Dessert Recipes

Two-ingredient Grape-Nuts pie crust made with just cereal and orange juice. No baking, no butter. Press into a pan and freeze for a crunchy, low-fat base.

A glossy cherry rum sauce made with dark sweet cherries, rum extract, and a squeeze of lemon. Ready in 20 minutes, it's the finishing touch for ice cream, cheesecake, or crepes.

Angel food cake is the guilt-free dessert for most of us, it's light and delicious on its own, or serve it with your favorite fruit compote.

Barley and cranberry dessert cooked in cranberry juice with raisins, cinnamon, lemon zest, and honey. A naturally sweet, whole grain treat served warm or cold with almost no fat.

Rhubarb pie sweetened with light brown sugar instead of white, with thin lemon slices layered between the rhubarb for bright citrus contrast. A lattice-topped pie that's tart, caramelly, and old-fashioned.

A foolproof 4-ingredient pie crust made with flour, salt, shortening, and ice water. Step-by-step instructions walk you through cutting, rolling, fluting, and blind baking like a pro.

Three layers of genoise sponge brushed with espresso-rum syrup, filled and frosted with silky mascarpone cream, dusted with cocoa, and wrapped in chocolate shavings.

Low-calorie banana brownies made fat-free with mashed banana, cocoa powder, egg whites, and buttermilk. A guilt-free chocolate fix that skips butter and yolks entirely.

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.

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.

Pineapple butterscotch cake doctored from pound cake mix and instant butterscotch pudding, topped with crushed pineapple and butterscotch chips. The shortcut potluck cake that always disappears.

Homemade pepper jelly with sweet bell peppers, banana peppers, and apple cider vinegar. Colorful marmalade-style slices suspended in a sweet, tangy jelly.

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

Pretty pink jelly combining apple juice and fresh crushed strawberries with liquid pectin. Boils for just 1 minute. Seal with paraffin wax for shelf-stable preserves. Makes 3.5 cups.

Chewy banana oat bars with cinnamon and raisins, made with no butter, no oil, and egg whites only. A wholesome grab-and-go snack or breakfast bar that cuts into 24 squares.

A light, airy cherry souffle made with just pureed sour cherries, egg whites, lemon juice, and sugar. Only five ingredients stand between you and French pastry glory.