Best Recipes of 2019

Finely chopped mushrooms replace some of the meat in these super family-friendly calzones (made with purchased pizza dough). Kids will never notice the 'shrooms are there.

Even so-so winter tomatoes work beautifully in this easy recipe from La Soupe cafe in Cincinnati: Roasting brings out their sweetness.

The malted whipped cream in these fruity cream puffs is a revelation—make it alone to top pies, sundaes or hot cocoa, and be sure to lick the beaters!

This genius 5-ingredient weeknight side uses jalapeno jelly as an "instant" glaze and gets major flavor and crunch from smoked almonds.

Since no one wants the soggy middle piece of a square tart, we cut a sheet of puff pastry in half to make two small ones: crisp edges for everyone! Eat as a meal with a salad or slice into petite wedges for a grab-and-go party app.

Sit down on a Wednesday to a bowl of hearty whole-grain farro, seared salmon, and fresh spinach, cucumber and radish. The carrot-flecked dressing riffs off one that's a standby at Japanese restaurants.

This moist, buttery pound cake has a triple threat of lemon: Chopped candied peel speckles the interior, and thin strips dance along the top, over a sheen of puckery lemon icing. The recipe comes from Nathaniel Reid Bakery in St. Louis.

This luscious (and easy!) sauce is good enough to eat with a spoon. If you're feeling more civilized than that, try it over pasta or seared or grilled chicken or whitefish, or as an appetizer dipping sauce with bread.

Mixology doesn't get any easier than this! Whip out this easy version of a classic Mexican cocktail for Cinco de Mayo, or just your average Taco Tuesday. The recipe comes from Kansas City's Mean Mule Distilling Co.

The recipe for these flaky biscuits, a staple at Minnesota's Chef Camp, comes from Honey & Rye Bakehouse in Minneapolis. Try them with Mushroom Gravy.

In Mexico, grilled corn comes coated in mayonnaise, lime, cheese and cilantro. We just added pasta, plus lots of green onion for bite. It's a macaroni salad that's anything but basic.

You say tomato, we say peach—at least, we do for this fantastic BLT-avocado toast hybrid. Eat it for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

We won't lie: This recipe takes some effort. But if you're willing to commit to a longish weekend cooking session, you won't be disappointed. It's absolutely delicious.

This ice cream is dead-simple, but plan to make it a day ahead: The salty peanut butter slows down the freezing. It's soft but edible at 8 hours, fully scoopable at 24.

The secret to whipping out these deliciously cheesy chicken- and potato-filled pockets for your next game night or tailgate? Frozen, pre-cut empanada wrappers. The recipe comes from Minnesota chef and author Amalia Moreno-Damgaard.

Like the chocolate-and-vanilla retro classic, this gingery icebox cake requires some make-ahead assembly—but no baking. And it's absolutely drool-worthy.

It's all in a name, right? That's what Lou Ginocchio of Cincinnati's O Pie O discovered when Honey Vinegar Pie sent customers' heads spinning. "No one was expecting a pie with vinegar in its name to be this luxurious."

Tingling with fennel and allspice and infused with a pound of apples, chef Jonathon Sawyer's shrub (an old-timey drink mixer) evokes the taste of spiced cider in a sourful new-old way. The recipe comes from his cookbook House of Vinegar.

This shortcut fudge—from Shauna Sever's cookbook Midwest Made: Big, Bold Baking from the Heartland — gets a 21st-centery boost with bittersweet chocolate and flaky sea salt. If you want to streamline a little, use high-quality chocolate chips, such as Ghirardelli.

In her book Midwest Made: Big, Bold Baking from the Heartland, Shauna Sever ramped up the nuttiness and opted for a creamy ganache filling in her take on this Midwest favorite.