These are commonly known as shapeless recipes. Some recipes do not require their ingredients to be arranged in a specific way on the crafting grid. There is also a Recipe book where you can access all the crafting recipes. This brings up an interface with a 3×3 crafting grid, which the player can use to craft any crafting recipe in the game. To craft items using a 3×3 grid, create a crafting table with 4 wooden planks, place it in the world, and press use while facing it. These include wooden planks, sticks, crafting tables, torches, and some shapeless recipes.
Small crafting recipes that are at most 2×2 can be made there. Players in Creative, Survival, Adventure, or Spectator will have access to the 2×2 crafting grid from their inventory screen.