Dessert Finder

Old Fashioned Compass
(©fitimi/Depositphotos.com)

Dessert Finder can help you find a specific dessert recipe from among the hundreds of old fashioned recipes featured on this site. Easily discover...

Which site page had the old fashioned sugar cookie recipe?
Which of Grandma's dessert recipes calls for peanuts?
Which dessert recipes are from Fannie Farmer's cookbook?

Search the Website for Vintage Recipes

Grandma's Oil Lamp
(Source: ©Don Bell)

When Grandma searched for something back in her day, her oil lamp was helpful inside and Grampa's field glasses were used outside.

Nowadays, on the Internet, Google's Custom Search engine can instantly find whatever you're looking for.

Here's How Dessert Finder Works

In the Custom Search box above, simply enter the word or phrase you are searching for. For example, if you want to find all the sugar cookie recipes on this website, just enter the words "sugar cookie" in Custom Search (use quotation marks with 2 or more words) and press the Search button.

Instantly, a new page will appear listing every recipe on this site that mentions sugar cookies. It's that easy!

For an ingredient search, simply enter the ingredient's name, press the Search button, and you'll see every recipe that calls for that ingredient. This comes in handy if you have ripening bananas to use, and you're looking for an easy banana dessert recipe. Just enter the word "banana" and press Search.

Give Dessert Finder a try!

Below is a sampling of the old fashioned desserts you'll find.

Vintage Cake Recipes

Mom's Recipe Scrapbooks (c. 1920s)

English Chester Cake

1 cup brown sugar, 1 heaping tablespoon butter, 3 eggs (saving out whites for icing), 1 teaspoon pastry spice, 1/4 cup corn syrup, 1 small teaspoon baking soda, 1 cup biscuit crumbs. Line a pan with pastry and put mixture in and bake 20 to 30 minutes. For icing: beat white of eggs stiff, add 2 tablespoons of brown sugar slowly; put on cake when cold. —Mrs. A. Hutchison

Vintage Cookie Recipes

Mom's Recipe Scrapbooks (c. 1920s)

Magic Delights

1/2 cup butter, 1-1/2 cups sugar, 3/4 cup milk, 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 2 cups rolled oats, 1 cup chopped raisins, 1/2 cup chopped nuts. Cream butter and sugar. Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon three times, and mix it with the rolled oats, chopped raisins, and nuts. Add to the butter mixture alternately with the milk. Drop small teaspoonfuls on a buttered baking tin, and bake 15 to 20 minutes.

Layer Cookies

Hint

Do you enjoy cookies that have nuts or coconut in them? Use the Dessert Finder to locate their recipes.

Crumb and rub together 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup flour. Line a shallow tin with this mixture; put in a slow oven while the following is being mixed:

1 cup chopped walnuts, 1 cup shredded cocoanut, 1-1/2 cups brown sugar, 2 beaten eggs, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder sifted with 2 tablespoons flour.

Spread this over first mixture, return to the oven, and bake 20 minutes in a moderate oven. Cut in strips. —Mrs. Alex Long

Vintage Pudding Recipes

Mom's Recipe Scrapbooks (c. 1920s)

Heavenly Hash Pudding

1 pint of cream whipped stiff and sweetened with confectioner's sugar; set away to chill. Chop fine 1 orange, 12 marshmallows, 1 banana, 1-1/2 cups pineapple, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts; beat fruit and nuts into cream just before serving. A cherry added to top of each serving adds to the appearance. —Mrs. Roy F. Laing

Old Time Dumpling Pudding

Boil together for 15 minutes a pint of water and a handful of raisins, 1/2 cup white sugar, butter size of an egg. For dumplings take a cup of flour, a dessertspoon sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, a pinch of salt; mix to a soft dough with milk or water. Drop by spoonfuls into boiling raisin sauce, cover and boil for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve at once. —Mrs. E. G. Johnston