The key to making big, thick bakery-style chocolate chip cookies isn’t in secret ingredients or tricky techniques—it’s actually just a matter of shifting the ratios of your ingredients a bit. These dense, thick, decadent cookies have less sugar and more baking powder than your standard chocolate chip cookies, which helps inhibit the cookies’ spreading during baking. While we think that preparing this recipe as six gigantic cookies is sort of an essential part of the experience, you could make twelve smaller cookies if you prefer; you will simply need to adjust your bake times accordingly. For more helpful cookie baking tips, check out our guide to making the perfect batch. 

Perfect for when refrigerated staples are running low, this recipe from Real Mom Nation yields incredibly fluffy, tender pancakes without using eggs or butter. (Of course, if you happen to have butter on hand, you can certainly swap it in for the coconut oil—or use a combination!) The secret to these no-egg pancakes’ fluffy texture is simple: plenty of baking powder. So, with just a few pantry staples, you’re well on your way to a decadent breakfast. 

Hey, all you cool cats and kittens! If you haven’t yet binged the chaotic Netflix dumpster fire that is Tiger King, what are you doing? Before you crawl out from under that rock, though, you might want to whip up our Spiced *Exotic* Apricot Bourbon Sour—it was developed with the show’s star, Joe Exotic, in mind.  Our recipe calls for a raw egg white because, like our antiheroes, we like to live on the wild side. That said, you can sub in aquafaba for a safe, vegan, and egg shortage-friendly alternative. You’ll also need a few tools: a cocktail shaker, a jigger, a mesh sieve, and a DIY tiger stripe stencil.

Taco Tuesday doesn’t always have to revolve around ground beef. Trust us, once you see how easy it is to make homemade carnitas, this will be a meal prep move you come back to again and again. Braised Boston butt is the star of this taco spread, and once you set it to simmering in a mixture of fresh citrus juices, garlic, and spices—the work is done. Drizzled with a vibrantly smoky Chipotle Crema, the assembled carnitas tacos will be a surefire hit.

You know that pasta salad from childhood (you know the one—rotini, canned olives, underripe grape tomatoes, cubed cheese)? It showed up at cookouts, sleepovers and every occasion in between, and it holds a special place in hearts a plenty—or at least it does around our office. So, we made a few swaps to create a fully grown uptake that still hits all the nostalgic notes we crave. Think a more sophisticated nood (we went orecchiette, but you can go with whatever you like!), buttery Castelvatrano olives (i.e. the best olives), juicy-sweet heirloom cherry tomatoes for dynamic color, hunks of savory salami, rich and creamy mozzarella pearls, radishes for fresh crunch, and an easy, from-scratch Italian dressing. Sure, it may require a trip to the grocery store’s olive bar, but trust us, it’s so worth it. 

Our Chicken and Cauliflower Rice Casserole is all the proof you need that cauliflower can be comforting. It’s definitely creamy, thanks to multiple types of cheese, but still has a good bite from the cauliflower rice’s texture. You can make your own cauliflower rice by pulsing the florets and stem in a food processor, or you can buy it fresh or frozen at most grocery stores. Dry your chicken skin and brown it before placing the dish in the oven and cook it skin-side up for the crispiest skin possible. Serve with green beans, asparagus, or another spring vegetable.

  Corn dogs just got way more fun. The bread-to-meat ratio is a lot less than a traditional corn dog’s, so it really lets the hot dog be the star while the perfectly sweet and savory breading backs it up. Regular length hot dogs, not bun length, work best here. Make sure the oil isn’t too hot or the breading will cook too fast on the outside, leaving the interior batter raw.