Baking

The dough for these savory scones gets its unique texture and flavor from a combination of butter and olive oil. It was inspired by a similarly flavored yeast bread sold at Amy’s Bread in New York City.

These scones are so rich and dense, you may prefer to eat them as an afternoon snack, rather than for breakfast. Either way, they’re great with coffee.

Feel free to substitute other dried fruits for the apricots. We particularly like using sour cherries, cranberries, golden raisins, or chopped figs.

Sanding sugar is coarser than granulated sugar and lends a lovely sparkle when sprinkled over the tops of scones, biscuits, pies, and cookies before baking. It is available at baking-supply stores and many grocery stores.

Since they will start to deflate as they cool, popovers are best served warm from the oven. Butter and jam are traditional accompaniments.

Be sure to use unsulfured molasses—not sulfured or blackstrap—in this recipe. Also, buy the freshest, moistest dates you can find.

You can substitute an equal amount of chopped peaches or nectarines for the plums. Or use your favorite berries instead—the recipe is very versatile.

These muffins offer a nice balance of tart and sweet flavors.

Try sprinkling granulated sugar over the tops of the unbaked muffins (one tablespoon should cover all twelve) to give them a bit of crunch.

Sweet smoked paprika is also known as Pimentòn de la Vera. If you prefer foods less spicy, omit it from the biscuit tops.

You can freeze the unbaked biscuits on a baking sheet, then store in a resealable plastic bag for up to three weeks. When ready to serve, bake them (without thawing) on a parchment-lined sheet (the baking time will be the same).

These biscuits are very quick and easy to prepare, since the dough is dropped onto the baking sheet without first having to roll it out or cut it.

These are delicious served warm or at room temperature with butter and jam. The cheddar variation makes a nice accompaniment to thinly sliced ham.

Maple syrup holds a special place in the hearts of Southerners. In the village of Monterey, Virginia—known as “Little Switzerland”—the annual Maple Syrup Festival draws thousands of visitors. When gathering ingredients for this pie, it’s important to note that many maple-flavored syrups are just corn syrup with maple flavoring (a shocking revelation for me!). Read the label to make certain you’re getting 100 percent pure maple syrup. Grade B maple syrup is great for cooking; it has a deeper flavor and color than the Grade A amber syrup, although Grade A will work, too. Of course, maple syrup from Monterey will add a wonderful authentic note to this pie for people with a serious sweet tooth.

These rich, flaky biscuits are best eaten warm from the oven. As with all biscuits, it’s important not to overwork the dough while you are patting it out.

Amish and old-order Mennonites bake this pie, also called rosina pie (German for raisin) or “funeral” pie, during any season. Some recipes include milk, making it more like a custard pie, and others use water, but they all seem to agree on the necessity of a double-crusted pie, often with a lattice top. If you like raisins, you’ll love this pie. Walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, or almonds would be perfect choices for the chopped nuts.

You know a pie recipe is old when several stories are told about its history. Some say the term chess pie goes back to an eighteenth-century English cheese pie. Another links the origins of the name to the Southern pie chest, or pie safe, a piece of furniture that holds kitchen confections. Another anecdote tells of a man who stopped to eat at a diner in Alabama. He loved the pie he was served, and when he asked what its name was, the waitress replied, “jes pie.” Whatever the truth may be, as food writer Stephanie Anderson Witmer says, “So many Southern pies, like the chess pies, are elegant in their simplicity. They use staple ingredients, but are divine.”

Two sweet Southern favorites—pecans and fudge—come together in this extra-rich pie that bakes up like a big, soft brownie. Serve small slices topped with a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream, crème fraîche, or sour cream.

Aaron DiGrassie (Mrs. Rowe’s grandson) picked up this fabulous, off beat recipe when he worked at Ford’s Colony in Williamsburg, Virginia. Now a new father and the restaurant’s general manager, Aaron has come a long way since the day when he first started working in his grandmother’s restaurant business. At the age of ten, the ambitious boy made and sold pie boxes for 10 cents each.

Mrs. Rowe’s family is still finding recipe treasures scattered throughout her boxes and notes. Aaron found this recipe on an index card buried in a box in the attic. It’s a sweet pie that tastes a lot like cookie dough.