Baking

This whoopie pie is like a root beer float turned into a cake.

I especially enjoy the food blog www.deliciousdays.com. Recently I saw a recipe for a wheat-based muesli bread on that site and used it as inspiration for this nutty, sweet fruit loaf. When I want a healthy treat for dinner, I toast a slice and spread it with goat cheese.

This old-fashioned classic has many renditions but we love this one best; feel free to substitute milk, white, butterscotch, or bittersweet chocolate chips for the semi-sweet and almonds, walnuts, or peanuts for the pecans.

Another great variation on the classic sugar cookie, this version is just a little deeper and richer than its inspiration.

Don't turn up your nose at this strange-sounding combination—carrots, cocoa, and white chocolate is actually a brilliant union.

This fantastic dessert is perfect for the cool months of late fall and winter. Cubes of tender pumpkin bread are baked in a rich custard laced with bourbon and maple syrup. Crisp apple cider is the base of a buttery caramel sauce spiced with fresh ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and star anise. Forget about serving the same-old pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving and put this out instead for a new twist on two old classics. The recipe includes directions for making your own pumpkin bread to use in the pudding, but you can of course also use a loaf of pumpkin bread from your favorite bakery. Brioche or cinnamon-raisin bread would also work perfectly.

As with any pastry, the trick here is to keep the diced butter cold, which makes for light scones, the only sort of scones to have. I like to cut these into triangles, but rounds are lovely, too. My favorite is cranberry scones. The rich red color of the cranberries against the pale golden scones makes me wish they could just sit out on my counter all day long wrapped loosely in a kitchen towel. But once you and your family experience the moist flakiness of these lightly sweet scones, you'll know why they never seem to brighten your kitchen counter for very long.

These chocolate wafer cookies are like the kind that tends to be sold in a sleeve, since they're delicate and can't be manhandled. They're fabulous alone, but are show-stoppers when they're used to make Chocolate Sandwich Cookies . I bet you could get your kids to eat all manner of vegetables just by dangling the promise of these babies at the end of a meal. Not that I've ever done that.

Make the decorations the day before baking This cupcake is inspired by a scene from the movie 28 Days Later, where a crow sits overhead with a piece of zombie corpse in his mouth. We've chosen a deathly pale skin color, but you can vary the color of the fondant to create different flesh tones. The jam and fondant topping contrasts with the subtle flavor of the white velvet cupcake. If you use toothpicks to secure the crows, remember to tell your guests.

Take a close look at the graveyard, and you might see a zombie rising from the dead—if you see a rotting hand reaching out from underground, you can be sure the rest of the zombie will soon follow. They're coming to get you… This delectable mud cupcake gives you a taste of the grave from the zombie's perspective. Remember to warn your guests that the hand is secured using a toothpick.

Here's a quiche recipe that goes wheat free without skimping on flavor. We call for broccoli and Cheddar cheese, but you can trade out the broccoli for asparagus tips or halved cherry tomatoes and the Cheddar for Gruyère, Swiss, or Comté.

People always ask what makes these brownies so good. The answer is simple: crunchy, crispy rice cereal (thank you, Claude)! These brownies freeze well, staying fresh tightly wrapped in the freezer for up to 1 month, and thaw quickly for an almost-instant homemade dessert. Keep a stash handy.

Gulkand ke biskut The all-American classic cookie has taken a detour to India in this recipe. The candied rose petals and dark, semi-sweet chocolate are divine together. Candied rose petals, known as Gulkand or rose spread, and are available in Indian grocery stores.

Supposedly whoopie pies get their name from the fact that Amish women would occasionally pack these treats in the farmer's lunchboxes and when discovered the men would yell "Whoopie!" Traditionally whoopie pies are two round mounds of chocolate cake with a creamy frosting sandwiched in between. For a twist on tradition, I love to make Red Velvet Whoopie pies.

Editor's note: Use these Peanut Butter Cookies to make Carol Kiciski's Peanut Butter Ice Cream Sandwiches . These are the simplest of gluten-free desserts and a great cookie to make with kids. No mixers or special equipment are needed, just a bowl and a spoon. For those with peanut allergies, sunflower and almond butter work equally well, just make sure to stir the almond butter before using to incorporate any oil that may have risen to the top.

With its velvety chocolate glaze and snowy flakes of sea salt, this dressed-up honey cake is perfect for Rosh Hashanah. It's equally ideal for any other occasion or celebration, whether it's a dinner party, an impromptu gathering of friends, or a school bake sale. It's that simple—and that good. Don't be surprised if people start pestering you for the recipe after their first bite.

This dessert is a favorite of chef Mitchell Kaldrovich's. "When I moved to Maine, I discovered how great the apples here are," he says. Don't forget to finish it with maple syrup and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Says Kaldrovich: "It makes the dish."

"Really good fried chicken and really good biscuits—together, they're like Wonder Twin powers," says chef John Currence, owner of Big Bad Breakfast in Oxford, MS. For a no-fry, old-school treat, split biscuits and smother with Sausage Gravy . Trust us, you'll be full.

These skillet-fried biscuits are a little sturdier than many other biscuits in order to hold the fresh berries intact. The butter bumps up the flavor as well. When they are fried, they remind me of the blueberries we picked early one morning as Girl Scouts and made into pancakes—a culinary highlight of my childhood. But they are very special baked as well. Either way, they’re a winner.