Dessert Recipes

These delicious and melted in your mouth cookies don't last long.

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.

This old-fashioned yellow squash pie sneaks garden-fresh squash into a sweet custard filling with coconut and lemon. A Southern secret that turns summer squash into the most unexpected dessert your family will ever fight over.

A delicious,moist cake with a very unusual icing and a pleasant texture!

Grandma Rosenbrook's old-fashioned gingersnaps with molasses, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger, rolled in sugar before baking. A crispy-edged, chewy-centered heirloom cookie recipe.

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.

Classic four-ingredient flaky pie dough with shortening and ice water. Makes two 9-inch crusts for double-crust pies, lattice tops, or freezer-stash backup. The base every home baker needs.

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.

German apple torte (apfeltorte): a butterless single-layer cake with diced apples and walnuts, golden and crunchy on top. Eight ingredients, 60 minutes, serves six.

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

Christmas carrot pudding steams grated carrots and potatoes with breadcrumbs, raisins, suet and warm spices into a moist British holiday pudding served with brown sugar sauce.

Middle Eastern halvah cake made with tahini, semolina, and warm spices, soaked in a citrusy orange-lemon syrup. Dense, fragrant, and not overly sweet.

Homemade teething cookies with just three ingredients: eggs, sugar, and flour. Baked hard in a doughnut shape for little hands to grip and gnaw on safely.