Recipe Sifter

Homemade pumpernickel bagels with rye flour, pumpernickel flour, and a homemade caramel for color and depth. Chewy, dark, and deeply flavored yeast bagels.

A succulent beef roast that's sauted with potatoes and zucchini in a red wine sauce.

Easier to work with. The original recipe called for brandy or grape juice, but I found that if you substitute the orange juice concentrate, it has a nicer flavour.

Fudgy sourdough chocolate cake mixed in one bowl with cocoa, cold coffee, and sourdough starter. Rich, dense, and scratch-made with a tang you can't get from a box mix.

Spicy Mexican bean burgers made with kidney beans, picante sauce, bell pepper, carrot, and chili powder. Oven-baked vegetarian patties for a healthier handheld meal.

Loaded drop cookies packed with chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coconut, oatmeal, nuts, and candy-coated chocolates on top. These kitchen sink cookies have everything but the sink.

Crisp, crumbly Swedish coconut cookies leavened with baker's ammonia for an ultra-light snap. Rolled into walnut-sized balls and baked until golden. Makes 4 dozen buttery, coconut-flecked treats in under an hour.

Three-layer toasted coconut cake with a buttermilk crumb, coconut and vanilla extract, and a cream cheese frosting loaded with toasted coconut. A classic Southern bake for birthdays and holidays.

Whole wheat trail cookie bars with dried figs, golden raisins, walnuts, and wheat germ, sweetened with honey and molasses. A hearty, portable snack baked in one pan.

Cajun wild duck and andouille sauce piquant simmered low and slow in a dark roux with tomato sauce, white wine, and hot pepper. Louisiana bayou cooking at its boldest.

Carrot cake with lemon cream cheese frosting, made ultra-moist with pureed carrots, crushed pineapple, and toasted walnuts. The bright citrus frosting cuts the sweetness on this towering three-layer cake.

Carrot cake with crushed pineapple, raisins, cinnamon, and ginger. Moist, tender crumb perfect with cream cheese frosting. Makes a sheet cake or 4 mini loaves.

Basic breakfast muffins made with flour, honey, and applesauce. No butter, no eggs, no oil. Six pantry ingredients turn into soft, lightly sweet muffins in 45 minutes.

Skinny banana muffins lean on ripe mashed banana for moisture and sweetness, with just a quarter cup of oil and skim milk. A lighter, fluffy banana muffin that doesn't taste like a diet compromise.

Golden pumpkin bread is a moist pumpkin quick bread with a twist: cornmeal for a golden, tender crumb, sour cream for richness, warm pumpkin pie spice, and studded with raisins and pecans. A cozy fall loaf.

Cranberry pumpkin muffins fold tart fresh cranberries into a spiced pumpkin batter for a tender breakfast muffin balanced between sweet and tangy. The autumn pairing in muffin form.