Recipe Sifter

Chewy butterscotch brownies made with Bisquick, brown sugar, pecans, and coconut. Everything gets mixed in one bowl and baked until golden. The laziest route to a pan of seriously good blondies.

No-bake muesli bars with oats, crushed cornflakes, coconut, dried fruit, and peanut butter held together with a buttery honey sauce. Chilled and sliced into chewy snack bars.

A show stopper of an apple custard pie recipe with tender apple halves baked in a luscious, creamy vanilla custard filling.

Lemon chicken with Angostura bitters, brown sugar, and paprika. Flour-coated chicken thighs browned in a skillet then baked with lemon slices in a sweet-bitter pan sauce.

Old-fashioned Bishop's bread with brown sugar, buttermilk, cinnamon, and a buttery crumb topping. Tender, warm, and best served straight from the pan. Simple baking at its finest.

A dark, earthy bread machine pumpernickel made with rye flour, whole wheat, cocoa, molasses, and instant coffee. Dump the ingredients in and let the machine do the work.

Light, tender muffins studded with tart blackcurrants and a touch of wheat germ for nutty depth. Mixed by hand, baked in 20 minutes, and brilliant with a cup of tea or a morning coffee.

Bread machine loaf with crushed pineapple, grated carrots, rolled oats, and whole wheat flour. Naturally sweetened with applesauce and brown sugar. Just load and press start.

Seared lamb shoulder chops smothered in a glossy pineapple-brown sugar sauce with tender carrots and green bell pepper. A sweet and sour twist on lamb that's ready in 35 minutes.

Parkin is a variety of gingerbread, good warming stuff to eat out of doors in cold weather. When I was a child, it was always a firm favourite for the firework party on Bonfire Night each year. This is adapted from my mother's recipe.

Pineapple macadamia nut cheesecake with a vanilla wafer crust, coconut, and a rum-kissed sour cream topping. A tropical Hawaiian-inspired cheesecake that beats any bakery version.

Mini pecan pies bake in individual flan tins with a press-in shortbread crust and a golden syrup, brown sugar, and pecan filling. British-style hand-held tarts perfect for parties.

Homemade peach chutney with brown sugar, honey, raisins, and whole spices simmered for an hour and canned in a boiling water bath. Makes 4 pints of sweet-tart preserve.

Sweet and sour green tomato pickles with brown sugar, vinegar, and a bouquet of pickling spices. The classic end-of-summer way to use up unripe tomatoes from the garden.

Light upside-down cake with canned apricot halves on the bottom, topped with a sponge-like batter made from separated eggs and bread crumbs.

This scrumptious Irish cake is so tasty, the boiled raisins and currants with butter give the cake great texture and flavor.