Recipes with sugar

Best focaccia: a soft, golden Italian flatbread topped with sweet buttery sauteed onions, scored into a raised rim and baked until golden. A simple from-scratch focaccia round.

Fresh apricot ice cream made with diced ripe apricots, apricot nectar, evaporated milk, and tangy yogurt. A cooler, lighter summer ice cream with bright stone-fruit flavor and no eggs.

Blueberry bran honey muffins are high-fiber breakfast muffins with bran, dark honey, fresh blueberries, and a moist tender crumb. A wholesome bake that yields 24 hearty muffins.

Best chocolate cake with fudge frosting: a one-bowl chocolate cake with unsweetened chocolate and buttermilk, finished with a boiled candy-style fudge frosting that sets glossy and dense.

Best chocolate cake with fudge frosting: a one-bowl chocolate cake with unsweetened chocolate and buttermilk, finished with a boiled candy-style fudge frosting that sets glossy and dense.

Cantaloupe sorbet with honey-sweetened melon puree and brandied melon balls for garnish. A refreshing palate cleanser or summer dessert that captures peak melon flavor in a frozen scoop.

Chocolate mint brownies made with cocoa powder, mint extract, and chopped nuts in a one-bowl batter. A fudgy 8x8 pan that yields 16 squares with the classic Andes-mint-meets-brownie combo.

Old-fashioned nectarine and raspberry preserves with whole fruit suspended in a glossy, lightly thickened syrup. No commercial pectin, just sugar, lemon, and time.

Fresh and seasonal plums, creamy and rich custard are baked together to make this irresistibly decadent plum clafoutis.

Molasses oatmeal raisin cookies use just 2 tablespoons of dark molasses to deepen the flavor of classic raisin oat cookies, with cinnamon and rolled oats. Old-fashioned chewy lunchbox favorite.

Bring out the wok and try this savory dish that will have you throwing out take-out coupons!

Oliver's cornmeal tea biscuits: tender, slightly sweet biscuits with the gritty crunch of cornmeal and a soft cake-flour crumb. A British-leaning tea-time bake that walks the line between scone and biscuit.

Bread machine pumpkin spice yeast bread with pumpkin puree, orange juice, pecans, and warm spices. A real loaf of yeasted bread, not a quick bread, with whole-wheat flour for depth.

Buttermilk drop biscuits with a tender, tangy crumb and crisp cornmeal-dusted bottoms. The easier biscuit method, no rolling pin or biscuit cutter required.

Low-fat blueberry muffins with applesauce in place of butter, sweetened with sugar and maple syrup, and lightened with whipped egg whites. A moist tender breakfast bake under 150 calories per muffin.

Pumpkin nut bread combines pumpkin puree, pecans, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a moist quick bread, finished with a brushed butter and cinnamon-sugar topping. Two-loaf yield made for the holidays.