Recipes with vegetable shortening

Layered mocha chocolate torte with bloomed cocoa cake, espresso-spiked ermine filling, pecans, and creamy white frosting. Four-layer celebration cake.

Apple cheddar muffins with oats, pecans, and a butter-dipped cinnamon-sugar apple slice pressed into each top. A savory-sweet breakfast muffin with sharp cheese in every bite.

Cinnamon snack cake with apple cider sauce: a sour cream coffee cake with crumb topping, served warm with vanilla ice cream and warm cider sauce. The fall dessert that smells like Sunday afternoon.

Traditional Rhode Island johnnycakes from scratch: thin cornmeal griddle cakes scalded with boiling water, then slow-fried until lacy edges form a crackly golden crust.

Chocolate thumbprint cookies rolled in powdered sugar with a rich chocolate ganache filling. Brown sugar shortbread base with chopped chocolate chips baked into the dough.

Whole wheat oatmeal cookies with molasses, honey, raisins, and walnuts. Sweetened three ways with brown sugar, molasses, and honey for a chewy, spiced high-fiber cookie.

Simple Chinese almond cookies that stay pale and cream-colored, decorated with whole almonds or red food coloring dots. Traditional cookies perfect for celebrations.

Cajun seafood gumbo with shrimp, lump crab, ham, and okra built on a dark cocoa-colored roux. Finished with file powder for authentic Louisiana flavor and body.

Christmas tree cake cut from a 13x9 sheet cake into a tree shape, frosted green and decorated with peppermint candies, pretzel rod trunk, and a gumdrop star. Festive holiday show-stopper from one boxed mix.

Chewy ginger molasses cookies with crackled sugar tops and soft, spice-packed centers. Cinnamon, ginger, and clove make these the cookie that defines fall and holiday baking.

Buttery shortbread cookies topped with caramel, coated in melted chocolate, and pressed with chopped pecans. Homemade Turtle-style candy cookies that make a gorgeous gift box treat.

Childhood PB&J turned into a two-layer peanut butter cake filled with more peanut butter and red jelly, topped with fluffy seven-minute frosting. Nostalgic birthday cake for grown-ups.

Chicken, pea, and rice casserole: flour-dredged browned chicken breast over rice and frozen peas with basil and sliced onions. A nostalgic one-dish dinner for ten.

Anadama bread: New England classic yeast loaf with cornmeal, dark molasses, and a famously grumpy origin story. Slightly sweet, deeply tender, with a crumb that toasts like nobody's business.

Berlinerkranzer are buttery Norwegian Christmas wreath cookies scented with orange, brushed with sugared egg white and trimmed with candied cherry holly berries. A delicate Scandinavian holiday tradition.