Flour

A light, delicate, and barely sweet Persian rice flour cookie with finely ground pistachios and freeze-dried raspberries for color.

In this Venezuelan holiday dish, masa is filled with a shredded chicken and beef stew, then wrapped in fragrant banana leaves and steamed—like a tiny present.

With crisp outsides, creamy insides, and a subtle sweetness from tons of blanched leeks, these latkes might not be what you’re used to—and that’s a good thing.

When a recipe calls for sopping up sauce, these breadsticks are your sopper-uppers of choice. Topped with Kalamata olives, garlic, red onion, and Calabrian chiles, they’re also just as good on their own—serve them straight from the oven and let everyone rip them off with their hands. This recipe comes from Bryan Ford and is based on his Master Bread Dough. Feel free to customize them with whatever finely chopped toppings you desire; just be sure to press them into the dough so that they stick.

Make these sesame buns today, then question why it took you so long to make your own buns for burgers, egg sandwiches, fried chicken, and fillets o’ fish. This recipe from bread master Bryan Ford is based on his Master Dough recipe; simply portion it out, roll into tight balls, then dip in sesame seeds (or any small seeds and seasonings of your choice—poppy, flax, dried onion…). Ford bakes his buns in muffin rings, which gives them dramatic height—but free-form works just as well.

The secret behind many great breads is something called a preferment, a portion of the dough that ferments separately from (and for more time than) the rest of the ingredients. A preferment increases the strength of your dough (improving its final crumb structure) and contributes to aroma and flavor. In baker Bryan Ford’s cookbook New World Sourdough, the preferment is a sourdough starter; in this recipe, however, his preferment is the lower-maintenance poolish—a mixture of flour, water, and active dry yeast that grows overnight. Mix the poolish with more flour, water, and yeast as well as a touch of olive oil, sugar, and salt, and you get a resilient, flavorful dough that can be used in a nearly infinite number of ways. This is an instance when you really do need a kitchen scale—Ford encourages all bakers, especially beginners, to use one. The master dough can also be scaled up or down as desired.

If you’re looking for a simple recipe for a tender sandwich bread—the kind of loaf that’d be great turned into a grilled cheese or crunchy croutons—this is it. This recipe from Bryan Ford is his Master Bread Dough, rolled into a tight log and baked until golden brown. We recommend slicing it and then freezing in a resealable plastic bag or airtight container for instant toast.

Lil Bucks has quickly become my go-to topping for yogurt bowls, oatmeal, and pancakes.

If making bread has long intimidated you, start here. Parathas come in many shapes, textures, and flavors across Asia—they are perfect for dipping into dals and stews or eating alongside assorted condiments. This take, which Priya Krishna learned from her aunt Rachna, is really simple: a basic wheat-based dough stuffed with silky spiced potatoes.

Bublanina ("bubble cake"!) is a cushy home for the season's finest.

These Bangladeshi sweet fritters are fluffy and tender on the inside, crispy and craggy on the outside.

In this pizza, which is reminiscent of a Sicilian pie, the dough is enriched with whole-wheat or rye flour, then topped with a thin layer of anchovy-spiked tomato sauce (skip the fish, if you wish), and once it comes out of the oven, grated Parmesan and a mountain of greens. You have several pan options: For the thinnest crust with the crispiest bottom and edges, use a 13x9" rimmed baking sheet. If you don’t have one, you can also use a 10" or 12" cast-iron skillet: Your dough will be a bit thicker, more pillowy, and not as crisp. Or you can also easily double the recipe and use an 18x13" rimmed baking sheet. Just make sure to plan ahead: This dough needs to rise in the fridge for at least 12 hours.

This recipe gives off major chicken-soup vibes but is entirely vegetarian—and you don’t have to simmer vegetables or cheese rinds for hours to get there. The lightning-fast broth gets its flavor from caramelized miso and nutritional yeast (a trick we picked up from Bay Area cookbook author and food writer Andrea Nguyen). The gluten-free dumplings are soft on the outside and pleasantly chewy on the inside. 

And liking it.

These flaky buttermilk biscuits get a nutty twist from benne seeds and whole wheat flour.

Crispy, nutty whole-grain waffles that can go sweet or savory depending on your mood.

It doesn’t get more summery than these delicate cornmeal pancakes with rum-spiked strawberry compote.

Wheat germ, the nutrient-rich heart of wheat kernels, gives these cookies their hearty, nutty crunch while also keeping them tender and crumbly. You can often find wheat germ in the bulk bin aisle of the grocery store, but toasted rolled oats or ground flax can be used in its place for a similar texture. These cookies are ideal for making in advance, as their flavor and texture improve after a few days. The butter and milk can be substituted with plant-based alternatives without sacrifice, so make them vegan if you want.

Why have a chocolate- or vanilla-flavored concha when you can have both in this New York–inspired twist on the classic Mexican sweet bread?

White conchas may look plain, but with a boost of high-quality vanilla, they’re unexpectedly flavorful.

If you like the sound of a choco-coconut concha, give the classic Mexican sweet bread tropical twist by using virgin coconut oil.

We really went for it here, drawing on the flavor and texture of idli podi (a coarsely ground spice mixture that also goes by the name “gunpowder spice”) to create a gluten-free version of craggy-crunchy fried chicken. Our version swaps chickpea flour and sesame seeds for wheat flour, and, once fried, we dust it with lime zest, coconut, and crushed red pepper flakes. Be sure to fry the chicken to a deep brown to create superior crunch and coax out the nutty flavors of the chickpea flour and sesame seeds. And don’t skip the honey: It will balance out all the bold flavors.

This deeply comforting, spice-forward Indian soup is deceptively simple, easy to pull off, and perfect over a bowl of white rice.