10,005 dessert recipes

This co-winner in the filled-cookie category from Gerry Cofta of Milwaukee has a great, rich flavor in the filling.

Vienna crescents are flaky yeast-leavened butter cookies filled with sweet pecan meringue and shaped into delicate crescents. A traditional Christmas cookie from Austrian and Hungarian baking.

Soft orange poppy seed cookies made with cream cheese, fresh orange zest, and orange juice. Light, cakey, and bright with citrus in every bite.

Light orange sponge cake rolled with orange marmalade filling, dusted with confectioners sugar. No butter or oil, just eggs, cake flour, and orange zest.

Four-ingredient peanut butter shortbread with butter, sugar, peanut butter, and flour pressed into a pan and baked low and slow. Sandy, crumbly, and nutty with no mixer or rolling required.

Chocolate chip squares made in the microwave with oats, brown sugar, and chopped nuts. Chewy, no-oven-needed bars ready in under 30 minutes.

Old-school lard pie crust with egg, vinegar, and a touch of brown sugar. One batch yields four disks for double-crust pies. The flakiest crust comes from cold lard worked into the size of tiny peas.

Three-layer red velvet cake with buttermilk, cocoa, and vinegar topped with a cooked flour white icing. Old-fashioned Southern style with an ermine frosting that's not too sweet.

Oatmeal cookies with orange zest, walnuts, and yogurt for a lighter, citrusy twist. Chewy, nutty cookies with brown sugar and a hint of orange in every bite.

Kiss cookies tuck a whole chocolate kiss inside a buttery walnut shortbread, baked until just set and rolled in powdered sugar. Crack one open and the melty chocolate middle is the payoff. An easy holiday cookie that keeps for days.

Nut refrigerator cookies (icebox cookies) with brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and chopped nuts. Slice-and-bake dough that chills overnight and yields crisp, buttery cookies with caramel notes.

A flexible basic vanilla cake template using cake flour, sugar, baking powder, eggs, and your choice of mix-ins. The starting point for chocolate chip, fruit, or layer cakes.

Jalapeno chocolate cream cake with semi-sweet chocolate, Kahlua, ground almonds, and cinnamon. A rich, fudgy, intentionally underbaked cake with a slow jalapeno heat finish.

Santa Claus cookies are soft drop cookies with bright lemon zest, baked then frosted and decorated into jolly Santa faces. A Christmas cookie tray classic for kids.

Pumpkin cheesecake with graham cracker crust, spiced pumpkin custard filling, and a tangy sour cream topping. Holiday dessert with cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg, garnished with pecan halves on each slice.

Marbled brownies with a vanilla butter batter swirled with melted chocolate chips. Just 6 ingredients for a two-toned treat that's fudgy, buttery, and beautiful.