Recipe Sifter

Melt-away butter cookies with vanilla and almond extract, pressed with a cookie gun and optionally dipped in chocolate with chopped pecans. Yields 7 dozen.

Peanut butter snap cookies with brown sugar, butter, and vanilla, shaped into balls and baked until crisp. A big-batch recipe that yields 7 dozen crunchy peanut butter cookies.

Spiced fig drop cookies with stewed figs, raisins, walnuts, allspice, and cinnamon. An old-fashioned fruit-filled cookie that stores beautifully in a tin for weeks.

Soft apple oatmeal cookies with fresh chopped apple, applesauce, raisins, honey, cinnamon, cloves, and lemon zest. Baked low and slow for a chewy, cake-like texture.

Old-fashioned pound cake with a full pound of real butter, eight eggs, and no leavening. Baked low and slow for a dense, velvety crumb with deep buttery flavor.

Fudgy brownies with melted semi-sweet chocolate, sour cream, and chocolate chips folded in. Intentionally underbaked for a dense, gooey center that firms up as it cools.

Tender tube cake with walnuts and orange zest, soaked in amaretto-orange syrup while still hot. Moist, boozy, and bursting with citrus flavor.

Homemade Chinese baked pork buns (Cha Siu Bao) stuffed with savory barbecued pork in a sweet, glossy bread dough. Golden, pillowy, and packed with hoisin-ginger flavor in every bite.

Thick cod steaks baked under a creamy homemade mushroom sauce with a paprika finish. A hearty, old-school fish dinner that comes together with pantry staples in about an hour.

Light, airy crab souffle with sweet crab meat, Swiss cheese, shallots, and a Parmesan crust. This elegant French-inspired dish rises tall and golden, turning simple ingredients into something show-stopping.

A Southern sweet potato pone made with raw grated sweet potatoes, allspice, cinnamon, and a simple batter. Baked in a square pan until golden. Old-fashioned comfort at its finest.

Traditional Chinese almond cookies made with ground almonds, lard, and almond extract, each topped with a whole blanched almond. Crumbly, fragrant, and golden, just like the ones from your favorite bakery.

Fudgy chocolate yogurt cake baked in heart-shaped pans for Valentine's Day. Plain yogurt keeps the cocoa-rich crumb moist and tender with a subtle tang, ready to frost and decorate however you like. A sweetheart of a dessert.

Carrot cake loaded with crushed pineapple, coconut, and walnuts. Soaked with hot buttermilk glaze straight out of the oven and finished with orange cream cheese frosting.

Hershey's Kiss cookies: tender brown-sugar thumbprint cookies rolled in chopped nuts and crowned with a chocolate kiss the moment they exit the oven. A holiday cookie tray staple.

Finnish breakfast pancakes (pannukakku) baked in a sheet pan with golden custardy centers and crisp buttery edges. A traditional Nordic oven pancake that feeds a crowd with one batter and one pan.