Old-fashioned sour cream crumb cake with cinnamon, raisins, and a buttery crumb topping. A tender loaf-pan cake with a crumbly, streusel-like crust baked right on top.
Soft spiced drop cookies packed with plump raisins, warm cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Spread thin, bake fast, cut into squares for old-fashioned cookie jar treats.
Old-fashioned milk-and-flour sourdough starter with no commercial yeast. Two ingredients capture wild bacteria for tangy bread. Patience required.
Apple pie baked inside a paper bag for an unbelievably tender filling and a crackly streusel top. Pat-in oil crust, no rolling pin required.
Quick Parmesan bread made in the food processor with whole wheat flour, buttermilk, rosemary, and marjoram. Savory, herby, and on the table in 40 minutes.
Rich coconut pie made with creamed butter and sugar, eggs, and a generous two cups of finely grated coconut. Almond extract amplifies the coconut's natural perfume in this classic single-crust dessert pie.
Crispy sesame chicken: bone-in pieces dredged in a sesame-seed-flour coating, pan-fried golden, then baked through. Nutty, crunchy crust on juicy chicken, not the Chinese takeout version.
Chocolate chunk cookies with hand-cut semi-sweet chocolate pieces and walnuts, topped with a melted chocolate glaze. Triple chocolate intensity in every cookie.
Fudgy brownies made with unsweetened chocolate and butter for an intensely rich, crackly-topped square. Simple pantry ingredients, optional walnuts, and a velvety batter.
Lower-sugar oatmeal raisin drop cookies with rolled oats, cinnamon, brown sugar, and just a quarter cup of margarine. A lighter take on the classic cookie that still delivers chewy oat texture and warm spice.
Pepparkakor, the thin and snappy Swedish spice cookies layered with ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg over deep molasses. Sliced from chilled logs and baked crisp. A classic Scandinavian Christmas treat.
Old-fashioned icebox cookies with dark brown sugar, butter, walnuts, and vanilla. Slice-and-bake in just 4 minutes for crispy, caramelized edges.
Polish mushrooms in sour cream sauce with sauteed onions, butter, and paprika. A rich and velvety Eastern European side dish ready in under 30 minutes.
Old-fashioned raisin muffins made with simmered raisins and their cooking liquid folded into a buttery, creamed batter. Plump fruit and a tender crumb in every bite.
Kolachky dough made with cream cheese, butter, egg yolks, and flour. An overnight pastry dough that rolls out flaky and tender for filling with fruit or nuts.
Honey nut spice bread with cinnamon, nutmeg, buttermilk, and chopped walnuts. Sweetened with honey and brown sugar for tender, lightly spiced quick bread.