Dessert Recipes

Deep-fried cranberry jelly fritters with a light, crispy batter. Canned cranberry jelly gets cut into strips, dredged, battered, and fried golden. A quirky, crowd-pleasing holiday snack.

Crazy cake mixed right in the baking pan with no eggs, no butter, and no milk. Cocoa, vinegar, and oil create a surprisingly moist chocolate cake from Depression-era ingenuity.

French-Italian almond crescent cookies rolled in pine nuts. Just four ingredients, naturally gluten-free, with a chewy-crisp texture from an overnight rest before baking.

Dairy-free fruitcake with stewed raisins, cinnamon, and nutmeg, made without eggs, butter, or milk. A dense, spiced raisin cake where the stewing liquid adds moisture and natural sweetness.

Double chocolate granita with cocoa, semi-sweet chocolate, and warm spices. Italian-style icy frozen dessert that scrapes into chocolate snowflakes.

Sugar-free white layer cake made with artificial sweetener, almond extract, and folded egg whites for a light, airy crumb. A diabetic-friendly two-layer cake that's ready to frost.

Molasses crinkle cookies bake into chewy spiced rounds with a sugary, crackled top, deeply scented with cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice. A lower-fat take using egg whites and soft margarine.

Mock apple pie made with crackers instead of apples, boiled in sugar syrup with cream of tartar. A Depression-era trick pie that tastes surprisingly like real apple pie without a single apple.

Free-form apple tart made with store-bought pie crust, thinly sliced Golden Delicious apples, cinnamon sugar, and a warm apricot jam glaze. Rustic, simple, and gorgeous.

This decadent snack made with milk chocolate and marshmallow cream is perfect for surprising relatives at the next Christmas dinner!

Fresh fruit ice is a light, low-fat frozen dessert made with orange juice, lemon, mashed banana, and strawberries or peaches. Gelatin and a rebeat give it a creamy, scoopable texture without a churn ice cream maker.

Frosted ginger cookies with deep molasses warmth, soft pillowy centers, and a sweet frosting finish. Classic drop-cookie method delivers tender bakery-style rounds every time.

Frozen cookie sandwiches with chocolate chip cookies, whipped topping, mini marshmallows, and peanut butter chips. Easy no-churn summer treat using refrigerated cookie dough.

Two-ingredient frozen fruit swirl made from pureed frozen bananas and mixed berries. A dairy-free, low-fat soft serve alternative with no added sugar.

Fruit ginger drop cookies made with gingerbread mix, candied fruit, and chopped nuts. A 4-ingredient holiday cookie ready in 25 minutes.

Baked fruit parcels with fresh apricots, apple, and pineapple wrapped in foil with fruit juice. A light, naturally sweet dessert with no added sugar.