Dessert Recipes

Rich chocolate cake made with melted unsweetened chocolate, sour cream, brown sugar, and boiling water. Deeply fudgy, tender, and best served with whipped cream.

Potato crisps with sour cream and caviar are crispy mini potato pancakes topped with cool sour cream and salty salmon roe. An elegant 35-minute cocktail appetizer that looks restaurant-worthy.

Chocolate butter cookie dough adds melted unsweetened and semi-sweet chocolate to a master holiday butter cookie recipe. Roll, cut, and shape it into pinwheels, classic cut-outs, Linzer sandwiches, or sugar-coated crescents.

No-bake lemon cheesecake with Neufchatel cheese, gelatin, and a graham cracker crust. A lighter, sugar-free cheesecake that sets in the fridge in 2 hours.

Single-crust pie pastry made with lard and a touch of shortening for a flaky, old-fashioned 9-inch shell. The traditional fat blend bakeries used before all-butter pastry took over.

Juicy blueberry pie features a tangy cream cheese pastry holding two pints of berries thickened with cornstarch and blueberry fruit spread. Egg yolk glaze browns it to bakery shine.

Rainbow meringue torte: four crisp meringue discs layered with chocolate, mint chip, and strawberry ice cream, topped with whipped cream and toasted almonds. A make-ahead frozen showpiece dessert.

Apple nut cake built on applesauce and olive oil with overlapping apple slices and a toasted cinnamon-sugar nut topping. A dairy-free, butter-free autumn cake that bakes into something moist, rustic and crowd-ready.

Apricots in brandy, an 1831 American recipe: fresh apricots blanched in light syrup, bottled, and covered with equal parts syrup and French brandy. A heritage spirit-preserved fruit.

No-bake cherry cheesecake pie with fluffy cream cheese filling, sweetened condensed milk, and lemon juice in a graham cracker crust. Topped with cherry pie filling.

Bath cookies made with sea salt, baking soda, cornstarch, and essential oils. Fizzy, skin-softening bath treats shaped like cookies. NOT for eating, for bathing only.

Benne wafers with a savory twist: toasted sesame seeds, cayenne, chili, and celery salt baked into crisp little rounds. A Southern-inspired cocktail cracker with real kick.

Birds nests are thumbprint cookies rolled in egg white and crushed walnuts, then filled with a jewel of fruit jam. A classic holiday tea cookie that bakes in 10 minutes.

Trifle shaped into a boomerang and made with lemon ironwood syrup, and served with a side of fruit spice cream.

Strawberry brownie cake layered with reduced-fat fudge brownies, almond-spiked whipped topping, fresh strawberry halves, and chocolate drizzle. A no-fuss layered dessert built from a brownie mix.

Buttery spiced fig thumbprint cookies, tender brown-sugar dough rolled in a crunchy flax-sugar coating and filled with jammy fig preserves. Warm cinnamon and nutmeg make them a standout on the holiday cookie tray.