Dessert Recipes

Jumbles are old-fashioned filled sandwich cookies, two rolled rounds enclosing a smear of grape jelly with three peek-a-boo windows cut into the top. Vintage pantry treat.

Kolachkes are Polish-American cream cheese cookies: a tender butter-and-cream-cheese dough wrapped around fruit jam, walnut, or sweet cheese filling. Rolled in powdered sugar instead of flour.

Mexican chocolate wedding cakes rolled in powdered sugar with unsweetened chocolate, brown sugar, butter, and chopped nuts. A rich, crumbly chocolate twist on the classic polvorones cookie.

Raspberry cream pie with a toasted pecan-cinnamon crust and a light, gelatin-set raspberry filling folded into whipped cream. Grain-free and easy to lighten on sugar, it sets up cool and airy in the fridge.

Spritz dainties for the cookie press, made with brown sugar instead of white for a deeper butterscotch note. Buttery shaped cookies brushed with egg white wash and decorated for the holidays.

No-oil spice cake using a box cake mix with applesauce replacing the oil and cinnamon for warm spice. A 5-ingredient, lower-fat cake hack that stays moist.

Nondairy chocolate rum mousse melts chocolate chips with water and rum, then folds in beaten egg whites for an airy four-ingredient dairy-free dessert. Keeps a week in the fridge.

Vegan orange chocolate mousse made with silken tofu, cocoa powder, brown rice syrup, and orange zest. A dairy-free, egg-free dessert with a rich, creamy texture from blended tofu.

Classic single 9-inch pie crust with shortening or lard. The reliable American home-baking standard, easy to roll and ready for any sweet or savory filling you have planned.

Peanut butter fudge marble cake made from a cake mix with melted peanut butter chips swirled through chocolate batter. A semi-homemade layer cake that combines two favorite flavors.

Pecan praline cookie pizza with a buttery brown sugar shortbread crust, sour cream topping, and toasted pecans. A festive dessert that slices into wedges like a pie.

All-purpose pie pastry combining vegetable shortening and butter for the best of both fats: shortening for tenderness, butter for flavor. Makes enough for two double-crust pies.

Polynesian bombe is a three-layer frozen dessert of mango, raspberry, and lime ices molded into a showstopper dome. Make-ahead tropical finale with zero baking.

Raspberry pecan thumbprint cookies spiced with cinnamon and allspice, filled with seedless raspberry jam and topped with chopped pecans. Better the next day.

This is excellent served as a spread over fresh French bread or roasted potatoes.

Santa Claus cookies decorate flat sugar cookies with red sugar caps, miniature marshmallow tassels, currant eyes, cinnamon candy noses, and coconut beards. A festive holiday craft cookie kids can help build from baked rounds.