Recipe Sifter

Jam cake with caramel icing, a three-layer Southern spice cake built around blackberry jam, cinnamon, and allspice, blanketed with soft-ball-stage caramel icing made from brown sugar, butter, and cream.

Hazelnut butter balls: tender, melt-in-your-mouth cookies loaded with chopped toasted hazelnuts, rolled in powdered sugar while warm. A buttery, nutty riff on the classic snowball cookie that disappears off any holiday tray.

Chewy peanut butter chip bars with deep cocoa brownie batter and pockets of peanut butter chips. A jelly-roll pan recipe that yields four dozen fudgy chocolate bars.

Swedish Christmas crescent cookies: tender almond shortbread shaped into half-moons and finished with cinnamon sugar. The classic Scandinavian holiday cookie that melts on the tongue.

Chewy butterscotch brownies (blondies) with dark brown sugar, melted butter, and vanilla in a one-bowl, six-ingredient recipe. Rich, toffee-flavored squares that take 10 minutes to mix and bake golden.

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.

A moist tube cake where grated apples meet cocoa, cinnamon, allspice, and chocolate chips. Baked low and slow for a dense, spiced crumb that's part apple cake, part chocolate cake, and entirely irresistible.

A self-saucing cocoa espresso pudding cake that creates its own hot fudge layer as it bakes. Boiling water poured over the batter before baking does all the work. Serve warm for 6 to 8.

Double chocolate chip cookies with cocoa-rich dough, buttermilk for tang and tender texture, and semi-sweet chocolate chips throughout. Soft-set centers and chewy edges every time.

Easy coconut quick bread with toasted unsweetened coconut for nutty, caramelized depth. A one-bowl loaf with tender crumb and tropical flavor. Mixes in minutes and bakes hands-off.

Peanut butter chocolate chip pound cakes made with buttermilk for a tender crumb, loaded with mini chocolate chips. Bakes into four mini loaves with rich, nutty flavor.

Quick cinnamon flop coffee cake with a brown sugar crumble topping baked in one pan. Simple pantry ingredients, 45 minutes, and best served warm.

Crunchy Italian orange almond biscotti, twice-baked for that signature snap and loaded with toasted almonds and bright orange zest. A no-butter cookie made for dunking in coffee or vin santo.

Apple filling cake baked in a tube pan with layers of grated cinnamon apples swirled through a moist oil-based batter. Dense, fruity, and warmly spiced.

Mississippi mud bars layer fudgy pecan-studded brownies under a glossy chocolate frosting and another shower of toasted pecans. Cut into small bars, they yield over four dozen from one 9x13 pan. Southern bake-sale royalty.

Cinnamon and cloves perfume these twisted Greek sesame cookies with golden crusts and soft centers. Makes 72 cookies perfect for Mediterranean holiday cookie exchanges or gift tins.