Wanda Monk estimates she’s had her winning recipe for Vanilla Wafer Cake at least 40 years. She remembers making it to take when her family would gather for meals at the home of her mother-in-law in Falkville. The recipe, which likely came from another family member, uses two sticks of butter, which gives it that extra-moist texture.

Wanda Monk has a winner with her Vanilla Wafer Cake. (contributed)

Vanilla Wafer Cake

Ingredients

• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 6 eggs
• 1 11-ounce box vanilla wafers
• 1½ cup sugar
• 1½ cup pecans
• 1 can flaked coconut

Instructions

Crush vanilla wafers thoroughly. Beat butter and sugar together, then add in eggs and beat. Mix in crushed vanilla wafers, pecans and coconut. Pour in a greased tube pan. Bake at 275 degrees for 1½ hours.

Wanda Monk

Buttery Puffs

Ingredients

• 1 loaf French bread, unsliced; trim crust and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 6 ounces cream cheese
• ¼ pound sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 cup butter
• 4 egg whites, beaten stiff

Instructions

Use a double boiler to melt cream cheese and cheddar cheese into butter. Remove melted mixture from heat and let cool. Fold in 4 egg whites, beaten stiff. Dip bread cubes. Place on cookie sheet. Use parchment paper to save on mess. Refrigerate until cool, then freeze. When ready to eat, bake in 400-degree oven for 11 minutes. Watch them carefully, as they will burn.

Cook’s note: While a little labor intensive, these are worth it to have in the freezer for last-minute appetizers.

Nancy Sites Sizemore

Granny’s Rice Pilaf by Sandra Peppers. (Brooke Echols / Alabama Living)

Granny’s Rice Pilaf

Ingredients

• 2 cups Uncle Ben’s regular long-grain rice, not instant
• 1 stick butter or margarine
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 2 cans beef consommé soup
• 2 cans water
• 2 medium or 1 large can sliced mushrooms or pieces and stems
• 2 tablespoons oregano leaves
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper

Instructions

In extra-large sauté pan, melt butter and add diced onion. When onion gets warm, add 2 cups uncooked rice. Sauté butter, onion and rice until rice is all golden brown. Add soup, water, drained mushrooms, oregano leaves, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook 15-20 minutes or until rice is done. Do not stir once covered. Stir right before serving.

Sandra Peppers

Banana Nut Bread

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup ripe bananas, mashed
• ½ cup lemon curd
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ cup walnuts

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour bread pan. Cream butter and sugar until smooth. Beat eggs and then bananas and lemon curd and add to sugar mixture. Add flour, baking soda and walnuts. Pour into bread pan. Bake for 1 hour.

Ruth Lewis

Cinnamon Sticks

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 1 egg, divided
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups plain flour
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

Melt the butter. Beat yolk of egg in sugar and add to melted butter. Add flour and cinnamon. Grease a baking sheet well. With hand (well-greased) flatten out the dough all over the baking sheet. Put white of egg all over the dough (do not beat the white). Spoon any excess egg white after spreading onto the dough. Bake at 350 degrees for about one hour. Cut the “cookies” into rectangular “sticks.” Serve and enjoy this old-fashioned goodness.

Linda Missildine

Sue Lee’s Perfect Cookies by Sue Lee Phinney. (Brooke Echols / Alabama Living)

Sue Lee’s Perfect Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1¼ cup light brown sugar
• ½ cup white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1½ cup cake flour
• 1½ cup all-purpose flour (White Lily recommended)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt (Redmond Real Salt recommended)
• 2 cups milk chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars on high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add eggs and vanilla extract and beat for another minute. Mix dry ingredients — flours, baking soda and salt — in a separate bowl. Stir the chocolate chips in the dry ingredient mixture. Incorporate the wet mixture with the dry mixture, with a spatula, until dough forms. Scoop cookie dough onto parchment-paper-lined pan and bake for 10 minutes.

Cook’s note: My secret to getting the perfect set of cookies, every time: When you start mixing the wet ingredients, if it is like a peanut butter consistency and it’s thick and heavy, then it’s not yet ready to mix the dry ingredients. You have to mix the butters and sugars on the highest speed until the texture is light and fluffy, like Cool Whip.

Sue Lee Phinney

Fresh Apple Biscuits by The Buttered Home. (The Buttered Home)

Fresh Apple Biscuits

When I started The Buttered Home in 2018, I wanted the name to reflect a style of cooking that was reminiscent of generations gone by. My great-aunt, grandmother and mother taught me many things. One of the best was the old-fashioned way of cooking: scratch-made recipes and techniques that always produced the best eating around. So, it is only natural that the theme “better with butter” made me really excited. It was also hard to pick just one recipe to share. While we hope you enjoy these delicious Fresh Apple Biscuits, head to thebutteredhome.com for more recipes with butter.

Ingredients

• 2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ cup butter, cold and grated or cubed
• ¼ cup apple, grated
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 4 tablespoons half and half

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash and peel one medium-sized apple. Slice several thin slices to reserve for top of biscuits for garnish. Grate the remainder of the apple and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour with 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon, reserving the rest for the glaze; add salt, sugar and nutmeg. Mix well. Add grated or cubed cold butter. Mix to spread butter throughout and coat with the flour and seasoning.

Mix in grated apple well. Add buttermilk ½ cup at a time until a soft, shaggy dough forms. Turn dough out on a floured surface, form a ball and press dough together. Flatten out into a rectangle. Fold each end of dough over the center and then fold once more over itself. Do this “flatten and fold” method two more times to form layers for the biscuits. Flatten out again to 1 to 1½ inches thick. Cut with a 2-inch biscuit cutter.

Place biscuits in a cast-iron skillet and top each one with reserved apple slice. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes until they reach your level of desired doneness. Allow to cool.

For the glaze: In a medium bowl, mix confectioner’s sugar, ½ teaspoon of cinnamon and ½ teaspoon of vanilla. Add half and half, one teaspoon at a time, until glaze thins to your preference. Drizzle over biscuits in the pan or set aside to drizzle on each serving.

Brooke Burks, The Buttered Home

This story originally appeared in Alabama Living magazine.