Recipe Sifter

Easy raisin bran muffins made with the cereal straight from the box, no soaking required. A wholesome breakfast that bakes up in 30 minutes flat for busy mornings.

Vegan wild rice crepes stuffed with a savory trio of shiitake, oyster, and button mushrooms, finished with a silky nutty almond sauce. Elegant plant-based entertaining at its finest.

Five-grain bread baked in terra cotta flower pots with cracked wheat, rye, whole wheat, oatmeal, and rice. Honey and malt extract add natural sweetness to this rustic multigrain loaf.

Moist banana layer cake studded with grated white chocolate and topped with a banana-white chocolate frosting. Use up those overripe bananas in style.

Soft shell crabs seared in clarified butter meet brown butter sauce spiked with sherry vinegar, toasted hazelnuts, and sweet sugar snap peas. Elegant springtime seafood in under an hour.

Jello flavored cake made by sifting flavored gelatin right into the batter with cake flour and whipped egg whites. A light, airy ring cake you can customize with any Jello flavor.

Tender buttermilk muffins bursting with tart rhubarb and topped with cinnamon-brown sugar crumble. A spring breakfast treat that makes the most of garden-fresh stalks.

Elephant ears: Pennsylvania Dutch yeast-dough fritters stretched thin, deep-fried until golden and bubbly, then dusted with powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar. The state fair classic.

Banana cream pie with a buttery pecan-shortbread crust, a thin chocolate layer, vanilla custard folded with whipped cream and fresh bananas. Makes two pies for the county fair winner's circle.

Texas-style chocolate sheet cake bakes a thin, fudgy buttermilk-cocoa cake in 25 minutes, then gets crowned with warm pecan-laced fudge icing poured straight onto the still-warm surface. Sixteen squares from one 9x13 pan.

Old English yeasted Christmas cake spiced with cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg, and caraway seeds. A buttery yeast-risen holiday loaf, closer to brioche than to fruitcake.

Old-fashioned raisin cream pie layers a vanilla custard base with plumped raisins, all under a fluffy meringue top. A heritage Sunday-supper pie that uses the whole egg, no waste.

Savory basil red pepper muffins with olive oil, scallions, and egg whites. A low-fat, no-butter muffin that works as a side for soups, stews, or on its own for brunch.

Whole wheat Irish soda bread made with graham flour and tangy buttermilk, no yeast or rising time. Just six pantry staples, a quick knead, and a deep cross scored on top for that signature rustic loaf.

New Orleans-style French Market beignets cut into squares, deep-fried golden, and buried in powdered sugar. Make-ahead yeast dough that chills overnight and improves over a week in the fridge.

This rich, earthy soup has but 100 calories per serving if made with non-fat milk.