Dessert Recipes

Best candy apple pie: a classic cinnamon-spiced double-crust apple pie crowned with a bubbling brown sugar, cream, and pecan caramel poured right over the top. Apple pie meets pecan praline.

A rich, moist double-chocolate layer cake with sour cream, cocoa powder, and a full bag of chocolate chips folded into the batter. Dom DeLuise's famous recipe that lives up to its outrageous name.

Deep pot apple pie with butterscotch chip sauce and cinnamon brown sugar pastry strips layered over cooked apples. A rustic, scoopable apple dessert served in bowls.

Kolaches (kolacky) made with a tender cottage cheese and butter dough, filled with pineapple or apricot filling, and dusted with powdered sugar. A Czech pastry classic.

Spicy banana cake baked in a tube pan with cinnamon, cloves, raisins, and pecans. A warmly spiced, dense crumb that turns overripe bananas into something worth slicing thick.

Polvorones: traditional Mexican pecan cookies made with butter and lard, spiced with cinnamon and anise seed. Sandy, crumbly, and sugar-coated.

Cherry and almond Christmas cake: maraschino cherries, apricots, ginger, and almonds macerated in amaretto and brandy, baked into a lighter apple-puree batter, then soaked in more amaretto. A boozy, fruit-packed festive cake that keeps for a month.

Chocolate cookies with a secret ingredient: fresh chopped mushrooms that keep them incredibly moist for days. Brown sugar, sour cream, unsweetened chocolate, and macaroon crumbs in every bite.

President Roosevelt's birthday cake bakes a deep mocha chocolate cake spiked with cold black coffee and a splash of vinegar for a tender, old-fashioned crumb. A historical White House recipe.

German apple torte (apfeltorte): a butterless single-layer cake with diced apples and walnuts, golden and crunchy on top. Eight ingredients, 60 minutes, serves six.

Light-as-air sourdough chiffon cake with a subtle tang from sourdough starter, brightened by lemon juice and vanilla. Baked in a tube pan for sky-high lift and a cloud-soft crumb.

Quick Hawaiian cream pie with vanilla pudding folded into whipped cream, crushed pineapple, mashed banana, and a topping of toasted coconut and pecans in a flaky baked crust.

Classic M&M cookies with a buttery brown sugar dough, optional chopped nuts, and a generous 18 ounces of candy-coated chocolates. Soft, chewy, and colorful right out of the oven.

Mincemeat bars with a chewy oat-molasses crust and condensed mincemeat filling. Old-fashioned holiday baking with a crumble topping, dusted with powdered sugar.

A custard-style rhubarb pie with evaporated milk, cinnamon, and cloves poured over fresh rhubarb in a single crust. Tart, creamy, and warmly spiced. A springtime classic.

Fudge sweetarts are miniature tarts with buttery pastry shells filled with rich semi-sweet chocolate fudge and topped with a pecan half. Bite-sized, elegant, and irresistible.