Dessert, Baked Good Recipes

Millionaire shortbread: classic three-layer Scottish bar with buttery shortbread base, chewy homemade caramel, and dark chocolate top. Made from scratch with sweetened condensed milk and corn syrup for the proper caramel pull.

Christmas ornament cookies are sturdy rolled sugar cookies cut into large bauble shapes and pierced with a hanging hole. Bake, decorate, and hang on the tree as edible ornaments or gift tags.

Mint pastry wafers made with a buttery cream dough sandwiched around chocolate mint wafers, dipped in sugar, and baked golden. A flaky, minty-chocolate sandwich cookie.

Lighter pumpkin chiffon pie set in a crackling honey-brushed phyllo crust. Gelatin-stabilized filling with whipped egg whites for a cloud-soft texture and far less fat than custard pie.

Dump cake with pie filling, crushed pineapple, yellow cake mix, and melted butter topped with coconut and nuts. A no-mix dessert where you literally dump everything into the pan and bake.

Buttery gold tube cake flavored with lemon extract and mace, topped with a from-scratch mocha butter frosting made with cocoa, coffee, and egg whites.

Classic almond biscotti are twice-baked Italian cookies made with whole-wheat and white flour, turbinado sugar, eggs, vanilla, and toasted almonds. Crisp, dunkable, and made for coffee.

Layered whole wheat crumb cake loaded with cinnamon-walnut streusel and finished with a powdered sugar drizzle. Wholesome enough for breakfast, sweet enough for dessert.

Spiced apple cake loaded with chopped dates, walnuts, and tart apples, made moist with cold coffee. Bake in a bundt or sheet pan and finish with caramel glaze.

Shortcut oatmeal cookies using yellow cake mix as the base, loaded with oats, raisins, chopped nuts, and cinnamon. Soft, chewy, and foolproof.

No-bake strawberry cheesecake with a graham cracker crust, cottage cheese filling blended smooth, and fresh strawberries on top. Set with gelatin and lightened with folded egg whites for an airy, mousse-like texture.

Amaretto cookies fold flaked coconut, chopped almonds, and amaretto liqueur into a stiff egg white meringue base. Crisp-outside, chewy-inside macaroon-style drops with a grown-up almond-liqueur backbone.

Australian melting moments biscuits: cornstarch-tender shortbread cookies sandwiched around vanilla buttercream icing. Makes 30 sandwich biscuits in 2 hours.

A vintage two-layer cake flavored with homemade burnt sugar syrup, folded with whipped egg whites for a light, tender crumb. An old-fashioned Southern classic that deserves a comeback.

Honey-almond rugelach are flaky cream cheese crescents rolled around honey-spiced almonds and dried cherries. A Jewish bakery classic with a sweet golden bite.

Old-fashioned raisin pie with brown sugar, walnuts, and a hit of orange drink mix in the filling. The double-crust country dessert often called funeral pie for its long shelf life.