3,486 desert recipes

Cranberry cheesecake studded with tart cranberries and orange zest, set on a graham cracker base. A holiday dessert that skips the springform pan and bakes in a simple pie plate.

Santa Claus cookies decorate flat sugar cookies with red sugar caps, miniature marshmallow tassels, currant eyes, cinnamon candy noses, and coconut beards. A festive holiday craft cookie kids can help build from baked rounds.

Mock pavlova is a sugar-free Aussie meringue dessert using artificial sweetener. Crisp shell, marshmallow heart, and fresh kiwi slices, all under 100 calories per portion.

You don’t need an ice cream maker to make this, but you do need a food processor. I use a banana and a small amount of honey to sweeten the yogurt. (See the banana-only variation on this recipe below.) You can serve it like soft-serve ice cream, or let it freeze solid so that it’s more like regular frozen yogurt.

Jewish apple cake layered with cinnamon sugar and sliced apples in a tube pan. A dairy-free oil-based cake with orange juice, perfect for Rosh Hashanah or any fall gathering.

A lighter chocolate strawberry cheesecake made with nonfat cottage cheese, neufchatel, and cocoa on a graham cracker crust. All the creamy richness with a fraction of the guilt.

A no-bake chocolate coconut pie with a crunchy shell made from melted semisweet chocolate, rice cereal, and shredded coconut. The filling is a silky bittersweet chocolate mousse swirled with cream of coconut and whipped cream.

Hot cinnamon apple parfait layers warm spiced apples and golden raisins with crushed shortbread crumbs and vanilla ice cream. Comfort dessert that lands somewhere between apple crisp and sundae.

Frozen peach torte layered with white chocolate kirsch mousse, chopped peaches, and a toasted almond crumb crust. An elegant make-ahead summer dessert.

Whole wheat carob brownies are a low-fat, dairy-free, eggless dessert sweetened with honey and applesauce. Caffeine-free chocolate alternative with whole grain flour and a tender cake-like texture.

Upside-down apple tart with caramelized Golden Delicious apples on a flaky cake-flour crust, finished with a brown sugar yogurt drizzle. A lighter take on classic tarte Tatin.

Classic Italian sponge cake made with a warm egg foam, cocoa powder, and no butter at all. Light as air with a deep golden crust and tender chocolate crumb.

Honey almond parfait is a frozen mousse-style dessert with whipped cream, honey-sweetened sabayon, and toasted sliced almonds. A French-inspired semifreddo that skips the ice cream machine.

Cider apple cake: a sheet cake layered with thin-sliced apples and a cinnamon-pecan-sugar streusel, built on a batter moistened with dry apple cider. Autumn on a plate.

Oatmeal orange cookies with rolled oats, cinnamon, and chopped orange pamelas (pomelo) mixed into brown sugar cookie dough. Chewy citrus-spiced drop cookies.

Mexican chocolate sauce made with unsweetened chocolate, Kahlua coffee liqueur, cream, butter, and corn syrup. Rich, pourable, and keeps in the fridge for up to three months.