Pastries

Goldies, my organic twist on a Twinkie, have become one of my most notorious treats. I like to bake these with an easy chocolate cake (which just happens to be vegan) as a base, as it's the perfect partner to the sweet, creamy filling and dark, almost Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache . For a chic finish, I brush them with gold metallic dust. To give the Goldies their unique look, you will need specialty baking pans. These pans are commonly sold as éclair pans, but since éclairs went out of style two decades ago, you may have better luck ordering them (and the wrappers if you want) online through cooking-supply stores such as kitchenkrafts.com, sugarcraft.com, or cakedeco.com.

This version of the scone is based on the recipe from the Standard Baking Company. Molly tweaked the recipe slightly in her home kitchen. If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw them before folding into the batter.

Flax is rich in substances that have been shown to protect against heart disease and cancer. It has a very mild taste and is good mixed into muffins and breads as well as sprinkled on cereal. This flax muffin recipe is one way to add a daily tablespoon of flaxseed to your breakfast and snacks. These muffins are remarkably sweet and moist, despite having no added fat. (The 3 grams of fat per muffin are from the health-protective fats in the ground flaxseed meal.)

Cheesy with a shortbread-like texture, these biscuits are addictive and would pair nicely with beer.

This luxurious treat is somewhere between a trifle, a tiramisù, and a summer pudding. The lime gives it a wonderful brightness.

The secret to great shortcakes is a very moist dough, so don’t be tempted to add more flour.

These tart pastries are best straight out of the oven, but if you have any left over (or if you make extra), they're nice for breakfast, too.

Serve with hot chocolate.

Dried berries and cherries are sold at most supermarkets in the dried-fruit aisle.

No need to call your local pizza joint. Thanks to prepared dough and bottled roasted red peppers, making your own calzones can be easy and far more satisfying.

There's no doubt these are some seriously cheesy biscuits, but dill adds a dose of herbal brightness, making them the ideal partner for grits with rosemary bacon (page 61) and fried eggs.

Greek-style yogurt gives the cake a rich, moist texture.

The easiest way to crack the coriander seeds is to put them in a heavy-duty plastic bag and pass over them with a rolling pin. For a great sandwich, split a biscuit and fill it with sliced ham or smoked salmon.

Butter and cream make these crumbly, tart-spiked treasures rich, moist, and tender.

B'stilla, a traditional Moroccan recipe, was the inspiration for this savory pie. The dish consists of a spiced chicken filling sandwiched between layers of crisp phyllo pastry.

Pasties are savory turnovers. They originated in Cornwall, England, in the 1700s. During that era, tin miners took the portable pies into the mines for lunch.