Homemade Sandwich Bread
Making your own bread is also really easy to do. It takes a few hours to make bread from start to finish, but most of that is for the actual rising and baking. There’s very little real hands-on time. This recipe makes two one-pound (i.e. standard size) loaves of bread.
Brown-Sugar Pumpkin Cheesecake with Chocolate-Shortbread Crust
This cheesecake is like pumpkin pie dressed up in velvet. It has all the delicious, spicy autumn flavor of traditional pumpkin pie—coupled with the dense creaminess of cheesecake.
Reader’s Choice Recipes: Braided Challah Bread
Challah is a traditional yeast bread—with a glossy crust frequently dappled with sesame seeds—that gets its trademark golden yellow color from the addition of eggs. Older recipes include several eggs. Most modern versions, like this one, usually call for fewer.
Cranberry Almond Trail Mix Cookies
The recipe is my version of a super-yummy cookie that Whole Foods sells. They’re a real treat, but at almost $7 for a handful of cookies, I wanted to see if I could noodle out a similar recipe at home, based on one of my oatmeal cookie doughs. These come pretty close—and cost a lot less!
Bacon, Basil & Tomato Pizza
Homemade pizza is one of my favorite ways to feed a crowd. This particular pizza combines two of my favorite things: bacon and cheese. Think of it as a mouthwatering take on a BLT in pizza form.
Basic Cooking: How to Make a Blueberry Pie
You don’t always need a ton of ingredients to make an absolutely mouthwatering dessert. Blueberry pie is one of my favorite summer treats. A few cups of fabulous, fresh fruit. A little sugar to bring out its flavor. A handful of flour to trap all that luscious juice and thicken it into a syrupy sauce.
Cheddar Cheese Biscuits
When I made these the other night, The Angry Chef told me that, hands down, it’s my best biscuit recipe. “Even better than my buttermilk biscuits?” I asked. “Yep, even better,” he told me. Well then. I blame it on the cheese. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!
Best Ever Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Dotted with relatively colossal chunks of chocolate, these cookies are soft, chewy, just a wee bit cakey—and wickedly addictive. Among other ingredients, half a pound of butter + a pound of chocolate = pure bliss, in baked form.
Joyce’s Butterscotch Refrigerator Cookies
I love refrigerator cookies because they’re so convenient. I mean, talk about having fresh cookies on command. Just make the dough, roll it up in wax paper, toss it in the fridge, then slice and bake as the mood strikes you!
Neverending Vanilla Extract (Make Your Own!)
Here’s how to make your own vanilla extract. All you need is a nice bottle, your favorite vodka, and a few vanilla beans. You just can’t beat the flavor—and a bottle makes a great gift for anyone who likes to bake.
