America’s Test Kitchen’s Most Popular Recipes of 2021 | America's Test Kitchen (2024)

Millionaire’s shortbread has a lot going for it: a crunchy shortbread base; a chewy, caramel-like filling; and a shiny, snappy chocolate top. This recipe is a classic, and continues to be a favorite year after year.

Make a quick shortbread with melted butter rather than pulling out the mixer or food processor. Sweetened condensed milk is important to the flavor of the filling, heated both during processing and during the cooking of the filling for a structurally sound center. Melting the chocolate very carefully ensures it never gets too hot and stirring in grated chocolate at the end creates a smooth, firm top layer, which makes a suitably elegant finish for this rich yet refined cookie.

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Start with a simple stir-together dough. Instead of kneading, let it rest overnight in the refrigerator. During this rest, the dough's gluten strengthens enough for the crust to support the toppings but still have a tender crumb. For the crispy cheese edge known as frico, we pressed shredded Monterey Jack cheese around the edge of the dough and up the sides of the skillet. Baking the pie in a generously oiled cast-iron skillet “fried” the outside of the crust.

We also moved the skillet to the stove for the last few minutes of cooking to crisp up the underside of the crust. Hand-crushing canned whole tomatoes (which are less processed and therefore fresher-tasting than commercial crushed tomatoes) drains some of the juice so the sauce is thick enough to stay put on the pie. It’s then pureed in the food processor with classic seasonings—no cooking required.

Making an apple crumble that tastes primarily of apples starts with plenty of fruit. We tossed 4 pounds of apples with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to enhance their bright flavor. Adding just 2 tablespoons of brown sugar to the filling kept the apples from tasting too sweet.

We baked the apples in a covered pan before applying the topping, which allowed them to collapse into a thick layer of filling. Adding nuts to the streusel loosened its consistency so that it didn't bake up dense, and a couple of teaspoons of water hydrated the flour so that the mixture clumped nicely. Applying the topping midway through baking minimized its exposure to the juicy fruit, preventing it from becoming soggy.

We developed a modern, cooked-egg version of Betty Cooper’s 1951 recipe with ramped-up chocolate flavor. Only real eggs would do, but rather than incorporate them raw, we cooked them with sugar on the stovetop, almost like making a custard. Once the egg and sugar mixture was light and thick, we removed it from the heat and continued whipping it until it was fully cooked.

The silky satin texture was achieved with one stick of softened butter. Bittersweet chocolate folded into the cooled egg and sugar mixture boosted the chocolate flavor better than other varieties we tested. Whipped cream folded into the filling made the final result light and silky, but rich, thick, and chocolaty.

Lots of onion, garlic, ginger, and chile sauteed in butter followed by aromatic spices such as garam masala, coriander, cumin, and black pepper are the backbone of this dish.

A hefty portion of tomato paste and water lends the sauce bright acidity, punch, and deep color without making it too liquid-y. Add a full cup of cream for body, and finish it by whisking in a couple more tablespoons of solid butter for extra richness.

To imitate the deep charring produced by a tandoor oven, we broiled chicken thighs coated in yogurt (its milk proteins and lactose brown quickly and deeply) before cutting them into chunks and stirring them into the sauce. Butter chicken (murgh makhani) should taste rich and creamy but also vibrant and complex.

We’ll show you the steps to make a meaty, vibrant chile verde by salting, braising, and browning the pork, ensuring that the meat cooks up well-seasoned and juicy without drying out its surface. Broiling the tomatillos, poblanos, jalapeño, and garlic concentrates their flavors and imbues them with a touch of smokiness.

Seasoning the chili with warm spices and sugar softens its acidity and heat. Omitting broth and/or water minimizes the amount of liquid in the pot, so that the salsa—the only source of liquid—reduces to a tight, flavorful sauce.