Dessert Recipes

Chocolate mint meltaways are buttery shortbread cookies enriched with melted mint chocolate chips, drizzled with a mint chocolate glaze and topped with toasted almonds. A no-leavener Christmas cookie that melts on contact.

Pineapple upside-down cake with a butterscotch brown sugar base, pineapple rings, and maraschino cherries baked in a round pan. Served warm with whipped cream.

Hillary Clinton's chocolate chip oatmeal cookies made with shortening for extra chewiness. Rolled oats and semi-sweet chips in a crispy-edged, soft-centered classic from the 1992 cookie contest.

Sour cream sugar cakes, soft tender drop cookies made with sour cream and half butter, half shortening. Lightly sugared tops, cake-like crumb, a forgotten heartland classic.

Soft molasses sugar cookies with cinnamon, cloves, and ginger, rolled in sugar with a thumbprint filled with extra crunch. Crisp edges, chewy centers, warm holiday spice.

Cinnamon snack cake with apple cider sauce: a sour cream coffee cake with crumb topping, served warm with vanilla ice cream and warm cider sauce. The fall dessert that smells like Sunday afternoon.

Pastry for Double-Crust Pie & Single-Crust Pie recipe

Dense apricot bars sweetened with maple syrup and loaded with dried apricots, walnuts, and cashews. No eggs, no butter, finished with powdered sugar icing and optional chocolate drizzle.

Pistachio-almond biscotti drizzled with dark chocolate: crunchy, twice-baked Italian cookies packed with two kinds of nuts. Coffee's best friend and a gift-tin classic.

Christmas tree cake cut from a 13x9 sheet cake into a tree shape, frosted green and decorated with peppermint candies, pretzel rod trunk, and a gumdrop star. Festive holiday show-stopper from one boxed mix.

Red Velvet Cocoa Cake made with buttermilk, cocoa powder, and vinegar for a tender, tangy crumb with that classic crimson color. A Southern layer cake staple.

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.

Patriotic Fourth of July chocolate sheet cake decorated as an American flag with vanilla and blue frosting and fresh strawberry stripes. A buttermilk-rich chocolate cake the kids can help decorate.

A slow cooker johnny cake loaded with shredded carrots and crushed pineapple. Made with cornmeal, buttermilk, and baking soda for a moist, tender crumb. No oven required.

Old-fashioned sour cream cookies with raisins, nuts, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Soft, cake-like drop cookies made with brown sugar and cake flour for an extra tender crumb.

Diabetic-friendly orange cookies sweetened with sugar substitute and raisins instead of sugar. Bright with orange juice and zest, studded with raisins, and ready in 35 minutes.