Dessert, Baked Good Recipes

Mocha chocolate cheesecake blends instant coffee and melted semi-sweet chocolate into a dense, ultra-creamy cream cheese filling on a graham crust. NY-style two-temperature bake.

Frosted applesauce cookies with molasses, bran flakes, raisins, and a boiled caramel frosting. Soft, spiced drop cookies with warm allspice and clove flavors topped with buttery brown sugar icing.

Griddle cheesecakes made with pureed cottage cheese, cooked like pancakes and served with a fresh cranberry-orange sauce. A light, tangy twist on traditional cheesecake.

This is a rich, interesting cookie, made with nuts, raisins, cinnamon, and jam rolled into a tender cream-cheese pastry.

Jewel cookies (thumbprint cookies) rolled in chopped pecans, baked with a center depression, and filled with jelly or a maraschino cherry. A vintage Christmas cookie tin staple.

Ruth's sugar cookies are tender drop cookies made with shortening and dipped warm into granulated sugar for a crackly, sparkling top. A simple recipe that makes three dozen in 30 minutes.

Soft, cake-like carrot cookies with pureed carrots, golden raisins, orange zest, and cinnamon. Tender drop cookies that taste like miniature carrot cake bites. Comes together in 30 minutes flat.

Flaky pie pastry using both shortening and butter for the best of both worlds. Stand mixer method cuts fat into flour in 30 seconds. Makes two crusts.

Two tender white cake layers filled with strawberry buttercream and brushed with melted strawberry jelly, then frosted in billowy whipped cream. A show-stopping spring celebration cake that serves 24.

A marbled angel food cake with swirled white and lemon-yellow batters, topped with a tangy lemon glaze. Light as air and gorgeous for spring.

Double death by chocolate bundt cake built from a chocolate cake mix doctored with chocolate pudding, sour cream, and a full bag of chocolate chips. A no-fail rich chocolate bundt for parties and potlucks.

Lemon cranberry pie layers ruby cranberry sauce under a creamy lemon icebox custard. A two-layer holiday pie with sweet-tart fireworks in every slice.

Maple-apple oatmeal cookies with real maple syrup, fresh apples, applesauce, currants, and a crunchy oat-brown sugar topping. Soft, cakey fall cookies baked low and slow.

Double peanut butter cake with creamy PB baked into the batter and chunky peanut butter frosting on top. A single-layer sheet cake built for peanut butter lovers.

Lemon icebox cookies made with fresh lemon juice and zest, shaped into logs and chilled overnight before slicing and baking. A crisp, buttery slice-and-bake cookie with bright citrus flavor.

Hawaiian macadamia coconut squares: a chewy coconut-macadamia topping over a buttery brown-sugar-coffee shortbread crust. Tropical bar cookie that travels well and freezes beautifully.