Recipes with vegetable shortening

Moist chocolate applesauce cake topped with semi-sweet chocolate chips and walnuts. No frosting needed, the applesauce keeps it rich and fudgy.

Old-fashioned oatmeal chocolate chip cookies made with shortening for extra-chewy texture. A from-scratch drop cookie recipe that makes three dozen.

Christmas surprise cookies: brown sugar drop cookies with a hidden jam center and a dusting of sweet coconut on top. A vintage holiday thumbprint for the cookie tin.

New Orleans beignets are pillowy square yeast doughnuts, deep-fried until golden and puffed, then buried in confectioners' sugar. The iconic French Quarter treat, best eaten piping hot.

Molasses whoopie pies: cake-like ginger molasses cookies sandwiched with a sweet ginger-molasses buttercream filling. The Pennsylvania Dutch lunchbox classic with a warm-spice twist on the chocolate original.

Farm pot roast simmered low and slow with onions, carrots, and stewed tomatoes until the beef pulls apart with a fork. A Sunday-dinner classic with a rich pan-drippings gravy.

Toffee crunch chocolate chip cookies with oats, chopped toffee candy bars, pecans, and semi-sweet chocolate. Made in a food processor for fast, even mixing and chewy-crisp texture.

Rich chocolate truffles with crunchy pecan centers, dipped in smooth melted chocolate and topped with chopped nuts. Easy microwave method makes 3 dozen elegant candies.

Wild blueberry cookies with fresh or frozen berries, lemon zest, and a soft drop-cookie dough. Tender, cakey, and bursting with real fruit in every bite.

Soft molasses sugar cookies with cinnamon, cloves, and ginger, rolled in sugar with a thumbprint filled with extra crunch. Crisp edges, chewy centers, warm holiday spice.

Crunchy chocolate chip cookies made with crisp rice cereal for extra crackle in every bite. A quick drop cookie with mini chocolate chips that bakes in just 9 minutes.

Fudge pudding cake that bakes into two layers: chocolate cake on top and a rich fudge sauce on the bottom. A self-saucing dessert with walnuts and real chocolate.

Chocolate drop cookies are soft, cake-like buttermilk cookies made with melted unsweetened chocolate and chopped walnuts. An old-fashioned drop cookie recipe that yields 3 dozen.

Dill cornmeal dumplings stir together flour, cornmeal, fresh dill, and shortening into drop dumplings that simmer on top of stews for tender, herb-flecked toppings. 16 minutes from spoon to plate.

Cranberry fruit nut bread for the bread machine, brightened with fresh orange juice and zest, studded with chopped tart cranberries and crunchy nuts for a holiday-ready loaf.

Old-school chocolate chip cookies built on shortening and brown sugar for crisp edges and chewy middles, studded with semi-sweet chips and toasted pecans. A throwback recipe from the original Crisco era.