Dessert Recipes

Meringue trifle layered with homemade meringue pieces, orange liqueur whipped cream, sliced bananas, and drizzled melted chocolate. A crunchy, creamy, no-cake trifle that's all texture.

Frosted peanut butter cake squares bake a tender peanut butter cake under chocolate-peanut butter frosting and chopped peanut butter cups. Bakery-style chocolate-and-PB nostalgia.

Festive raisin tarts with a brown sugar, walnut, and orange juice filling in mini pastry shells. Bite-sized holiday treats similar to butter tarts, topped with whipped cream.

A layered pineapple coconut poke-style cake starting with a box mix, topped with coconut milk cream cheese pudding, crushed pineapple, whipped topping, and shredded coconut. Potluck-ready and crowd-sized.

Italian layered sponge cake with rum, custard cream filling, coffee zabaglione buttercream, walnuts, and chocolate-dipped almonds. An elegant multi-component dessert.

Key lime coconut cookies made with condensed milk, shredded coconut, and key lime juice. Tangy, chewy, and tropical with just five ingredients and no butter or eggs.

Maple syrup oatmeal cookies use real maple syrup as the only sweetener (no white or brown sugar). Soft, chewy, and naturally sweetened with two dozen cookies in 35 minutes.

Prune Armagnac gingerbread is a deeply spiced holiday cake loaded with brandy-soaked prunes, three forms of ginger, molasses, and a coffee kick. Served with crème fraîche.

German cherry dessert Meersburg layers kirsch-soaked tart cherries over ladyfingers, then crowns with almond cream cheese mousse. A no-bake riff on Black Forest flavors.

Rolled molasses cookies spiced with cinnamon and ginger, cut into shapes and baked until firm. A classic roll-and-cut cookie with deep, dark molasses flavor and a crisp edge.

Cherry divinity is the pink church-cookbook candy: hard-ball sugar syrup whipped into beaten egg whites with cherry Jello, then loaded with chopped nuts and coconut. Old-fashioned, fluffy, festive.

Almond torte made in the food processor with almond paste, butter, and a generous lift of eggs. Dense, marzipan-rich, and ideal with coffee. The processor method takes the work out of beating.

Bizcochitos are the official state cookie of New Mexico: lard-based shortbread perfumed with anise and sweet wine, dusted in cinnamon sugar, and baked into delicate flaky rounds. The traditional Christmas and wedding cookie of the Southwest.

Peach dessert cake with fresh peaches baked into a lemon-scented batter, topped with cinnamon sugar and chopped nuts. Serve warm with whipped cream for a summer treat.

Apple pie topped with halved marshmallows that brown into golden, gooey peaks under a slow second bake. Tart apples, just sugar and nutmeg, no top crust. The midcentury trick that turns weeknight apple pie into something special.

Farfallette Dolci are Italian bow-tie fried pastries flavored with orange and almond, tied into loose knots and dusted with powdered sugar. A traditional Italian Carnevale sweet with a crisp, delicate shatter.