10,000 bitter recipes

Buttery almond slice-and-bake cookies dipped halfway in melted chocolate and finished with sprinkles. A 5-dozen batch of elegant yet easy cookies that look bakery-bought.

Crisp almond meringue base layered with homemade golden syrup toffee cream, billowy whipped cream, and a dusting of cocoa. An elegant British-style cake with a nearly gluten-free base.

Yaourtopita, a Greek yogurt cake with butter, almonds, and vanilla, lightened with whipped egg whites for an airy crumb. A traditional Greek baking gem served at room temperature.

Chewy Rolo cookie bars: a yellow cake mix base studded with halved Rolo candies that melt into rivers of chocolate caramel. Five-ingredient bake-sale magic.

Old fashioned tea cakes made with buttermilk and self-rising flour. Soft, simple, sugar-topped Southern cookies with just 7 ingredients and no fancy equipment needed.

The crisp, densely chocolaty cookies, with an unusually long baking time, were an annual favorite among the 20-plus recipes that Susan Couchman of Hartland remembers were made each year by her mother, Gloria Kuchler.

Delicate, light and thin Swedish lemon cookie that is as light as an angel's wings.

Garlic butter shrimp scampi with lemon, herbs, and orange liqueur reduced into a concentrated sauce. Served over pasta or rice for a quick, elegant seafood dinner.

Broiled flank steak (London broil) with lemon-garlic oil baste and buttery sauteed onions. Sliced thin against the grain for tender beef in 30 minutes flat.

Minimalist fortune cookies with just 4 ingredients: butter, sugar, egg whites, and flour. Quick to make, fun to fold, perfect for parties. Work fast while they're hot and pliable.

Buttery, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread bites with dried blueberries and orange zest, pressed into mini muffin tins. Food processor simple and done in 25 minutes flat.

A decadent butter icing made with crushed pineapple that is perfect for cakes and muffins.

Butternut squash and prawn soup with a homemade shellfish stock, white wine, rosemary, and a touch of Tabasco. Velvety, rich, and served with whole prawns on top.

Old-fashioned spice cake loaded with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger, plus chopped nuts and plump raisins baked into a tender loaf with a wooden-skewer-clean crumb.

Baked chicken Excelsior bastes chicken breasts in lemon-paprika butter, then bathes them in a creamy sour cream, sherry, and mushroom sauce for the last stretch in the oven. A retro, dinner-party-worthy chicken with a silky finish.

Buttermilk Spice Cake with Butter Cream Frosting recipe