4,226 vanilla cake recipes

Maple apple spice cake with pure maple syrup, chopped apples, and cinnamon topped with cream cheese frosting. A moist, nutty fall cake baked in a 9-inch square pan.

Frosted cashew cookies use Bisquick, brown sugar, and sour cream with salted cashews, topped with a browned butter frosting. A soft, cakey drop cookie with nutty crunch.

Mom's pineapple nut loaf with crushed pineapple, golden raisins, and chopped nuts in a simple quick bread batter. A moist, fruity loaf where the pineapple juice activates the baking soda for a tender crumb.

Paper-thin lemon cookies sliced from refrigerated dough, loaded with fresh lemon zest and juice. A crisp, buttery slice-and-bake cookie that spreads into translucent wafers with caramelized edges.

Every year before my grandkids come over to my place, I usually bake a large batch of these cookies, and everyone loves them. I do however add some chocolate chips to the batter, and they are some great addition.

Famous Amos copycat chocolate chip coconut cookies with flaked coconut, chopped pecans, and semi-sweet chips in a buttery brown-sugar dough. Bigger and chewier than the bag version.

Lemon poppy seed pound cake with a tender buttermilk crumb, bright citrus zest, and a tangy lemon glaze drizzled over the top. The bundt cake that wakes up dessert.

Buttery macadamia nut biscotti with half the nuts ground into the dough and half left whole. Twice-baked for a crisp, crunchy cookie with rich tropical flavor.

All-America Apple Bread: a lighter apple loaf sweetened with honey, scented with toasted ground coriander seed, and built around shredded fresh apples. Only two tablespoons of butter.

Strawberry pizza layers a buttery sugar cookie crust with sweetened cream cheese and glossy fresh strawberries. A Southern summer dessert that slices like pizza but eats like a fruit tart.

A steamed banana pudding cake made in a pressure cooker with whole wheat pastry flour, maple syrup, apple juice, and raisins. No eggs, no butter, no oil. Dense, moist, and naturally sweetened.

Carrot cake cupcakes with walnuts, chocolate chips, and warm spices, topped with cream cheese frosting. Orange juice in the batter adds a bright, unexpected twist.

Banana ginger cake with 2 teaspoons of ground ginger baked in a 9-inch square pan, topped with spiced whipped cream. A lighter snack cake using margarine and skim milk.

Cinnamon Zucchini Raisin Bread: a double-spiced loaf with cinnamon, nutmeg, plump raisins, and chopped nuts folded through tender zucchini batter. Two-loaf yield for sharing.

Challenge Winner, AJ Horst (Test Your Tastebuds, October 2011)

Rolled animal cookies made from buttery sugar cookie dough with cream, cut into animal shapes and decorated with colored sugar, chocolate sprinkles, and raisins. Great for Christmas tree ornaments.