Dessert recipe collection

Chocolate cupcakes with a hidden cream cheese and chocolate chip filling baked right inside. An old-fashioned cocoa batter with vinegar for extra tenderness, topped with crunchy pecans.

Surprise carrot cake baked in a Bundt pan with a hidden cream cheese filling layered inside the spiced batter. Cut a slice and find a tangy, creamy ribbon running through the center of the cake.

Surprise devil's food cake with hidden beets: a deeply rich, moist chocolate cake with cocoa, buttermilk, and grated beets stirred in for extra tenderness. Kids will never guess.

Susan's apple cake is a one-bowl dump-and-bake with three whole apples, toasted walnuts, and a full tablespoon of cinnamon. The kind of homey loaf that improves the second day.

Sweet potato pecan pie with brown sugar, dark corn syrup, warm spices, and a praline liqueur whipped cream topping. Two Southern classics merged into one rich, custard-set slice.

Chocolate-spice crinkle cookies rolled in sugar with cocoa, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cloves. Chewy, fragrant, and lower-fat thanks to a yogurt swap for most of the butter.

Chocolate sweetheart sandwich cookies with cocoa dough puffed and crackled, filled with vanilla buttercream. Homemade Oreo-style cookies with a rich, creamy center.

Taffy apple pie loaded with Heath toffee bits, sliced apples, and a crunchy oat-walnut streusel topping. Decorative pastry leaf cutouts ring the edge for a showstopper finish.

Giant oatmeal chocolate chip cookies loaded with a full 24 ounces of chips, grated Hershey bar, and optional nuts. A massive batch recipe rolled golf ball-sized for thick, chewy cookies.

Old-fashioned Southern tea cakes made with buttermilk, vanilla, and self-rising flour. Soft, lightly sweet rolled cookies that taste like Grandma's kitchen. A big-batch heritage recipe.

Tea timers, dainty triangle-cut sour cream cookies rolled in graham cracker crumbs and flecked with orange and pecans. Crisp, lightly sweet little wedges built for an afternoon teacup.

Terry's turtle cake layers chocolate cake with melted caramel, chocolate chips, and pecans, then tops with more batter for a gooey caramel center. A church potluck classic on a doctored cake mix base.

Soft pumpkin cookies with tofu replacing eggs, spiced with nutmeg and allspice, loaded with raisins and walnuts. An egg-free drop cookie that yields 7 dozen.

Giant Texas-sized cookies loaded with oats, cereal, chocolate chips, coconut, and pecans. Scooped with an ice cream scoop for massive, chewy, everything-in-it cookies.

Classic peanut butter cookies with the signature fork crisscross top, made with butter, equal parts brown and granulated sugar, and a full cup of peanut butter. Yields five dozen and freezes well.

The original baked whole pumpkin pie, custard filling baked right inside a hollowed pumpkin. A heritage colonial technique that turns the shell into both vessel and dessert.