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.

Low-fat apple bread pudding sweetened with maple syrup instead of refined sugar. Egg whites and skim milk keep it light while apples and raisins add natural sweetness. A guilt-free comfort dessert.

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.

Old-fashioned raisin pie with a spiced orange juice filling, dual citrus zest, cinnamon, and cloves under a lattice crust. A sweet, fruity heirloom pie that deserves a comeback.

Baked pumpkin empanadas with a brandy-laced pastry dough and spiced pumpkin-brown sugar filling, finished with cinnamon sugar. A Mexican-Californian fall dessert pastry.

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.

Maple apple spice cake with pure maple syrup, chopped apples, and cinnamon topped with cream cheese frosting. A moist, nutty fall cake baked in a 9-inch square pan.

Cinnabon copycat cinnamon rolls with soft pillowy dough, a buttery brown sugar-cinnamon filling, and cream cheese frosting that melts into every spiral. The classic mall bakery flavor at home.

Soft oatmeal cookies loaded with raisins and chopped nuts, warm with cinnamon and allspice. Old-school drop cookies with chewy centers and crisp golden edges.

Purple plum pie loads sliced fresh plums into a deep-dish crust under a cinnamon-spiced buttery crumb. A late-summer fruit pie with jammy tart filling and golden streusel topping.

Soft persimmon cookies spiced with nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves, loaded with walnuts and raisins. A nostalgic fall baking recipe that puts ripe persimmon pulp to its best use.

Christmas carrot pudding steams grated carrots and potatoes with breadcrumbs, raisins, suet and warm spices into a moist British holiday pudding served with brown sugar sauce.

Irish potato cake with mashed potatoes, melted chocolate, pecans, and raisins baked in a bundt pan. A spiced, dense cake where the potatoes keep every slice incredibly moist.