18 pantry recipes

No-egg raisin cake with brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon, and ginger baked low and slow. A Depression-era pantry cake that's moist, spiced, and surprisingly rich.

Sambusak (Sephardic stuffed pastries) with a yeasted anise-scented dough filled with spiced ground beef, deep-fried to golden. A traditional Jewish meat pastry for holidays and gatherings.

Old-fashioned raisin pastries: flaky pie-dough half-moons stuffed with ground raisins, nuts, and citron in a honey-cinnamon-jelly filling. Hand pies for the holiday cookie box.

Miniature nut-filled pastries with a sour cream butter dough wrapped around pecans or walnuts in dark corn syrup. Bite-sized, flaky, and they store beautifully.

Thai mung bean pastries (khanom thuay) with a sweet mung bean flour base topped with coconut-rice flour cream and toasted yellow mung beans. A colorful, no-bake Thai dessert.

Zesty fig and date pastry bars with walnuts, orange juice, and lemon zest on a buttery shortbread crust with a crisscross lattice top. A bright, old-school cookie bar.

Panfried smashed potatoes boil red potatoes tender, flatten them, then pan-fry in olive oil until shatteringly crisp. Finished with parmesan and black pepper. Three ingredients.

Laminated yeast pastries with butter folded through dough, twisted into spirals and filled with cinnamon apples. Overnight fermentation develops rich flavor.

Flaky puff pastry layered with a creamy spinach, green chili, and cream cheese filling. Just 5 ingredients, cut into squares or diamonds for an easy appetizer or snack.

Pecan pie pastry with finely chopped pecans mixed right into the crust dough, blind-baked in the microwave with dried bean weights. A nutty, flaky shell for any pie filling.

Samoosa pastry is the homemade South African version of samosa wrappers, made by stacking oiled and floured dough rounds, par-baking, then peeling into thin sheets. Crisp, flaky pockets ready for any savory filling.

Traditional Sicilian fruit-filled pastries stuffed with figs, dates, chocolate chips, nuts, and warm spices, glazed with a lemon icing. A holiday cookie tray showstopper.

Semolina pastries stuffed with pistachios, cinnamon, and sugar, then dipped in orange flower water and rolled in powdered sugar. A Middle Eastern-style cookie.

Pate sucree (sweet short pastry) made the French way with butter worked by hand into flour, powdered sugar, and eggs. Tender, cookie-like crust for tarts and tartlets that keeps for days.

Panfried Chicken with Ancho Chiles & Mushrooms recipe

Very low-fat vegan pastry crust made with soy milk, mashed potatoes, whole wheat flour, and yeast. No butter or oil needed for a soft, pliable dough that rises beautifully.