Nut Free

Whole wheat flour and miso make this crumb cake a little sweet, a little savory, and entirely delicious.

This chicken comes with a crispy, craggy bread and squash salad that has all the buttery, herby flavor of classic stuffing.

These potatoes are like little starch balloons that pop when you bite into them. Serve them as a side, or add an aioli or creamy dressing to make them a snacky starter.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that a hot oven is involved here—this is really a stovetop mac and cheese. It only hangs out in the oven for 10 minutes, just long enough to get all the cheese properly melted.

Apple butter is a brilliant shortcut to a robustly flavored fall cocktail. Spiced with cinnamon and sometimes ginger, nutmeg, or clove, it brings in every essential autumn note in a teaspoon or two.

Crumb crusts are even easier than press-in cookie crusts. You don’t even have to bake them—see the variation at right. The crumbs can be made out of cookies, crackers, cereal, pretzels, even potato chips! Sometimes sugar or other flavorings are added to the crumbs (here the sugar is optional), and then fat (usually melted butter) is added to bind the mixture to form a crust. The crumbs can be coarse, for a crunchier texture, or finer, for a smoother texture. Different base ingredients will behave differently, so the first time I test a crumb crust with a new ingredient, I always have a little extra on hand in case I need more crumbs, or a little extra melted butter, should it be needed.    Crumb crusts don’t generally require chilling before baking, but you can refrigerate for up to 1 hour or freeze for 15 minutes, if desired, to firm them up before baking. 

Pakistani haleem is a warmly spiced, satisfyingly thick stew made from long-simmered lentils, barley, and bone-in chunks of lamb or goat.

Warm, spicy crust seeks peppy, tangy curd for meaningful conversation, foodie adventures, and romantic oven snuggles. Low-maintenance and easy to love.

The secret to these stewy baked eggs is a can of lentil soup. Any basic variety of lentil soup will work—you'll dress it up with the earthy spices and caramelized onions.

While pimento cheese is perfect as is as a spread, it also makes a pretty darn good queso-like dip. This particular version is smooth and velvety and has a kick of smoke and heat thanks to chipotle in adobo sauce—even pimento purists will find it delicious.

The process for this spiral ham is all about imparting flavor. Once finished, the meat will be super-tender and you’ll have a great cooking liquid that can be sopped up with rice, tortillas, potatoes, bread…or egg noodles.

The thought of making homemade caramel sauce is daunting for many cooks, but there’s no reason to be intimidated. It’s simple to prepare and, start to finish, takes only 15 to 20 minutes, after which you have a luscious, full-bodied sauce to drizzle on apple and peach pies, use in and on cream pies, and top off pie à la mode. No fancy equipment needed: just a 3-quart stainless steel saucepan and a candy thermometer.

My classic salted caramel, enriched with butter and a touch of cream for a thick, smooth sauce, is perfect as a pie topping, or served alongside à la mode slices.

It’s never a bad idea to serve pie with plenty of whipped cream. Think your pie is sweet enough? You can leave the sugar out—ain’t nothin’ wrong with plain ol’ whipped cream. For a luxurious twist, try the mascarpone variation below.

This isn’t your average Caesar salad. Here, the chicken gets smothered in Caesar dressing then roasts until the garlic, anchovies, and mustard become deeply caramelized and flavorful.

This one-skillet dinner gets deep oniony flavor from lots of leeks cooked down to jammy tenderness.

In this recipe, freshly baked gorditas get split open and packed with a saucy chile-shrimp filling, onions, avocados, and cilantro. Serve them with a generous squeeze of lime.

Traditionally, enfrijoladas are made by dipping stale tortillas into leftover frijoles from the night before. They are also great topped with a fried egg, or with roasted vegetables instead of chorizo to make this a plant-based breakfast.

For an easy fall dinner, cook your chicken and vegetables in a luxurious sauce of brown butter and heavy cream, then top with toasted breadcrumbs for extra crunch.

This is a pretty standard all-shortening piecrust, like the one my dad used when I was a youngster. A shortening piecrust won’t have the delicate flavor of a butter crust, and the texture is typically more crumbly, less flaky. Still, this yields a delicious, tender crust that many bakers believe makes the best pies.