Recipe Sifter

Thin, crispy butter cookies spread with melted semi-sweet chocolate and sprinkled with shredded coconut. A light, elegant cookie with lacy edges and a satisfying snap.

Pennsylvania Dutch peach cake from Lebanon County with fresh peach halves baked into a tender biscuit-style base, dusted with cinnamon sugar. A summer harvest classic.

Sturdy gingerbread dough engineered for building. Stiff enough to hold its shape, deeply spiced with cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg, ready for cookie houses, churches, and edible structures.

Drunken pioneers pasta: wagon wheels topped with sauteed peppers and onions in a quick red wine and beef-stock sauce with basil and rosemary. Pantry weeknight pasta in 25 minutes.

Old-fashioned buttermilk doughnuts spiced with ginger and nutmeg, fried golden in just minutes. Tender, cake-style doughnuts with a slight tang from real buttermilk.

Chocolate chip tea sandwiches: a chewy brown-sugar blondie bar studded with chocolate chips, baked in a sheet pan and cut into dainty squares for tea, showers, or bake sales.

Light chocolate cake made without eggs or butter using skim milk and cocoa powder. Topped with a fluffy whipped cocoa frosting for a lower-fat treat that still satisfies.

Honey cut-out cookies with lemon extract, rolled thin and baked until lightly golden. A sturdy dough that holds its shape for holiday decorating with powdered sugar glaze.

Brandy-soaked apple fritters in a light, airy batter with cinnamon and ginger, deep-fried golden and dusted with powdered sugar. Served warm with chilled whipped cream.

Lemony ham and rice soup made in the microwave in just 20 minutes. A quick one-dish meal using canned chicken rice soup, chopped ham, lemon juice, and nutmeg.

A hilariously gross Halloween cake decorated to look like a head with frosting 'hair,' cherry eyes, and a fruit roll-up tongue. Kids go absolutely wild for this one. Easy box cake base.

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Red bean soup with beef, celery, lemon, and Worcestershire sauce, pressed through a sieve for a smooth, thick puree. A hearty old-fashioned bean soup ready in about 40 minutes.

Serve this as a condiment at your next Mexican cookout, with fajitas, pinto beans, cornbread, and coleslaw.

Traditional French onion soup starting with homemade beef bone stock simmered for 3 hours, then finished with caramelized onions and melted Gruyere. This from-scratch version takes patience but delivers deep, rich flavor.

Rivel soup is a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch egg dumpling soup with tiny flour-and-egg crumbles cooked in broth with corn. Three ingredients, ready in 20 minutes.