1,235 melting recipes

These apples are gently spiced and good for brunch as well as dessert.

Holiday charlotte with ladyfinger-lined mold filled with silky chocolate mousse and crowned with fresh fruit glazed in apple jelly. A showstopper no-bake holiday dessert.

Peanut butter dreams are no-bake chocolate-dipped peanut butter balls with crisp rice cereal for crunch. Vintage church-cookbook candy that yields 48 freezer-friendly bites and disappears at every bake sale.

Three-ingredient chocolate walnut bark with a white chocolate zigzag drizzle. No-bake, microwave-melted, and snappable into gift-worthy pieces in about 30 minutes.

SPAM Reuben sandwiches grilled on rye bread with tangy sauerkraut, melted Swiss cheese, and Thousand Island dressing. Ready in 15 minutes, this deli-style twist on the classic Reuben is ridiculously satisfying.

Velvet cake is a flourless-style chocolate showpiece pooled over white chocolate and raspberry sauces. Dense, fudgy, and made with just six ingredients in the cake itself, it slices like a torte and tastes like ganache.

Surprise devil's food cake with hidden beets: a deeply rich, moist chocolate cake with cocoa, buttermilk, and grated beets stirred in for extra tenderness. Kids will never guess.

Layered phyllo strudel filled with fig puree and fresh pears spiced with cinnamon and allspice, drizzled with warm honey and chopped hazelnuts.

James Beard's persimmon bread folds ripe persimmon puree into a spiced quick-bread batter with cognac, mace, raisins, and walnuts. Legendary holiday bread adapted for the bread machine.

Vegetarian stuffed pasta shells loaded with sauteed mushrooms, zucchini, spinach, and ricotta, baked in tomato sauce with melted mozzarella. A hearty meatless main dish.

Tex-Mex rice and black bean casserole with corn, salsa, cumin, and pepper jack cheese. A vegetarian one-dish dinner baked with a melted cheese topping.

Buttery oat-and-pecan crumble bars layered with cherry pie filling and mini marshmallows, baked golden. Makes 4 dozen chewy, fruit-filled bars for bake sales or cookie trays.

Sourdough rye bread made in a bread machine with sourdough starter, rye flour, barley flour, caraway seeds, and dried onion. A tangy, dense loaf with old-world rye flavor.

Homemade oatmeal butter crackers rolled paper-thin, scored into squares, and baked until crisp. Six ingredients, nutty flavor, and a satisfying snap.

Bread machine white pan bread with unbleached all-purpose flour, butter, and active dry yeast. A basic sandwich loaf that bakes hands-off while the machine does the mixing, kneading, and proofing.

Pecan pie bars: shortbread crust topped with classic gooey pecan pie filling, baked in a sheet pan and cut into 36 holiday bars. All the flavor of pecan pie, none of the slicing drama.