Recipe Sifter

Orange date scones with bright fresh orange zest, sweet sticky dates, and a cake-flour-tender crumb. A big-batch bakery-style recipe perfect for crowds, freezing ahead, or weekend brunch.

Strong flavors from both beer and cheddar cheese, if you love both beer and cheddar cheese, you will absolutely love this bread. It's also so easy to make, needless to say it disappears very fast, so make sure to bake enough loaves.

Steamed cranberry pudding with molasses and a warm vanilla butter sauce. A dense, tart-sweet holiday dessert with jewel-red cranberry halves throughout, steamed for 90 minutes in a mold.

Buttermilk whoopie pies: pillowy chocolate cake cookies sandwiched around fluffy marshmallow buttercream. The classic New England diner dessert, soft, sweet, and snack-cake delicious.

Classic pecan sandies are tender shortbread-style butter cookies loaded with chopped pecans and dusted with powdered sugar. A 6-ingredient holiday favorite that melts on the tongue.

Old-school dark fruitcake soaked overnight in brandy and orange liqueur with figs, apricots, currants, walnuts, and pecans. Makes four loaves; ages beautifully.

Traditional Italian fig cookies (cucidati) with a sweet filling of dried figs, raisins, walnuts, and cinnamon wrapped in a buttery dough. A classic holiday cookie from Italian-American bakeries.

Chewy date and nut bar cookies with a crisp edge, baked thin on a sheet pan and dusted with powdered sugar. Simple, old-fashioned, and only 6 ingredients.

Heirloom walnut icebox cookies with warm spice blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. Make-ahead slice-and-bake cookies that keep frozen for weeks until ready to bake.

Bran cookies with raisins, cinnamon, and sour milk for a hearty, old-fashioned drop cookie with fiber and a soft, cake-like texture. A wholesome cookie that tastes like a bran muffin in cookie form.

Gumdrop fruitcake with white raisins, chopped nuts, and colorful gumdrops in a spiced applesauce batter. A festive, kid-friendly alternative to traditional fruitcake.

Chewy oat chocolate chip cookies packed with rolled oats, semi-sweet chocolate, and chopped nuts. Bake 9 minutes for soft and chewy or 13 minutes for crisp edges. Also works as bars.

Wholesome snack cake packed with wheat germ, applesauce, raisins, and orange zest. Low-fat and diabetic-friendly with minimal oil. Cuts into 16 bars for lunchboxes or afternoon treats.

Old-fashioned bourbon nut cake loaded with pecans, raisins, and candied cherries, baked low and slow in a tube pan. Mellows for a week and tastes even better with time.

Crunchy peanut butter cookie bars topped with melted chocolate chips, more peanut butter, and crushed corn flakes. A no-fuss, kid-approved treat with a crispy chocolate topping.

Buttery cocoa crescent cookies loaded with ground pecans and rolled in powdered sugar. Melt-in-your-mouth tender with a deep chocolate twist on the classic Mexican wedding cookie. Makes about 3.5 dozen.