Dessert Recipes

Chinese fried pecans soak whole pecan halves in boiling water, coat them in sugar, dry overnight, and fry to a crackling glazed shell. Restaurant-style sweet appetizer or party snack.

Buttermilk whoopie pies: pillowy chocolate cake cookies sandwiched around fluffy marshmallow buttercream. The classic New England diner dessert, soft, sweet, and snack-cake delicious.

Classic pecan sandies are tender shortbread-style butter cookies loaded with chopped pecans and dusted with powdered sugar. A 6-ingredient holiday favorite that melts on the tongue.

Traditional Italian fig cookies (cucidati) with a sweet filling of dried figs, raisins, walnuts, and cinnamon wrapped in a buttery dough. A classic holiday cookie from Italian-American bakeries.

Chewy date and nut bar cookies with a crisp edge, baked thin on a sheet pan and dusted with powdered sugar. Simple, old-fashioned, and only 6 ingredients.

Heirloom walnut icebox cookies with warm spice blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. Make-ahead slice-and-bake cookies that keep frozen for weeks until ready to bake.

Bran cookies with raisins, cinnamon, and sour milk for a hearty, old-fashioned drop cookie with fiber and a soft, cake-like texture. A wholesome cookie that tastes like a bran muffin in cookie form.

Gumdrop fruitcake with white raisins, chopped nuts, and colorful gumdrops in a spiced applesauce batter. A festive, kid-friendly alternative to traditional fruitcake.

Chewy oat chocolate chip cookies packed with rolled oats, semi-sweet chocolate, and chopped nuts. Bake 9 minutes for soft and chewy or 13 minutes for crisp edges. Also works as bars.

Crunchy peanut butter cookie bars topped with melted chocolate chips, more peanut butter, and crushed corn flakes. A no-fuss, kid-approved treat with a crispy chocolate topping.

Buttery cocoa crescent cookies loaded with ground pecans and rolled in powdered sugar. Melt-in-your-mouth tender with a deep chocolate twist on the classic Mexican wedding cookie. Makes about 3.5 dozen.

I found this recipe in a magazine and the lady was talking about making them with her two daughters, it was such a nice story, I thought I would try them and they are so yummy, I have made them over and over. They would be great to take camping or on a picnic or just eat them with a loved one, and if you have help making them what could be better.

Drunken apple-pumpkin pie blends pumpkin and applesauce in one custard, finished with a dramatic flame of warmed rum poured tableside. Topped with pecan halves and warm baking spices. A holiday showstopper for Thanksgiving and Christmas tables.

These cookies are soft-cake like because of the pumpkin and applesauce. Dried cranberries and chocolate chips give the cookies additional deliciousness.

Apple Danish bars layer cinnamon-spiced sliced apples between two flaky pastry sheets in a sheet pan, then drizzle with almond glaze. A sliceable Scandinavian-style coffee cake bar.

No-cholesterol chocolate cake gets its tender crumb from a surprising swap: cholesterol-free mayonnaise stands in for eggs and butter. One bowl, no creaming, deep cocoa flavor with a moist tight crumb.