Baked Good Recipes

Lemon cream bread baked in a loaf pan with cream cheese in the batter, chopped pecans, and a lemon-sugar glaze poured over the hot crust. Soft, tangy, dense crumb.

Portzilke are traditional German-Russian yeasted fritters loaded with raisins, fried golden in deep fat. A heritage pastry from the Volga German tradition, puffy and sweet.

Old-fashioned oatmeal cake with cinnamon, nuts, and a broiled coconut-brown sugar icing spread on warm. A nostalgic, from-scratch classic worth passing down.

Loska is a two-ingredient Eastern European potato flatbread made from mashed potatoes and flour, baked thin and brushed with butter. Served with soup.

Biscotti crocanti, traditional Italian twice-baked cookies with whole almonds and a pairing of almond and anise extracts. The classic crisp Italian biscotti for dunking in espresso or vin santo.

Spiced pumpkin cookies with cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and ginger. Soft drop cookies topped with cinnamon sugar baked in 15 minutes.

Jewish apple cake layered with cinnamon sugar and sliced apples in a tube pan. A dairy-free oil-based cake with orange juice, perfect for Rosh Hashanah or any fall gathering.

Orange madeleines with fresh orange zest and juice folded into a classic French sponge batter. Light, shell-shaped cakes dusted with powdered sugar while still warm.

Annie's butter cookies: one buttery, rich dough that shapes into candy canes, pinwheels, spritzes, cutouts, or drop cookies. The Christmas-cookie foundation worth memorizing.

Crisp whole wheat oatmeal cookies spiced with ginger and allspice, made with bran and brown sugar. Egg-free and simple to roll and cut, these British-style biscuits are wholesome comfort in every bite.

Traditional holiday fruitcake loaded with raisins, currants, citron, and pecans, enriched with sherry, honey, and orange marmalade. Baked low and slow, best after aging.

Flaky pie pastry using both shortening and butter for the best of both worlds. Stand mixer method cuts fat into flour in 30 seconds. Makes two crusts.

Maple-apple oatmeal cookies with real maple syrup, fresh apples, applesauce, currants, and a crunchy oat-brown sugar topping. Soft, cakey fall cookies baked low and slow.

Savory olive muffins with chopped black olives, grated onion, fresh mint, and olive oil. Greek-style savory muffins for picnics, brunch, or appetizer trays.

Cream puff cake bakes a sheet of pate a choux as the base, then layers vanilla pudding cream cheese filling, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup on top. A pan-sized riff on the classic eclair.

Rio Grande-style biscocitos with butter, anise seed, and brandy, dusted in cinnamon sugar before baking. Crisp, fragrant, and easy to cut into festive shapes. Makes 3 dozen.