Dessert Recipes

Vienna crescents are flaky yeast-leavened butter cookies filled with sweet pecan meringue and shaped into delicate crescents. A traditional Christmas cookie from Austrian and Hungarian baking.

Zimtsterne are German cinnamon star cookies: a chewy ground-almond and cinnamon dough crowned with a crisp white meringue glaze. Naturally gluten-free and a staple of the German Christmas cookie tin.

Filled lemon cookies sandwich thin, buttery shortbread rounds with a bright lemon filling. Slice-and-bake icebox dough with a tea party finish dusted in powdered sugar.

Frosted cashew cookies use Bisquick, brown sugar, and sour cream with salted cashews, topped with a browned butter frosting. A soft, cakey drop cookie with nutty crunch.

Gingerbread cut-out cookies with molasses, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves, plus a homemade egg white decorating frosting. A classic holiday cookie for decorating with kids.

Greek kourabiedes wedding shortbread, buttery powdered-sugar cookies scented with brandy or ouzo and topped with a single clove. A snowy holiday and wedding classic that melts in the mouth.

Hazelnut butter balls: tender, melt-in-your-mouth cookies loaded with chopped toasted hazelnuts, rolled in powdered sugar while warm. A buttery, nutty riff on the classic snowball cookie that disappears off any holiday tray.

Hazelnut succes cake: two crisp hazelnut-meringue discs sandwiched with silky praline buttercream, crusted with crushed praline. A classic French patisserie showstopper.

Artichoke heart spice cake: a moist bundt cake with pureed artichoke hearts (think zucchini cake's sneaky cousin) plus cinnamon, clove, walnuts, and raisins. The artichokes disappear, the moisture stays.

Honey almond tartlets with a flaky sour cream pastry shell, cream cheese and honey filling, toasted almonds, and fresh strawberries on top. An elegant make-ahead dessert.

Kiss cookies tuck a whole chocolate kiss inside a buttery walnut shortbread, baked until just set and rolled in powdered sugar. Crack one open and the melty chocolate middle is the payoff. An easy holiday cookie that keeps for days.

London strips: layered cookie bars with a buttery shortbread base, strawberry jam filling, and a bourbon-walnut meringue topping dusted with powdered sugar.

Maple glazed pumpkin ring cake with brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, and real maple syrup in both the batter and the sour cream glaze.

Buttery pecan snowball cookies rolled in powdered sugar. No eggs, no leavening, just six ingredients for a crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread-style cookie.

Melting moments cookies made with just 4 ingredients: flour, cornstarch, powdered sugar, and margarine. Baked low and slow, they crumble and dissolve on your tongue.

Melting moments cookies sandwich tender coconut shortbreads with orange buttercream and dip half in chocolate. Buttery, citrusy, and chocolate-finished sandwich cookies for tea or holiday plates.