Recipe Sifter

Chocolate chip date coffee cake uses boiling water-plumped dates to build a moist, caramel-sweet crumb, topped with brown sugar, nuts, and chocolate chips. A brunch bake with serious old-diner charm.

Old-school cocoa drop cookies made with buttermilk and whole wheat flour, topped with a glossy homemade chocolate frosting. Quick to mix, quick to bake, and yields a big batch of 4 dozen.

Reduced-sugar chocolate cake uses egg substitute, margarine, and nonfat dry milk for a lighter tender cake. Cake flour gives a fine crumb in a 9-inch pan, cut into 16 modest squares.

Banana layer cake stacks two tender 8-inch rounds and slathers them in a real banana frosting brightened with lemon juice. Twice the banana, twice the reason to skip the boxed mix.

Beef pie freezes four 8x8 pans at once, layering diced cooked beef, peas, and onions in a butter-flour gravy under a poppy seed-dusted pastry. Batch-cook dinner for the freezer.

Oatmeal cookies rolled in chopped nuts with a chocolate star pressed into each warm center. The classic peanut blossom cookie technique applied to oats.

Egg-free bran muffins loaded with chopped apples, dried apricots, and walnuts, made with apple juice and all-bran cereal. Brushed with cinnamon sugar while hot.

Microwave upside-down brunch cake with ham, crushed pineapple, and brown sugar under a cornmeal batter. Sweet and savory in under 30 minutes.

Topsy-turvy apple pie: a double-crust cinnamon apple pie baked over a brown sugar and pecan layer, then flipped so a glossy praline-pecan top crowns every slice. A clever twist on apple pie.

A fun, kid-friendly chocolate sheet cake with sour cream for extra moisture and a creamy rum frosting you can decorate like a board game. Birthday party crowd-pleaser.

A three-layer chocolate cake with cocoa and walnut extract, blanketed in fluffy marshmallow icing and showered with chopped black walnuts. All the joy of an ice cream sundae, no melting required.

Chocolate chip cheesecake on a chocolate wafer crust with sour cream, vanilla, and mini semi-sweet chocolate pieces. Rich, creamy, and loaded with chocolate throughout.

Homemade crepes filled with a vanilla ricotta and cream cheese filling, baked golden, and topped with fresh mixed berries. These lighter cheese blintzes are brunch royalty.

Moist tube pan cake packed with chopped apples and chocolate chips, spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and cocoa. Bakes low and slow for a tender crumb. The fall baking recipe you didn't know you needed.

Chocolate surprise cookies hiding peanut butter chips and walnuts inside a cocoa-based drop cookie dough. The chocolate-peanut butter combo bakes up in just 8-10 minutes.

Granny's chocolate cake is a one-bowl wonder with cocoa, hot water, and egg whites baked into a moist single-layer square. Old-fashioned weeknight cake dusted with powdered sugar.