Buttermilk

This buttery vanilla-scented bread makes an excellent addition to any brunch—or turn it into French toast for double the luxury.

These sugared doughnuts are craggy and crunchy on the outside, tender and moist on the inside. Apple butter (not sauce!) is key to their texture and flavor; look for it alongside jams and jellies in the supermarket, or at farmers’ markets, or make your own.

Serve panko-crusted white fish with a piquant relish of cucumbers, fennel, and chiles, kissed with both lime and cilantro.

Stir the last few kernels of fresh corn into these sweet-and-savory waffles. No fresh strawberries where you are? Frozen, or even sliced plums, work just as well.

Eggplant gets a big lift from buttery avocado and an irresistibly kicky, creamy sauce.

Turn these fall-spiced cupcakes into a Pumpkin Patch–themed holiday centerpiece for Halloween or Thanksgiving.

These fried and sauced chicken breast strips have all the spicy flavor of Buffalo wings—without the hassle of bones. Serve them with a tangy blue cheese dip and celery sticks.

These cupcakes remind me of the crisp October air and colored leaves crunching underneath my feet.

Chocolate cake absolutely has to be two things: dark and moist. To make sure it is sticky and dense I use buttermilk. Adding coffee to chocolate cakes really brings out the flavor in the cocoa.

Fold crisped and crumbled bacon into a cornmeal waffle batter for plenty of salty, savory crunch.

These airy doughnuts are served with Singaporean Chili Crab at Starry Kitchen in Los Angeles.

Serve this icy granita-like dessert with warm Rhubarb Turnovers, or all on its own as a refreshingly tart, light summer dessert.

The aioli will appear quite tight when all the oil is incorporated, but it will loosen to a pourable consistency once the buttermilk and shallot are added.

This psychedelic Mediterranean-inspired salad marries bright, fresh ingredients with sweet, earthy roasted beets and perfectly cooked eggs. It tastes as good as it looks on the plate, and all the ingredients make for good snacks.

Our fried chicken thighs begin with a brown-sugar brine, make a pit stop in buttermilk marinade, and end their journey garnished with honey and sea salt.

Get an extra jolt from your breakfast by putting espresso powder in the waffle batter.

A true Southerner wouldn’t dare add sugar to this cornbread recipe, but a Yankee might miss it. Do what you will; we don’t judge.

The oats, nuts, and fruit in this batter will start your day on the right nutritional foot—even with a generous glug of maple syrup poured over the top.

I like spreading Quark on my morning slice of bread and topping it with jam, but you can also mix it with salt and herbs and dollop it next to boiled potatoes for a light meal. Using buttermilk will result in skim Quark, which is best for baking recipes. If you want a creamier Quark to eat as is, simply stir a little heavy cream into the Quark to loosen and enrich it. (Mixed with high-quality fruit preserves, this makes for a luxurious little snack.)