4,469 four four recipes

German springerle, the classic embossed anise cookie made with eggs, sugar, flour, and crushed anise seed. Patterned with a springerle roller and dried overnight to lock in the design before baking.

Easy green chile sauce made with roasted green chili peppers, garlic, and a simple flour roux. Ready in 30 minutes, this versatile New Mexican staple goes on everything from enchiladas to eggs.

Creamy leek soup blends sauteed leeks and onion with vegetable stock, then enriches with a butter-flour-milk-cream bechamel. Smooth, silky pureed soup for a cool-weather starter or light lunch.

Kaesmus or Rallenmus (German cheese mush): a rustic Swabian dish of tiny flour-and-egg crumbs simmered in milk with cheese and topped with browned onions in clarified butter. Ready in 30 minutes.

A simple all-butter pastry dough made by hand: flour and cold butter rubbed together, bound with a little water, then chilled to rest. A flaky, versatile base for pies, tarts, and galettes.

Mini pound cake baked in a 6-inch loaf pan with butter, sugar, egg, and flour. A scaled-down classic with a tender, buttery crumb and a golden top that springs back when pressed.

Yeasty sourdough starter is the shortcut version: unbleached flour, a packet of dry yeast, and water mixed into a thick batter and left warm for a day. A fast track to bread baking when you don't want to wait two weeks for a wild starter.

Ham and mustard biscuit rolls with a sharp cheddar cheese sauce. Ground ham, butter, and mustard rolled into biscuit dough, sliced into pinwheels, and baked golden brown.

Garlic mashed potatoes made lighter with nonfat yogurt and nonfat sour cream instead of butter. Tiny new potatoes boiled with whole garlic cloves and mashed skin-on for a rustic, creamy side dish.

Coiled honey almond twist bread made with basic sweet dough, topped with a buttery honey-almond glaze that caramelizes as it bakes. A pull-apart breakfast or brunch bread.

Quick brownies from scratch with margarine, cocoa, and vanilla. A simple pantry brownie recipe that comes together in one bowl for fast chocolate cravings.

Fattigmann is a Norwegian fried pastry cookie flavored with cardamom or cinnamon, twisted into slit diamonds and crisped in lard. A traditional Scandinavian Christmas treat with powdered sugar.

Old-fashioned lace cookies with pecans, brown sugar, and corn syrup, rolled into delicate cylinders while still warm. Shatteringly crisp and caramel-sweet.

Buttery tangerine shortbread with fresh citrus peel and juice baked into a crisp, golden wedge. Only 5 ingredients for a melt-in-your-mouth cookie that's easy to make in bulk.

Date sticks: chewy bar cookies packed with chopped dates and nuts in a tender cake-like base, cut into strips and dusted with powdered sugar. Pantry-staple treat.

Sweet cornmeal muffins made with just 8 pantry ingredients. Light, tender, and lightly sweetened with a golden cornmeal crumb. Quick to mix and baked in under 20 minutes.