2,200 light recipes

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.

Old-school chocolate chip cookies built on shortening and brown sugar for crisp edges and chewy middles, studded with semi-sweet chips and toasted pecans. A throwback recipe from the original Crisco era.

Checkerboard cookies made easy with a fudge marble cake mix: build a black-and-white checkerboard from vanilla and chocolate dough strips, chill, slice and bake. A showy slice-and-bake cookie without the fuss.

French prune and almond tart with tea-soaked prunes nestled beneath a silky frangipane filling of ground almonds, egg, sugar, cream, and a splash of eau-de-vie. Finished with powdered sugar.

Piña colada pie: a four-ingredient frozen graham-crust pie with piña colada yogurt, crushed pineapple, and whipped topping. The easiest tropical dessert in the freezer playbook.

Acadian cranberry pie, a Nova Scotian tradition: tart cranberries cooked with sugar and enriched with egg and butter, baked in a lattice crust and served with cream. Sweet-tart, rustic, and old-fashioned.

Raspberry peach breakfast shake blended with frozen raspberries, peach nectar, buttermilk, and honey. A creamy 4-ingredient morning smoothie ready in 5 minutes.

Gingered figs simmered in molasses and sugar until plump and tender. A warm, spiced fruit condiment for ham, pork, roast beef, chicken, or steak.

Biscotti di Greve: Tuscan twice-baked cookies packed with toasted whole almonds and bright orange zest. Crisp, dippable, and built to keep for weeks. The Italian classic from Chianti country.

Spaghetti pie with a baked noodle crust, marinara, sauteed bell peppers, and a melty mozzarella-Parmesan top. A clever leftover-pasta dinner that slices like a pizza.

Patty Ann's cheese cake tarts: bite-size cream cheese pastry shells with two fillings, pecan and coconut. Muffin-tin desserts for holiday cookie trays.

Wheat-free fruit and nut muffins made with rice flour and cornstarch, loaded with dried apricots, fresh cranberries, and chopped cashews. Sweetened with honey.

Marbled chocolate cookies with sour cream for extra softness, made by folding melted semi-sweet chocolate into vanilla dough. Baked low and slow so they stay chewy, never crisp.

Pineapple Bavarian cream made with crushed pineapple, lemon gelatin, and whipped heavy cream folded together into a chilled, cloud-light molded dessert. A retro classic worth bringing back.

Orange walnut muffins with fresh orange juice, lemon zest, and brown sugar. A lighter, lower-fat breakfast muffin with bright citrus flavor and crunchy walnut pieces.

Toasted almonds ground to powder blend with beaten egg whites and sugar to create these crisp Italian amaretti cookies where lemon zest and almond extract deliver intense flavor in delicate, airy bites.