Dessert, Mexican Recipes

Cayenne and chocolate make a nice combo in this cookie from Paula Tuchscherer-Jones of Milwaukee; they would provide an interesting complement when plated with more traditional cookies.

Mexican Yuletide cookies (polvorones) with butter, oatmeal, and pecans rolled in powdered sugar while warm. A crumbly, nutty holiday cookie that makes 6.5 dozen from one batch.

Flourless chocolate cake with bittersweet chocolate, ten eggs, butter, and orange liqueur. Dense, fudgy, and gluten-free with a brittle, crackly top.

Baked pumpkin empanadas with a brandy-laced pastry dough and spiced pumpkin-brown sugar filling, finished with cinnamon sugar. A Mexican-Californian fall dessert pastry.

Decadent chocolate cake spiked with jalapeños and Kahlua creates a molten-centered Mexican dessert with subtle heat and deep mocha flavor for adventurous bakers.

Flourless chocolate cake made with 9 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate, 7 eggs, and butter. Dense, fudgy, and naturally gluten-free with just 5 ingredients.

Fairy cookies made with both powdered and granulated sugar, margarine, and oil for a melt-in-your-mouth texture. A big batch sugar cookie recipe that bakes up light, tender, and crisp.

No-bake, 3-layer, chocolate covered bars. Nanaimo bars are a traditional Canadian dessert, though nobody is certain where the tradition came from.

Traditional New Mexican biscochitos with anise seed and cinnamon-sugar topping. These shortening-based cookies are crisp, fragrant, and cut into festive shapes.

This is a traditional Canadian sweet, much loved and admired. The origin of the recipe seems to be lost in the mists of time, though everyone seems to agree that it comes from the town of Nanaimo, in British Columbia.

Buttery, melt-on-your-tongue Mexican wedding cookies rolled in powdered sugar with crunchy pecans and vanilla. Only 6 ingredients and 30 minutes from bowl to cookie tray.

Silky Mexican flan baked in homemade caramel with cinnamon-infused milk, whole eggs, and extra yolks for richness. A traditional custard dessert that's slow-baked in a water bath until set like velvet.

Classic roll-and-cut butter cookies with brown sugar, vanilla, and just 7 ingredients. A versatile dough for cutout shapes, including a pink candy cane twist variation.

Cream cheese cookies with lemon zest, tender and buttery with a subtle tang from the cream cheese. A versatile roll-and-cut dough with just six ingredients. No eggs needed.

Simple butter cookies that earned honorable mention: just butter, sugar, flour, and vanilla rolled in sugar and stamped flat, no chilling or cutting required for crisp golden edges.

Fudgy chocolate cookie bonbons wrapped around Hershey's kisses (or caramel, Reese's, peanut butter, or mint centers) and drizzled with white chocolate. A classic Pillsbury bake-off cookie with surprise centers.