Recipe Sifter

Mrs Fields' applesauce oatmeal cookies loaded with chocolate chips, raisins, and walnuts. Soft, chewy, and spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg for a bakery-style cookie.

Tra-La coffee cake muffins with stewed figs baked into a quick batter, topped with brown sugar, cinnamon, butter, and walnut streusel. A vintage breakfast treat.

Krumkake are crisp Norwegian waffle cookies pressed in a decorative iron and shaped while warm into cones or cookie bowls. Six ingredients for an elegant Scandinavian dessert vessel.

Pineapple pecan bars with a shortbread crust topped with a crushed pineapple, brown sugar, and pecan custard filling. A chewy tropical bar cookie that cuts cleanly into 32 pieces, perfect for cookie trays.

Fiddlehead fern and ham casserole layered with herb white sauce and topped with buttered bread crumbs. A New England springtime comfort dish using foraged fiddleheads.

Peppernuts cookies with ground raisins, coconut, and nuts in a brown sugar-buttermilk dough, rolled into ropes and cut into bite-sized pieces. A Mennonite holiday tradition.

Make-ahead slice and bake sugar cookies with lemon extract. Shape the dough into logs, freeze for up to 6 months, and bake fresh cookies in 10 minutes whenever the craving hits.

Norwegian krumkaker are crisp cardamom-scented waffle cookies pressed thin in a special iron and rolled into cones while still hot. A traditional Scandinavian Christmas treat.

Puffy sour cream drop cookies topped with cinnamon sugar before baking. Soft, cakey, and lightly golden around the edges. Simple pantry ingredients, 30 minutes start to finish. Makes 18.

Whoopie pies sandwich two soft chocolate cake-cookies around a fluffy vanilla cream filling. Maine and Pennsylvania Dutch dessert with a cult following.

Greek butter cookies (kourabiedes) with ground cloves and a thick powdered sugar coating. Tender, crumbly, and lightly spiced for the holidays.

Healthy blueberry muffins sweetened with pure maple syrup instead of refined sugar, built on whole-wheat flour, ground flax, and buttermilk. Tender, high-fiber muffins brightened with fresh orange zest.

Mom's breakfast berry muffins with blackberries (or blueberries) tossed in flour to keep them suspended. A bakery-style butter-and-egg base produces tender, golden muffins. Makes 16 for the freezer.

Cappuccino cupcakes blend espresso into a moist chocolate batter lightened with prune puree as a butter substitute. Topped with whipped cream and cocoa for that cafe-style finish.

One of my favourite things to have for a meal is Sindhi curry with plain boiled rice accompanied by crispy vegetables. The Sindhi Curry is by far the nicest curry I’ve had. Sour, spicy and tangy – some of the flavours I’m especially biased towards. This is also good because I end up eating a variety of vegetables.

Broccoli cheddar beer soup builds a thick roux-based pot with two pounds of melted cheddar, beef stock, and a splash of beer stirred in just before serving. Pub-style soup at home.