Recipe Sifter

Italian anise biscotti: twice-baked Italian almond cookies flavored with pharmacy-grade anise oil and toasted whole almonds. Crisp, dunkable, perfect with espresso.

This is a very pretty cake with the thin sliced almonds and the sugar not dissolved on top.

Crunchy dried cherry biscotti studded with ground almonds, twice-baked until crisp. A classic Italian dunking cookie with no butter or oil in the dough.

Classic Italian anise biscotti with toasted almonds and anise seeds infused in Sambuca or Pernod. Twice-baked until crisp and dry, built for dunking into espresso or Vin Santo.

A different approach to classic German apple pancake, it tastes more sophisticated. Kids will find more fun from these rolled-up pancakes stuffed with applesauce and raisins, smothered in a custard-like creamy mixture.

Chocolate brownies spiked with amaretto in both the batter and the chocolate frosting, finished with sliced almonds. A grown-up brownie with deep almond and unsweetened chocolate notes.

Chocolate almond zucchini bread: a moist, deeply chocolate quick bread that hides grated zucchini for tenderness and toasted almonds for crunch. Two loaves from one batch.

Crushed graham crackers, chopped almonds, and walnuts create a nutty, buttery cake with old-fashioned charm. Serve warm in squares dusted with powdered sugar or topped with whipped cream.

Vegan fruit cake packed with dried fruit, candied peel, orange rind, and almonds, leavened with a soy milk and vinegar reaction instead of eggs. A dense, dairy-free holiday cake baked low and slow.

Medianyky, traditional Ukrainian honey cookies spiced with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg, topped with almonds and sugar crystals. A fragrant holiday cookie with Old World charm.

Yeast doughnuts made in the bread machine: a simple bread-flour dough hand-shaped, proofed, and deep-fried, then finished with chocolate, almonds, powdered sugar, whipped cream, or cinnamon sugar.

A traditional Dutch spice cake (gevulde speculaas) with a ground almond filling sandwiched between two layers of cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg-spiced dough. Topped with whole toasted almonds.

Traditional Jewish taiglach: little dough knots studded with raisins and nuts, boiled in honey syrup with ginger until golden and sticky. A Rosh Hashanah and holiday essential.

Shortbread-like biscuits -- This recipe was given to my Great Aunt when she lived in Scotland, by a friend who worked in a bakery in Leven Fife. It is based on the standard short bread recipe.

Fresh peaches fill into an almond and flour crust, the sweetness, slightly sourness, and refreshing taste from the peaches go very well with the nutty crusty. It's a light, fruity and delicious dessert that fits a hot summer day wonderfully!

This delightful dessert is so good, the crust is buttery and flakey, and the pear-almond filling is scrumptious and juicy.