Recipes with vanilla bean

Frozen Kahlua bundt cake with cocoa, coffee, and a Kahlua glaze poured over the warm cake before freezing. Whipped cream icing finishes a make-ahead dinner party showstopper.

Four-minute brownie pie with no crust needed. Beat everything together for 4 minutes, pour into a pie pan, and bake. Fudgy, crackly-topped, and best served warm with ice cream.

Friendship starter orange cupcakes with raisins, pecans, and a warm orange-sugar glaze dip. Sourdough-style tanginess meets bright citrus in a tender, studded crumb.

Lightened key lime pie made with fat-free condensed milk, gelatin, and whipped skim evaporated milk. Graham crust, tart lime filling, and tiny piped meringues perched on lime slices.

Double-chocolate shortbread cookies dipped on each end in white and semisweet chocolate. Rich, buttery, and elegant with a tender snap and triple chocolate flavor.

Diabetic-friendly chocolate bars made with cocoa, sugar substitute, and a hint of cinnamon, topped with melted chocolate chips. Fudgy, rich, and lower in sugar than traditional brownies.

Chocolate cookies shaped like pine cones with melted chocolate and overlapping toasted almond slices. A show-stopping holiday cookie project that looks like woodland art.

Lacy Florentine cookies made with ground pecans and coconut, sandwiched together with melted dark chocolate. Thin, crispy, and freezer-friendly for up to a month.

Alphabet cookies shaped by hand from a simple butter cookie dough rolled into ropes. A fun baking project for kids that doubles as a tasty learning activity.

Creamy vegan eggnog blended from silken tofu, vanilla soy milk, brandy, and brown sugar with a pinch of turmeric for that classic golden hue. Ten minutes, no cooking, no eggs. Holiday sipping without the dairy.

Lester's fruitcake is a heirloom holiday loaf: pounds of candied fruits, figs, dates, raisins, pecans, and walnuts bound in spiced molasses batter. Slow-baked, brandy-soaked, aged a month.

Copycat Hostess Ho Ho cake in sheet form: chocolate cake topped with cooked-flour vanilla cream filling and finished with a glossy cocoa-fudge glaze. Childhood snack-cake nostalgia for a crowd.

Sour cream coffee cake is a tender, moist brunch cake with a cinnamon-walnut sugar topping layered both through the middle and on top. Sour cream keeps the crumb soft and fine, with a gentle tang.

Blueberry upside-down cake with a glossy brown sugar topping and tender white cake base. Inverted to reveal jammy purple-stained fruit on top.

Light fluffy strawberry frozen yogurt made from strained yogurt cheese, fresh berries, vanilla, and whipped egg whites churned into a cloud-like dessert. Tangier and lighter than ice cream.

Starlight double-delight cake, the retro Pillsbury bake-off winner where a chocolate-peppermint cream cheese frosting doubles as part of the batter. Two moist mint-chocolate layers, frosted in the same blend.

Impossible coconut pie: a self-crusting magic pie that separates into custardy filling, golden top, and chewy crust as it bakes. Just dump everything in a blender, pour, and bake.

Triple chocolate oatmeal cookies with blended oat flour, chocolate chips, grated Hershey bar, and chopped nuts. A massive 108-cookie batch baked in just 6 minutes each.

Texas pecan pie with light brown sugar, corn syrup, and whole pecan halves on top. A classic Lone Star recipe with a gooey, caramel-like filling and crunchy nut crown.

Chocolate pecan pie variation with walnuts, coconut, and mini chocolate chips in a corn syrup-rich filling. The Southern classic crossed with German chocolate flavors.

Wheat-free applesauce cake made with ground oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, and raisins. A moist, spiced cake with no wheat flour that improves after resting overnight.

Peanut butter cookie pops made with a buttery peanut butter dough, rolled thin and cut into shapes, then sandwiched with candy melts on lollipop sticks. Great for kids' parties and bake sales.

Chocolate coconut crunch cookies loaded with chocolate chips, shredded coconut, and chopped roasted almonds. Slow-baked at low heat for a crispy, chewy cookie with toasted edges.

Crunchy chocolate almond biscotti with cocoa powder, toasted whole almonds, and chocolate chips. Double-baked Italian cookies built for dunking in coffee or espresso.

Sugar-free fruit nut muffins sweetened only with dates, raisins, and prunes boiled into a thick fruit base. Diabetic-friendly mini muffins with no added sugar.

Old-fashioned chocolate sheath cake with cocoa, buttermilk, and a hint of cinnamon, frosted while still hot from the oven. A classic Texas-style sheet cake with a fudgy topping.

Date and nut bars with chopped dates, pecans, and powdered sugar rolled into chewy little squares. An old-fashioned cookie bar that's dense, fruity, and naturally sweet with minimal flour.

Fudgy chocolate espresso bars with cocoa, instant espresso, and chopped pecans, topped with a whipped chocolate chip frosting. Rich, dense, and deeply caffeinated.

Fluffy lemon cheesecake swaps cream cheese for ricotta and lightens up with skim milk and reduced-fat crust. A bright, citrusy dessert with a soft, almost custardy crumb in a graham cracker shell.

Southern peanut butter pie built like a peanut pecan pie hybrid: dark corn syrup, eggs, creamy peanut butter, and salted peanuts baked into a chewy, gooey filling. A pecan pie with all the peanuts in the South.

Chocolate melting moments made with cocoa and cake flour, filled with a mocha chocolate center. Tender, melt-in-your-mouth thumbprint cookies that shatter with each bite.

Chocolate peanut pie with melted semi-sweet chocolate, corn syrup, and unsalted peanuts in a from-scratch butter crust. Like a pecan pie but with chocolate and peanuts.

Celebrate next Thanksgiving with this rich and decadent pie made with corn syrup, pumpkin and pecan halves.

Carob brownies sweetened with honey instead of sugar, mixed entirely in a food processor with butter and walnuts. A naturally sweeter, caffeine-free alternative to chocolate brownies.

No-bake date nut logs rolled in flaked coconut with crisp rice cereal and pecans. A retro Southern candy that cooks in one saucepan and shapes in minutes.

Famous Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookies with blended oatmeal, grated chocolate bar, chocolate chips, and walnuts. A legendary big-batch recipe that delivers.

Lowcountry benne seed cookies (Charleston style) with toasted sesame seeds, brown sugar, and butter. A thin, crispy Southern Christmas cookie with West African roots.

This cake is light and airy with a creamy coconut buttercream filling and delicate meringue frosting. Sooo good!

Honey peanut butter cup cookies loaded with chopped peanut butter cups and chocolate chips in a cocoa-laced dough. Sweetened with honey and brown sugar for a chewy, fudgy cookie.

Chocolate amaretto torte with a fudgy chocolate-almond base topped with amaretto cream cheese mousse and whipped cream. A make-ahead dessert that chills overnight and freezes beautifully.

Holiday Sugar Cookies with Chocolate Candies recipe

Pumpkin marble cheesecake on a gingersnap-pecan crust with swirled pumpkin spice and vanilla cream cheese batters. A stunning fall dessert with two-tone visual appeal.

Blueberry crunch cake bakes a buttermilk cornmeal cake under a crown of fresh blueberries with a cinnamon-sugar crackle on top. Lighter than coffee cake, sweeter than cornbread. The Southern morning cake that disappears fast.

Milk chocolate biscotti packed with toasted whole almonds and cocoa-darkened dough. Crisp, twice-baked Italian cookies ready for dunking in coffee or espresso.

Crazy cake (also called wacky cake or depression cake) needs no eggs, no milk, no butter. Mixed straight in the pan with vinegar for chemistry-class lift. A Depression-era favorite.

Double chocolate zucchini bread with melted unsweetened chocolate, chocolate chips, chopped nuts, and cinnamon. Moist, rich, and the best way to sneak vegetables into dessert.

Homemade Tia Maria coffee liqueur made with brandy, strong coffee, sugar, and a whole vanilla bean. Just four ingredients and 30 days of patience for a rich, smooth sip.

Homemade fig newtons with a chewy brown-sugar cookie wrapped around real fig jam cooked with lemon. The classic lunchbox cookie made fresh, no preservatives required.