Recipe Sifter

Honey sour cream anise cookies bake into pillowy, soft drop cookies with brown sugar, honey, tangy sour cream, and aromatic aniseed. A licorice-scented old-country cookie for big batches.

Melt-in-your mouth balls topped with crunch sesame seeds are a delicious, not too sweet, accompaniament to coffee or tea.

Mandarin orange cornbread with orange extract and canned mandarin slices stirred right into the batter. A sweet, citrusy twist on classic cornbread that bakes in 30 minutes.

A foolproof 4-ingredient pie crust made with flour, salt, shortening, and ice water. Step-by-step instructions walk you through cutting, rolling, fluting, and blind baking like a pro.

Hoernchen are German almond crescent cookies made with ground almonds, butter, and vanilla, dipped in colored sugar or sprinkles for a festive holiday cookie.

Jalapeno cornbread stuffing made from scratch with homemade cornbread, bacon, onions, celery, oregano, and chicken broth. A spicy, savory Southern-style dressing for turkey or as a hearty side dish.

Crumbed button mushrooms with garlic or tartare sauce.

Rich mahogany chocolate pound cake with cocoa, sour cream, and both white and brown sugar, baked in a bundt pan. Dense, moist, and deeply chocolatey with an optional quick chocolate sauce.

Homemade fig newtons: a tender brown sugar and sour cream cookie dough wrapped around real homemade fig jam, baked in logs and sliced into soft bars. So much better than the boxed kind.

Zesty fig and date pastry bars with walnuts, orange juice, and lemon zest on a buttery shortbread crust with a crisscross lattice top. A bright, old-school cookie bar.

A thin, fudgy chocolate sheet cake baked right on a cookie sheet and iced while still hot. Feeds a crowd in 30 minutes flat. The ultimate potluck and church supper cake.

New England clam chowder cooked in the microwave with bacon, potatoes, onions, minced clams, and half and half. Classic Yankee comfort soup, ready fast.

Pineapple-coconut chess pie with crushed pineapple and flaked coconut bound in a sweet cornmeal-thickened custard. A Southern classic with tropical flair and a slightly chewy texture.

Chewy brown sugar cookie sticks baked low and slow, cut into thin fingers, and rolled in powdered sugar. Toasted walnuts take these from good to great.

Hundred-dollar chocolate cake made with mayonnaise-style salad dressing instead of eggs and butter. Moist, fudgy, and topped with a boiled cocoa frosting.

Country-style rabbit stew braised in dry sherry, chicken broth, and a strained game marinade with sage and thyme. The way old hunters do it, in a black iron pot.