133 cracked recipes

Bread and butter pickles with thin-sliced cucumbers and onions brined with salt and ice, then packed in a sweet-sour brown sugar, cider vinegar, mustard, and turmeric syrup.

Classic old-fashioned fruit punch with cold tea, fresh-squeezed orange and lemon juice, ginger ale, and soda water. Garnished with orange slices and fresh mint. Makes 40 cups for a crowd.

Lavender-pepper pears are ripe Bartlett pears sprinkled with crumbled lavender, cracked black pepper, and lemon juice. An elegant no-cook fruit dessert.

Airy honeycomb candy cooked to hard crack, foamed with baking soda, then dipped in melted chocolate for crunchy, melt-in-your-mouth homemade treats.

Sauerkraut balls with corned beef, ham, and tangy kraut bound in a thick roux, breaded and fried golden. The Ohio bar-snack classic with crackly crust and a savory, slightly sour center.

No-knead bread loaves with scalded milk dough, baked over a steam pan for a crackly crust. Simple everyday bread that works with half whole wheat flour too.

Lemon drop cookies with fresh lemon juice, cream of tartar, and no eggs. Crispy, tangy, and eggless. A simple drop cookie that bakes fast at high heat for crackly edges.

Cream filbert cookies with a whole hazelnut hidden inside each shortbread ball, glazed in vanilla icing and rolled in sugar. Vintage Pacific Northwest holiday cookie with a sweet crackly finish.

Curry-glazed duck legs roast under a paste of jalapeno, ginger, garlic, and curry powder, then braise in orange-lime juice with chicken stock. The skin re-crisps for shatteringly crackly results.

Homemade English muffins cooked on a griddle, dusted with cornmeal for that signature crackly bottom and full of nooks and crannies for melted butter to pool in.

Lighter honey vanilla cheesecake made with reduced-fat cream cheese, cottage cheese, and fat-free ricotta on a gingersnap crust. Sweetened with honey instead of sugar and baked with steam for a silky, crack-free top.

Raspberry and fig gratin with sour cream and broiled brown sugar crust. Four ingredients, 15 minutes, and the caramelized sugar cracks like creme brulee over warm fruit.

Gaslight Restaurant peppercorn dressing with Parmesan, cracked black pepper, garlic, Worcestershire, and hot sauce in a mayo base. A bold, restaurant-style dressing you can make at home.

Mom's peppered ham: poached ham shank coated in cracked black peppercorns and dried in a low oven for paper-thin deli-style slices. Old-school deli cooking at home.

Old-fashioned bread and butter pickles with the classic ice-and-salt soak that locks in jaw-cracking crunch. Sweet vinegar brine with turmeric, celery seed, and mustard seed. Makes 32 jars.

A lighter peach brulee: ripe sliced peaches with orange juice, blanketed in tangy Greek yogurt and topped with a crackly broiled-sugar crust. The flavors of creme brulee with a fraction of the work.