Recipes with vegetable shortening

Apple cheddar turnovers: whole baked apples stuffed with brown sugar and cinnamon, wrapped in a sharp cheddar pastry. A New England classic riff on apple-and-cheese.

Roll sourdough dough with butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon, then bake over a sticky coffee-spiked glaze for pull-apart rolls with tangy sweetness.

French lace cookies bake corn syrup, shortening, brown sugar, flour, and pecans into thin, delicate, caramel-toffee disks. Optional chocolate drizzle. Five ingredients, holiday tray classic.

Peach dessert cake with fresh peaches baked into a lemon-scented batter, topped with cinnamon sugar and chopped nuts. Serve warm with whipped cream for a summer treat.

Settin' 'round bread is a multi-grain bread machine loaf layered with oats, cornmeal, bran, cracked wheat, buckwheat, soy, and rye flours. A hearty, nutrient-packed bread for everyday toast.

Black Forest oatmeal cookies with white and semi-sweet chocolate chunks, maraschino cherries, toasted almonds, and almond extract. A bakery-style drop cookie.

Sugarless cake leans on simmered raisins for natural sweetness instead of refined sugar, with oats, cinnamon, and a touch of artificial sweetener. Diabetic-friendly snack cake that still tastes like dessert.

Apricot tea ring with oat-enriched yeast dough, homemade apricot filling, and spiral-cut sections that fan open to reveal the fruit. Finished with a confectioner's sugar drizzle.

Apple-bacon quiches layer Canadian bacon and tender sliced apples with Swiss cheese in a savory caraway-and-mustard custard, baked in individual tart shells. A brunch crowd-pleaser.

Reese's cookies loaded with peanut butter chips and milk chocolate chips in a soft, chewy drop cookie. That classic peanut butter-chocolate combo in every bite.

Applesauce Walnut Cake with Butter Frosting recipe

Chocolate covered marshmallow cookies with a soft vanilla base, a melted marshmallow top, cocoa frosting, and a pecan half. Like homemade Mallomars.

Classic chicken gumbo built on a dark roux with okra, fresh tomatoes, and rice simmered right in the pot. One Dutch oven, pure Cajun comfort from start to bowl.

Maple syrup oatmeal cookies use real maple syrup as the only sweetener (no white or brown sugar). Soft, chewy, and naturally sweetened with two dozen cookies in 35 minutes.

Basic enriched bread dough with scalded milk, egg, and yeast, perfect for rolls, loaves, or sweet breads. Old-fashioned all-purpose dough that rises on the counter or rests overnight in the fridge.

Peanut butter and carrot cookies hide shredded carrot and bran flakes inside a classic fork-pressed peanut butter cookie. High-fiber lunchbox cookies kids actually finish.

Easter chip cookies loaded with pastel candy-coated chocolate pieces in a chewy brown sugar dough. Festive, colorful drop cookies the kids will love decorating Easter baskets with.

California fig oatmeal cookies with dried figs, brown sugar, cinnamon, and chopped nuts. A chewy, fruit-studded drop cookie that bakes in just 10 minutes.

Basic holiday butter cookies with a tender, melt-in-your-mouth crumb from cornstarch in the dough. This versatile base recipe can be rolled, cut, or shaped into any holiday cookie you want.

Bread machine cranberry walnut bread with fresh orange juice and zest, sweet-tart cranberries, and chopped walnuts. A quick-bread holiday loaf with zero kneading required.

Four-in-one oatmeal cookie base that yields 4 different cookies by adding raisins, peanuts, chocolate chips, or coconut. One dough, four flavors, great for batch baking.

Filled devil dogs are homemade chocolate sandwich cookies with a fluffy cooked-flour cream filling. A nostalgic copycat of the classic Drake's snack cake, soft, cocoa-rich, and bakery-fresh.

Southern peach shortcake with sliced peaches, almond extract, and cinnamon baked under a light biscuit topping. Diabetic-friendly with fructose instead of sugar.

Moist banana cake with buttermilk and cake flour topped with a double-chocolate glaze made from melted unsweetened chocolate and cocoa. Ripens overnight for deeper flavor.

Farmer's bran bread builds a sour-milk quick bread loaf from cut-and-stacked rectangles brushed with butter. Old-fashioned pull-apart fiber-rich loaf, homestead-kitchen classic.

Buttery shortbread logs dipped in melted semi-sweet chocolate and sprinkled with chopped walnuts. A 4-ingredient cookie with crisp, sandy texture and a rich chocolate finish.

Mocha zucchini bread with cocoa powder and instant coffee folded into a moist quick bread batter with grated zucchini. A chocolate-coffee twist on classic zucchini bread.

Fig honey cookies with dried figs, coconut, orange zest, and lemon extract in a honey-sweetened drop cookie. Chewy fruit-filled bites with a warm citrus fragrance.

Peanut butter banana bread made with crunchy peanut butter and mashed ripe bananas. Dense, nutty, and a great way to use overripe bananas.

Molasses oatmeal bread with rolled oats and a soft, chewy crumb. A classic yeast bread recipe that makes two hearty loaves with deep, malty sweetness.

Whole wheat pie crust made with a blend of whole wheat and white flour for a nutty, flaky pastry. A simple 5-ingredient dough that works for both filled pies and blind-baked shells.

Never fail pastry is a five-ingredient single-crust pie shell with shortening and a touch of baking powder for extra tenderness. Forgiving dough for beginner bakers.

Traditional Southern rice bread with cornmeal and cooked rice baked into tender, slightly crispy squares for a historic side dish that pairs beautifully with stews and greens.

A fun take on breadsticks; baked rolls that use candied cherries twisted into the shape of a candy cane. Fun and lightly sweet, my kids adore them.

Fudgy bon bons: a chocolate truffle-like dough wrapped around a Hershey's Kiss, baked just 6 to 8 minutes, and drizzled with white chocolate. A hidden-surprise cookie that bakes up shiny and molten.

Easier to work with. The original recipe called for brandy or grape juice, but I found that if you substitute the orange juice concentrate, it has a nicer flavour.

Monkey-faced cookies: old-fashioned molasses drop cookies with ginger and cinnamon, decorated with three raisins for eyes and a mouth. Makes 36 cookies in 30 minutes. A classic kids baking project.

Bath buns: lemon-scented English tea buns dotted with raisins and candied citron, brushed with sugared cream for a sweet, glossy crust. A traditional cousin to the rock cake.

Classic German sauerbraten made with venison: a 3-day vinegar and spice marinade, hours of slow braising, and a tangy-sweet gingersnap gravy. This is the ultimate project recipe for wild game lovers.

Pennsylvania Dutch funny cake baked in a pie shell with chocolate sauce on the bottom and vanilla cake on top. Two layers swap places in the oven like magic.

Traditional menudo style tripe stew with egg-thickened broth, sauteed onions, and tender simmered tripe. A heritage Mexican-American comfort stew passed down through generations.

Golden bubble ring (monkey bread) made from homemade yeast dough balls rolled in butter, cinnamon sugar, and optional nuts, baked in a tube pan until golden and pull-apart tender.

German chocolate brownie cookies marry fudgy cocoa cookies with the classic coconut-pecan caramel topping. Brown-sugar dough loaded with chocolate chips, crowned candy-bar style.

Traditional New Mexican fry bread made with just 5 pantry ingredients. Simple dough kneaded smooth, rolled thin, and deep-fried golden in minutes. Serve with honey.

Mix-in-the-pan chocolate fudge cake with no eggs, no milk, no butter. Poke three holes, pour, stir, and bake. The original depression-era wacky cake that still delivers.

A three-layer Christmas cream cake with coconut and walnuts in a buttermilk batter, frosted with cream cheese icing studded with chopped maraschino cherries. Southern holiday baking at its prettiest.

Southern hush puppies made with grits and buttermilk instead of cornmeal. Deep-fried golden in 3 minutes with a gritty, crunchy texture you can't get any other way.

I always make 2-3 batches at a time, they go so quick!