Green Bean Casserole
Fresh green beans blanched bright, folded into a mushroom cream sauce built in one skillet, and baked under a thick crown of crispy fried onions.
- Total time
- 1 hr 10 min
- Yield
- Serves 8
Baking
Anything that needs an oven and a timer.
Anything that needs an oven and a timer. Weights first, because baking is the one kind of cooking where a cup measurement genuinely changes the result.
Every recipe here names the failure it is prone to — cookies that spread, bars that crumble when cut — and what causes it.
Classic Pumpkin Pie
A silky, deeply spiced pumpkin custard in a crisp, blind-baked crust, baked low and pulled while the center still wobbles so it sets without cracking.
- Total time
- 4 hr 45 min
- Yield
- One 9 in (23 cm) pie, 8 slices
Scalloped Potatoes
Thin Yukon Gold slices simmered in garlic cream before they go in the dish, so they bake tender all the way through under a browned Gruyère and cheddar top.
- Total time
- 1 hr 50 min
- Yield
- Serves 8
Chicken Pot Pie
Tender chicken and vegetables in a thick, savory gravy under a flaky golden crust, with a filling cooled before it is covered so the pastry bakes crisp instead of steaming.
- Total time
- 1 hr 35 min
- Yield
- Serves 6
Baked Ziti
Ziti boiled two minutes short, tossed in a beef and sausage tomato sauce, layered with seasoned ricotta and baked under mozzarella until browned and bubbling.
- Total time
- 1 hr 45 min
- Yield
- Serves 8
Chicken and Rice Casserole
A from-scratch chicken and rice casserole where raw long-grain rice bakes right in a creamy, seasoned broth under seared chicken thighs, so the rice comes out tender and the chicken stays juicy.
- Total time
- 1 hr 40 min
- Yield
- Serves 6
Black Forest Cake
Three layers of tender chocolate sponge soaked in cherry syrup, filled with stabilized whipped cream and sour cherries, and finished with chocolate shavings and fresh cherries.
- Total time
- 5 hr 35 min
- Yield
- One 8 in (20 cm) cake, 12 slices
Tuna Casserole
A from-scratch tuna noodle casserole: egg noodles, peas and good canned tuna in a creamy mushroom sauce, baked under buttery toasted breadcrumbs until bubbling.
- Total time
- 55 min
- Yield
- Serves 6
Chocolate Tres Leches Cake
A light chocolate sponge soaked overnight in chocolate-laced evaporated milk, condensed milk and cream, topped with cocoa whipped cream. Rich, cold and soft without ever being soggy.
- Total time
- 9 hr
- Yield
- One 9×13 in (23×33 cm) cake, 15 squares
Sushi Bake
Seasoned sushi rice pressed into a dish, topped with a creamy salmon and imitation crab mixture, baked until golden and drizzled with spicy mayo and eel sauce. Scoop it onto roasted seaweed.
- Total time
- 1 hr 20 min
- Yield
- Serves 6
Lemon Bars
Classic lemon bars with a crisp, buttery shortbread base baked first, a bright fresh-lemon filling baked low until just set, and a dusting of powdered sugar.
- Total time
- 4 hr 5 min
- Yield
- 16 bars
Old-Fashioned Apple Crisp
Tart and sweet apples baked soft under a crunchy oat, brown sugar and cold-butter topping, with juices thick enough to hold on a spoon.
- Total time
- 1 hr 50 min
- Yield
- Serves 8
Fruit Pizza Cookies
Sugar cookie bases, cream cheese frosting, fresh fruit on top. Assembled within an hour of eating.
- Total time
- 1 hr 42 min
- Yield
- Makes 16
Blueberry Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
One oat mixture, used twice — pressed as a base and crumbled on top. Cut them cold or they fall apart.
- Total time
- 3 hr
- Yield
- Makes 12 bars
Baked Honey Dijon Chicken
Chicken breasts baked plain, glazed in the last ten minutes with honey, two mustards and cider vinegar, then flashed under the broiler.
- Total time
- 45 min
- Yield
- Serves 4
Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake
A Depression-era cake that stays damp for four days. The mayonnaise is the eggs and the oil, and you will never taste it.
- Total time
- 50 min
- Yield
- One 9-inch cake, 12 slices
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chewy in the middle, crisp at the rim, with oats you can still see. The dough rests overnight and it matters.
- Total time
- 12 hr 32 min
- Yield
- Makes 24 cookies
Creamy Million Dollar Chicken Casserole
Shredded chicken in a tangy cream cheese and sour cream layer under a buttery cracker crust, baked until the edges bubble and the top shatters.
- Total time
- 1 hr 5 min
- Yield
- Serves 6
Baked Chicken Chimichangas
A dry, well-seasoned chicken filling rolled tight, brushed with butter and baked seam down on a preheated pan until the tortilla blisters.
- Total time
- 50 min
- Yield
- Makes 6 chimichangas
Chocolate-Cinnamon Sugar Cookies
Deep cocoa dough rolled in cinnamon sugar, baked until the tops crack and the centers are still soft enough to fold.
- Total time
- 1 hr
- Yield
- Makes about 28 cookies
Cheesy Garlic Butter Mushroom Stuffed Chicken
Chicken breasts packed with dry-cooked mushrooms and three cheeses, seared to seal the seam and finished in a garlic butter pan.
- Total time
- 55 min
- Yield
- Serves 4
Caramel Banana Bread Cookies
Soft, cakey banana cookies with pockets of molten caramel — a chilled dough built to stop banana from spreading it flat.
- Total time
- 1 hr 33 min
- Yield
- Makes 20 cookies
Chocolate Pecan Turtle Clusters
Toasted pecans under a firm-ball caramel and a coat of seeded dark chocolate, cooked to a thermometer so the chew is the same every time.
- Total time
- 2 hr 15 min
- Yield
- Makes about 18 clusters
Creamy Stuffed Mushroom Dip
Everything that goes inside a stuffed mushroom — garlic, herbs, cream cheese, a buttered crumb top — baked as one scoopable dish.
- Total time
- 1 hr 10 min
- Yield
- Serves 10 as an appetizer