Recipes with vanilla extract

Crispy drop doughnuts made with mashed potatoes and sour cream, fried golden and rolled in sugar. The potato keeps them impossibly moist inside while the outside shatters. Makes 3 dozen in under an hour.

Homemade white bread enriched with butter, eggs, milk, and a hint of vanilla. A heritage big-batch recipe that yields five or six golden, tender loaves with a soft sandwich crumb.

Spider-shaped chocolate Halloween cookies with red-hot candy eyes. A simple shaped cookie kids can sculpt themselves: oval body, round head, eight skinny legs.

Marshmallows wrapped in crescent roll dough, rolled in cinnamon sugar, and baked until golden. These pull-apart treats get drizzled with vanilla glaze for an easy breakfast or dessert.

Pinwheel slice-and-bake cookies with a chocolate oat layer swirled around a peanut oat layer. Make the dough ahead, chill overnight, then slice and bake in minutes.

Brown sugar and cinnamon candied almonds cooked to firm ball stage in cream and butter. Crunchy, sweet, and addictive with just 7 ingredients and 15 minutes of work.

Popcorn surprises made with candy-coated popcorn ground fine and mixed into melted chocolate, then molded or cut into shapes. A unique candy that makes about 50 pieces.

Homemade hot cocoa made from scratch with cocoa powder, sugar, milk, and a splash of vanilla, no powdered mix needed. A rich, single-serving mug of hot chocolate ready in about five minutes.

Glazed honey spice cookies with cinnamon, cloves, mace, and allspice, finished with a thin vanilla sugar glaze. Old-world cookies that bake up firm, keep beautifully, and taste better the day after baking.

Five-ingredient pound cake with seven eggs, butter-flavored shortening, and no leavener. Baked low and slow in a tube pan for an ultra-dense, velvety crumb with a golden crust.

Classic butter nut balls (also called Russian tea cakes or Mexican wedding cookies). Buttery, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread rolled twice in powdered sugar for a snowy finish.

Moist two-layer chocolate cake with a bright orange zest frosting. Boiling water in the batter creates an extra-tender crumb. Drizzle with orange liqueur for special occasions.

Chocolate contains compounds believed to boost serotonin and endorphin levels in the brain. Among them are theobromine and caffeine, which can increase alertness and trigger a pleasurable feeling similar to the natural high after exercise. Another group of compounds, called flavonoids, has been found to benefit heart health. Studies suggest they improve blood flow by relaxing the blood vessels.

Hazelnut spritz cookies pressed into delicate rings, baked until pale gold, and dipped in dark chocolate. A European-style holiday cookie for cookie trays and gift tins.

Texas-style sheath cake (sheet cake) baked on a cookie sheet with cocoa, buttermilk, and a full half pound of butter. Thin, fudgy, and frosted while still warm. A potluck legend.

No-egg bran muffins made with a make-ahead batter that keeps up to 3 months in the fridge. Buttermilk and a double dose of bran cereal deliver tender crumb and serious fiber. Bake fresh muffins on demand.