Dessert Recipes

Hand print sugar cookies traced from paper cutouts of each family member's hand. Refrigerated dough shortcut, decorated with icings and candies. Memory-keeper recipe.

Crisp biscotti soaked in flavored simple syrup until soft, then topped with fresh whipped cream and fruit. A quick Italian-inspired dessert with endless variations.

Low-fat cheesecake made with overnight-strained yogurt and blended cottage cheese instead of cream cheese. Dense, silky, and tangy on a graham cracker crust with no cream cheese at all.

Easy cranberry apple pie with a bright, tart-sweet filling of fresh cranberries and apples, simmered with orange juice and warm spice until glossy. A festive holiday pie that slices clean.

Grilled fruit kabobs brushed with maple syrup, brown sugar, cinnamon, bitters, and red pepper flakes. Sweet, smoky, and spicy summer dessert ready in 30 minutes.

Mock apple pie made with soda crackers instead of real apples, using cream of tartar, cinnamon, and nutmeg to mimic apple flavor. A Depression-era classic that fools almost everyone.

Summer grape parfait: a two-ingredient five-minute dessert with seedless grapes and lemon yogurt layered in tall glasses for a refreshing fat-free finish.

Fresh apricot sundae with dark brown sugar, orange zest, and vanilla or raspberry frozen yogurt. A no-cook summer dessert ready in 5 minutes at just 58 calories.

Chocolate angel food cake hollowed out and filled with orange sherbet. A frozen dessert that pairs airy cocoa sponge with tangy citrus ice. Fat-free cake, too.

Caramel snappers made with toasted pecan halves, melted vanilla caramels, and a semi-sweet chocolate top. A three-ingredient candy that looks like it came from a gourmet chocolate shop.

Canned green tomato pie filling with Granny Smith apples, dark and white raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. A boiling-water canner recipe for preserving the fall harvest.

Cocoa meringue cake: two crisp cocoa-free meringue disks sandwiched with a mocha-chocolate filling and served in a pool of bright raspberry sauce. An elegant, low-fat dessert showpiece.

A low-sugar blueberry spread set with gelatin instead of pectin, brightened with ginger and lemon zest. No canning required. Keeps a month in the fridge or a year in the freezer.

Strawberries Italian style macerate ripe berries with sugar, lemon, orange juice, port, and white wine. Boozy fragole al vino dessert that needs nothing more than a chilled glass.

Rosehip, Hibiscus & Currant Pie or Cake Filling recipe

Frozen peach dessert with fresh peaches, orange juice, lemon juice, and apricot brandy. An Italian-inspired boozy frozen treat served with a float of brandy on top.