puppies with a crispy golden shell and soft, fluffy interior. A Southern classic side dish ready in 30 minutes with simple pantry staples.

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

Honey bran muffins made in the microwave with All-Bran cereal, buttermilk, and honey. Keep the batter in the fridge and microwave fresh muffins in under 3 minutes anytime.

Black and white chunk cookies loaded with semi-sweet and white chocolate chunks plus walnuts or pecans in a brown sugar butter dough. Makes 3 dozen.

Texas-style chili con carne with diced beef, whole red chili pods, paprika, and a cornmeal-flour thickener. No beans, no tomato, just deep meaty heat from a long slow simmer.

Beef and pork chili with four pounds of ground meat, pinto beans, canned tomatoes, tomato paste, cumin, and oregano simmered for two hours. A big-batch, no-shortcuts meat chili topped with cheddar.

Bread machine French bread with just six ingredients: flour, water, yeast, sugar, salt, and shortening. A crusty, simple loaf with zero kneading required.

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.