Dessert Recipes

Chocolate peanut butter crunch cake with melted chocolate-PB swirls streaked through a peanut butter crumb cake, topped with a crunchy streusel.

No-bake chocolate peanut butter oatmeal cookies with cocoa, sugar, and quick oats. One minute of boiling, no oven needed, and they set up on wax paper in minutes.

Mom's small-batch pecan pralines with brown sugar, Karo corn syrup, evaporated milk, and pecan halves. Cooked to soft-ball stage and dropped on wax paper for classic Southern candy.

Rough puff pastry is the home cook's shortcut to puff pastry, made by folding walnut-sized chunks of cold fat through a soft dough four to five times. Flaky enough for tart shells, vol-au-vents, and turnovers.

Four-layer maple walnut torte with a chocolate-coffee-toffee filling and whipped frosting. Vintage potluck cake that splits two layers into four for impressive presentation.

Strawberry angel food cake made from a box mix with strawberry soda and honey replacing the water, topped with a pink powdered sugar glaze. A semi-homemade cake with fruity flavor.

Chocolate chip cream cheese brownies layered with a sour cream chocolate batter, a sweetened cream cheese ribbon, and a top scattering of chips. Fudgy, tangy, three textures in every bite.

Zucchini Double Chocolate Cake: a 13x9 cake with cocoa batter, melted chocolate chips, chopped nuts, and two cups of shredded zucchini. Bakery-style alternating-addition method.

Green tomato and apple pie with golden raisins, orange zest, and warm spices in a double crust. A classic end-of-season Southern way to use up the last unripe tomatoes from the garden.

Frosted peanut butter cookies with a homemade peanut butter and powdered sugar frosting. Soft, chewy drop cookies loaded with double the peanut butter flavor.

Old-fashioned nut-free fruitcake with candied cherries, pineapple, grape jelly, and warm spices. Baked low and slow in three pans. Safe for nut allergies.

Peanut butter cheese pie with a hidden chocolate ganache layer at the bottom of a graham cracker crust, topped with marbled peanut butter cream cheese filling and real whipped cream swirls.

Fruity cereal squares made with Trix cereal, Jello, corn syrup, and butter. A colorful, no-bake treat with just 4 ingredients that sets in 30 minutes.

Chocolate thumbprint cookies rolled in powdered sugar with a rich chocolate ganache filling. Brown sugar shortbread base with chopped chocolate chips baked into the dough.

Passover-friendly rhubarb cobbler with raspberries and a matzo meal crumble topping. Tart, fruity, and bubbling with a golden, nutmeg-scented crust. No flour needed.

Upside-down apple tart with caramelized Golden Delicious apples on a flaky cake-flour crust, finished with a brown sugar yogurt drizzle. A lighter take on classic tarte Tatin.