22 nanci recipes

Banana nut muffins with a moist, tender crumb from ripe mashed bananas and a cup of chopped walnuts. The trick is mixing the batter just enough, so they bake up soft and golden, never tough. Great warm with jam.

Nancy's ice cream kolacky: a three-ingredient Eastern European-style cookie where vanilla ice cream replaces liquid and eggs, creating a tender pastry dough filled with jam and dusted with powdered sugar. A Christmas cookie-tray favorite.

Blueberry crumb cake baked in a loaf pan with fresh blueberries folded into a simple batter and topped with a buttery cinnamon-sugar streusel. A homestyle cake that's easy to slice and share.

Cold sesame noodles with a creamy peanut butter and sesame oil sauce, lightly spiced with hot sauce and soy. Quick lunch or potluck pasta salad ready in 15 minutes.

Sauteed green beans with garlic, mint, and white vinegar topped with crumbled feta cheese and chopped walnuts. A Mediterranean-style side dish that turns frozen green beans into something special.

Homemade curry powder toasted in the oven with fenugreek, cardamom, coriander, cumin, mustard seeds, cloves, and cinnamon, then ground with turmeric, mace, and cayenne.

Fancy spritz cookies are tender, buttery pressed cookies enriched with ground almonds and almond extract for a marzipan-like flavor. Shape them with a cookie press into pretty holiday wreaths and stars.

Moravian white Christmas cookies are rich, butter-and-cream rolled cookies cut into fancy shapes. Pennsylvania-Dutch tradition with a crisp snap and tender middle.

Georgia pecan pie with dark corn syrup, butter, and a full cup of toasted pecans baked into a glossy custard filling. The Southern Thanksgiving classic, no fuss, no fancy.

Fudgy cocoa brownies with crispy edges and a tender center prove you don't need fancy chocolate bars when quality cocoa powder delivers the goods.

Lebkuchen (German honey cakes) blend honey, brown sugar, lemon, almonds, citron, and warm spices into a chewy spice cookie cut into fancy holiday shapes. Traditional Christmas cookie from Nuremberg.

A slow cooker Parmesan cream sauce loaded with chicken, ham, and mushrooms, spooned into flaky pastry shells. Set it and forget it for an effortless dinner that feels fancy.

Parisian Sophisticates: almond-vanilla buttermilk cupcakes hollowed out and filled with airy chocolate truffle mousse, topped with toasted cake crumbs. Vintage tea-party fancy.

Boozy bundt cake soaked in an apricot-rum glaze that seeps into every crumb. A showstopper dessert that tastes fancy but starts with a box mix.

Golden-seared chicken breasts stuffed with tangy goat cheese under the skin, nestled on sauteed zucchini and yellow squash. A one-hour weeknight dinner that feels fancy.

Peanut butter bon bons: soft, chewy peanut butter cookie balls coated in melted milk chocolate. A chocolate-peanut butter treat that looks fancy but uses simple pantry ingredients.