10,000 desert recipes

Annie's butter cookies: one buttery, rich dough that shapes into candy canes, pinwheels, spritzes, cutouts, or drop cookies. The Christmas-cookie foundation worth memorizing.

Three-layer apple torte: buttery shortbread crust, sweetened cream cheese filling, cinnamon-sugar apples, and slivered almonds. German-style baked in a springform.

Don't be deceived by the name. These brownies with a little added bonus of protein are great!

Almond fortune cookies are crisp homemade Chinese-American cookies with almond extract, hand-folded around paper fortunes while still warm. Bake one sheet at a time for fresh, customized messages.

Warm pear pudding cake with pecans, cinnamon, and cloves baked under a bubbling brown sugar caramel sauce. An old-fashioned comfort dessert best served hot with ice cream or whipped cream.

Lulen's grated apple pie shreds the apples instead of slicing for a custard-style filling bound with butter, egg, and cinnamon. Topped with pecans for crunch in a single-crust pie.

Chocolate and nut crumb cake built on a yellow cake base with a buttery cinnamon-chocolate-chip-nut crumble baked into the top. Semi-homemade dessert with bakery-style results.

French apple pie with a thick applesauce and honey filling topped with concentric rings of sliced Granny Smith apples and a glossy apricot glaze. An elegant, low-fat tart-style pie.

A no-bake chocolate mint cheesecake made with cream cheese, Vandermint liqueur, and chocolate pudding mix in a chocolate crumb crust. Five ingredients, zero oven time, all indulgence.

Semi-homemade chocolate cake with a gooey caramel, roasted peanut, and milk chocolate chip layer baked right into the center. Starts with a box mix and six ingredients. Tastes like a giant chocolate turtle bar in cake form.

Hummingbird cake stacks three layers of banana-pineapple-pecan cake under tangy cream cheese frosting. Southern church-supper royalty, no mixer required, just stir and pour. The crumb stays moist for days thanks to fruit and oil.

Fresh peach cobbler with four variations: classic Southern cobbler with batter underneath and hot syrupy peaches poured over top. Swap peaches for blueberries, strawberries, apples, or blackberries.

Low-fat lemon poppy seed bran pound cake with oat bran, non-fat lemon yogurt, and egg whites. The classic bright lemon-poppy flavor with a tender bundt crumb and a tangy lemon glaze.

Toffee squares with a buttery brown sugar shortbread base, melted chocolate on top, and chopped nuts. A sheet pan cookie bar that's rich, crunchy, and easy to make.

Maple macadamia biscotti made with real maple syrup, maple extract, applesauce, and chopped macadamia nuts. Twice-baked to a crisp, dry crunch for dunking in coffee.

No-bake cheesecake with cream cheese, sour cream, and whipped topping in a graham crust. Chills to silky firm in 4 hours. Easy summer dessert with no oven needed.