Recipe Sifter

Light-as-air banana chiffon cake with tangy cream cheese frosting. Ripe bananas meet fluffy egg whites for a moist, tender crumb that melts on your tongue.

The name of these triple chocolate cookies says it all- or almost. Serve them only to guests who you don't want to have leave- ever!

Fresh gingerbread cake paired with whole pears poached in ruby port with ginger, cinnamon, and vanilla. Served with ginger-scented whipped cream for an elegant holiday dessert plate.

[Note: Bobby Flay, chef of NYC's Mesa Grill, prepared this dessert for a Meals on Wheels benefit meal at the Frontera Grill in Chicago

Quick microwave pecan pie ready in under 35 minutes when the oven is occupied. This method uses interval cooking at varying power levels to set the filling without overcooking the edges.

Buttery lemon poppy seed bundt cake with a tangy lemon sugar glaze. Inspired by the famous Chez Piggy restaurant in Kingston, Ontario, this tender crumb melts on the tongue.

Homemade Italian cream rolls with cinnamon-spiced fried shells, sweet ricotta filling with candied citron and chocolate, finished with blanched pistachios and powdered sugar. Makes 16 to 18 cannoli.

Apple dessert bars with a buttery shortbread crust, cinnamon-lemon apple layer, and a rich coconut-nut custard topping that bakes into chewy squares.

Classic American apple pie with a lattice crust, vanilla-scented filling, and half and half for extra richness. A from-scratch shortening crust that bakes up flaky and golden.

Blond brownies with brown sugar and butter base topped with almonds and chocolate chips: butterscotch-flavored bars baked until golden, named for the A-B-C toppings.

Hobo bread is a dense, moist quick bread made with boiled raisins, baking soda, nutmeg, and a sugar-nut topping. No yeast, no butter, baked in small loaf pans or even empty tuna cans.

This two-layer banana cake with buttermilk and chopped pecans bakes up incredibly moist and tender. Made with cake flour for a fine, soft crumb, it's the kind of from-scratch banana cake that wins blue ribbons.

Three layers of deep chocolate cake get brushed with vanilla sugar glaze while hot, then stacked with mocha buttercream icing spiked with coffee and cocoa.

Oatmeal cranberry nut cookies loaded with rolled oats, whole berry cranberry sauce, toasted almonds, molasses, and warm spice. A soft, chewy holiday cookie that uses up leftover cranberry sauce.

Mrs Fields' black and white cookies: chewy chocolate cookies studded with chunks of both semi-sweet and white chocolate. The famous mall-cookie chain copycat with bakery-sized presence.

Please your desire for pastries with this scrumptious snack that has a hint of almond.