make-ahead

Alan's Pie Pastry

All-butter pie dough with sour cream and vinegar worked in, rested overnight and divided into three single crusts.

Amish Friendship Bread

The ten-day starter routine: stir daily, feed flour, sugar and milk twice, then divide into cups to pass along.

“This works well in muffin pans. I spray the paper cups with Pam so they don't stick. I also have made all three batches and froze the bread and muffins when I am ready to quit.”

Anytime Calzones

Dough rounds layered with microwaved potato slices and either prosciutto and feta or ham and ricotta, then folded and baked.

Anytime Calzones Dough

A machine-kneaded yeast dough shaped into 7-inch rounds for calzones or pizza, freezable for up to a month.

Best Ever Cheese Cake

Springform cheesecake lightened with beaten egg whites, then finished with a sweetened sour cream layer baked on in five minutes.

BLT Dip

Hot baked dip of bacon, cream cheese and two cheeses, showered with fresh tomato and shredded lettuce right before serving.

Blueberry Yeasted Waffles

Yeasted batter mixed a day ahead and refrigerated 12 to 24 hours, folded with blueberries just before it hits the iron.

Boston Cream Pie

Two thin sponge layers sandwiching homemade pastry cream, finished with a poured bittersweet chocolate glaze.

Breakfast Strudel

Scrambled eggs, ham, hash browns and cream cheese braided inside puff pastry and baked until golden; makes two.

Brisket

Mustard-coated brisket goes into the crockpot dry under a package of onion soup mix and cooks ten hours until it shreds.

Broccoli Pasta Salad

Raw broccoli, bacon, cheddar and rotini in a sweet Miracle Whip dressing thinned with vinegar and condensed milk, chilled overnight.

Broccoli Tortellini

Cheese tortellini marinated for hours in Italian dressing and artichoke marinade, with tomatoes and olives added at serving time.

Butterscotch Pudding

Brown sugar and cornstarch pudding thickened with half and half and egg yolks, then chilled four to five hours.

“Deb notes that using just 1-2 tablespoons of butter, rather than the full 1/4 cup, gives a better texture.”

Butterscotch Pudding (Cook's Illustrated)

The butterscotch is built from scratch, cooking sugar and butter to a dark, faintly burnt caramel before the custard goes in.

Cabbage Salad

Shredded cabbage and green onion with broiled almonds, sesame seeds and crushed dry Ramen, in a rice vinegar and oil dressing.

Canned Banana Peppers

Banana peppers packed into half-pint jars and covered with a boiling sweet vinegar brine seasoned with mustard and celery seed.

Caramel Ice Cream

Sugar caramelized dry in a skillet, then built into an egg yolk custard with scalded milk, cream and vanilla.

Caramel Twists

An overnight refrigerator dough — yeast, egg yolks and scalded milk worked into a buttery flour mixture.

Cheesecake

Graham crust, cream cheese filling and sour cream topping, each given its own separate turn in the oven.

“Deb uses an 8 1/2 inch springform pan and puts the crust 3/4 of the way up the sides.”

Chewy Brownies

Cocoa bloomed in boiling water with espresso powder, plus two kinds of chocolate and both butter and oil, baked in a foil-lined 9x13.

Chewy Sugar Cookies

Cream cheese and warm melted butter go into the dough; the balls are rolled in sugar and pressed flat with a drinking glass.

Chocolate Mint Sandwich Cookies (Laura Winsor's)

Chilled chocolate dough rolled in sugar and baked, then sandwiched in pairs around a mint patty while still warm.

Chocolate Pie

No-bake freezer pie of melted sweet chocolate beaten into cream cheese and folded with Cool Whip in a graham crust.

Chocolate Pots de Crème

Stovetop custard cooked to 175 degrees, strained over bittersweet chocolate, spiked with coffee and chilled in ramekins until set.

“Deb notes coffee cups work fine in place of ramekins -- about the right size.”

Chocolate Truffles

Ganache set firm in a pan, cut into 64 squares, rolled by hand and dusted in cocoa and powdered sugar.

Cinnamon Pickles

Cucumber rings soaked in pickling lime, tinted red, then simmered in a cinnamon stick and red hot candy syrup over several days.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Enriched yeast loaf rolled around a cinnamon sugar filling, misted with water so the swirl holds together, and baked to 185 degrees.

“1/2 cup raisins can be kneaded into the dough when it is turned out on the counter.”

Cranberry Salad

Cooked cranberries and cherry Jell-O set with diced celery, apple, crushed pineapple and nuts if you want them.

Cream Cheese Dessert

Baked shortbread crust spread with a Dream Whip and cream cheese layer, finished with canned pie filling and chilled.

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookie Bars

Sugar cookie dough enriched with cream cheese and almond extract, pressed into a sheet pan and frosted after cooling.

Creamy Chocolate Pudding

Stovetop pudding built on egg yolks, cocoa and bittersweet chocolate, strained and chilled four hours under parchment.

Crème Brûlée

Custard baked over raspberries in ramekins, then topped with strained berry puree and sugar and broiled over ice water.

Crystal Pickles

Cucumbers brined two weeks, crisped overnight in alum water, then steeped four mornings in spiced vinegar syrup before sealing.

Deluxe Sugar Cookies

Powdered sugar and almond extract dough, chilled a few hours, then flattened with a sugar-dipped cup into about five dozen thin rounds.

Deviled Eggs

Eggs cooked by the off-heat method and iced, with the yolks pushed through a sieve and mixed with mayonnaise, sour cream and brown mustard.

Dinner Rolls

Egg-and-butter rolls kneaded in a mixer, shaped into two cake pans, then refrigerated a day or two before their final rise.

Dried Beef Dill Weed Dip

Equal parts sour cream and mayonnaise stirred with chipped dried beef, dill weed, beau monde and onion, served with pumpernickel.

Fluffy Rolls

Scalded milk and oil dough mixed the night before and left to sit on the counter, then shaped and risen two hours before baking.

Foolproof Chocolate Frosting

Food-processor frosting of butter, cocoa, corn syrup and melted chocolate, about three cups, meant for the yellow layer cake.

French Chocolate Silk

Stirred custard of milk, yolks and sugar thickened on the stove, sifted with cocoa, thinned with light cream and chilled overnight.

French Silk Chocolate Pie

Butter, sugar and melted unsweetened chocolate whipped with eggs added one at a time, then chilled in a baked shell.

French Vanilla Ice Cream

Eggs, milk and sugar cooked into a stirred custard, then cooled with cream and vanilla and held overnight.

Fruit Salad - WW

Canned and fresh fruit tossed with dry sugar-free gelatin, which thickens the juices; keeps two weeks in the refrigerator.

“WW 3 points each serving.”

Gingersnaps

Browned butter, molasses and both fresh and ground ginger in a sugar-rolled cookie baked slow at 300 degrees.

“Deb notes she usually uses 2 whole eggs instead of 1 egg plus 1 yolk.”

Granola with Dried Fruit and Almonds

Oats and almonds bound in maple syrup and brown sugar, pressed flat on a sheet pan so it bakes into breakable clusters.

Guacamole Avocado

Avocados mashed by hand, not blended, with lemon juice, grated onion, fresh tomato and garlic powder.

Hawaiian Fruit Dessert

Sweetened cream cheese and Cool Whip whipped with lime, frozen in a springform pan, then piled with strawberries, kiwi and pineapple.

Hershey Chocolate-Filled Torte

Store-bought pound cake split into four layers, filled with cocoa whipped cream and finished with a poured chocolate glaze.

Homemade Granola

Oats, coconut, almonds, sesame and sunflower seeds and wheat germ baked in honey and oil, with apricots and raisins stirred in after.

Hungarian Sweet Rolls

Rich sour cream and butter pastry chilled overnight, rolled on powdered sugar, and cut into wedges rolled up crescent style.

Kentucky Fried Chicken Coleslaw

Cabbage and carrot cut fine in a food processor, dressed with a sweet blended mix of mayonnaise, buttermilk, vinegar and lemon.

Large Batch Vanilla Frosting

Five cups of whipped buttercream for layer cakes and cupcakes, made with heavy cream instead of milk.

Lemon Bisque

Lemon gelatin whipped light and folded into beaten evaporated milk, set over ground graham crackers in a 13-by-9 dish.

Lemon Icebox Pie

Condensed milk and lemon juice baked just until set in a graham crust, chilled several hours, then covered in whipped cream.

Macaroni Salad

Shells mixed with hard-boiled eggs, grated carrot, pickles and peas in a sweet mayonnaise dressing built on condensed milk and vinegar.

Make Ahead Salad

Seasoned mayonnaise stirred with peas, celery and green onion, chilled for hours, then spooned into a lettuce-lined bowl.

Mexican Dip

Chopped tomatoes, jalapenos, black olives and onion marinated overnight in oil and vinegar, scooped up with Doritos.

Mocha Punch

Sweetened coffee and chocolate base chilled overnight, then scooped full of vanilla and chocolate ice cream in a punch bowl.

“I did not use the whipped cream or chocolate curls.”

Moravian Sugar Cake

Yeast dough enriched with instant potato flakes, pressed into a 13x9 and baked under a crumbled brown sugar, butter and cinnamon topping.

Oatmeal Cream Pies

Soft cinnamon oatmeal cookies sandwiched in pairs around a long-whipped vanilla buttercream filling.

Oil Buns

Overnight yeast dough made with oil instead of butter, mixed in the afternoon, shaped at night, baked the next morning.

Oreo Dessert

Frozen layers of Oreo crust, vanilla ice cream, a cooked mint-chocolate sauce, and whipped topping with nuts.

Oven-Roasted Tomato and Garlic Soup

Halved plum tomatoes brushed with garlic and olive oil and dried in a 200-degree oven for eight hours.

Overnight Blueberry and Multigrain Coffee Cake

Sour cream and spelt flour batter studded with blueberries, refrigerated overnight with its almond streusel, then baked in a springform pan.

Peach Coffee Cake

Vanilla pudding mix goes into the batter, peaches go on top, and a sweetened cream cheese layer bakes over it all in a 9-inch round.

“Note: If doubling recipe, I only use 12 ounces of cream cheese because I feel it gets too mushy if I double the cheese. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.”

Perfect Baked Custard

Six eggs and four cups of scalded milk baked slowly in a water bath until a knife comes out clean.

“Deb's note: you can use 1 cup Splenda instead of the sugar.”

Raspberry Sorbet

Strained raspberry puree stabilized with Sure-Jell and corn syrup, with part of it frozen solid before churning.

Refrigerator Oatmeal Cookies

Oatmeal dough shaped into a log and chilled overnight, then sliced very thin and baked seven or eight minutes.

Rice Pudding

Long grain rice simmered slowly in six cups of milk for nearly an hour, until it thickens to the consistency of yogurt.

“Deb's note: you can use some Splenda in place of some of the sugar.”

Smoked Salmon

A two-pound fillet cured several hours in brown sugar, salt and liquid smoke, baked, then chilled overnight before serving.

Sugar Cookies (Eileen's)

Sour cream rolled cookies chilled overnight, cut into shapes, baked briefly, and finished with cream cheese frosting.

Sunday Brunch French Toast

Bread dried in a low oven, soaked in an egg and half-and-half custard, then oven-fried on a hot oiled sheet under a brown sugar crust.

Sweet Gherkins

Small cucumbers worked through four days of boiling-water soaks and a sugar-vinegar syrup with turmeric, cinnamon and fennel, then canned.

“Have fun!”

Sweet Roll Dough

Base yeast dough with milk, eggs and shortening, kneaded and given two rises — for cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls or coffee cakes.

Sweet-Sour Cucumbers

Sliced cucumbers steeped in a shaken quart-jar brine of vinegar, sugar, celery seed and mustard seed.

Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole

Breakfast sausage and frozen mini tater tots tossed with cheddar and mozzarella, then baked under a custard of eight eggs and milk.

“I use minced garlic in place of the garlic powder, and I use real onion, browned right along with the sausage, in place of the onion powder.”

Thirteen Bean Salad

Thirteen-bean soup mix simmered until just tender, then marinated overnight in a sweet-sour oil and wine vinegar dressing with red onion and peppers.

Tomato Soup

Onion cooked down in white wine, then simmered with chicken stock, plum tomatoes and roasted tomatoes, pureed, and finished with thyme and honey.

Triple-Chocolate Mousse Cake

Flourless chocolate cake on the bottom, dark chocolate mousse in the middle, gelatin-set white chocolate mousse on top, all chilled in a springform pan.

Turkey Brine

Salt and sugar boiled with peppercorns, garlic and bay, then chilled with ice to soak a whole turkey before roasting.

“Amie put mayonnaise on the outside of the turkey before roasting and it was wonderful. Injecting butter under the skin of the turkey is good too.”

Vanilla Crème Brûlée

Custard built on cream steeped with vanilla bean ground into sugar, baked in a water bath and torched under a brown sugar crust.

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

Two loaves built on an overnight bread-flour biga and an overnight whole wheat and wheat germ soaker, baked with steam over a stone.