Dessert Recipes

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.

Kahlua chocolate nut squares pack coffee liqueur into a brown sugar bar studded with semi-sweet chocolate and walnuts, then crowned with browned butter Kahlua icing for a grown-up bake sale showstopper.

Freeze-ahead oatmeal cookie dough made with vegetable shortening, ready to slice and bake whenever cravings strike for chewy raisin nut cookies.

Pineapple upside-down cupcakes with a brown sugar-cinnamon topping, crushed pineapple, and maraschino cherry centers. Light cake flour batter with whipped egg whites for extra lift.

A creamy tofu-based cheesecake loaded with almond flavor from almond meal, almond extract, and a crown of slivered almonds on a graham cracker crust. Blend, pour, bake. No dairy, no eggs, no stress.

A traditional European-style fruit cake -- Although fruitcakes have a bad reputation, this one is *excellent*.

Moist and chocolaty cake, a decedent dessert to enjoy at any occasion.

Rhubarb pie sweetened with light brown sugar instead of white, with thin lemon slices layered between the rhubarb for bright citrus contrast. A lattice-topped pie that's tart, caramelly, and old-fashioned.

Apple cheddar wontons deep fried until golden and coated in cinnamon brown sugar. Sharp cheddar melts into sweet apple inside a crispy wonton shell for an addictive snack.

Fruit puffed cookies made with angel food cake mix, dried fruit, and pecans. Just 4 ingredients for light, airy cookies that puff up golden in under 10 minutes.

Kentucky bourbon pecan cake with maraschino cherries, mace, and a pound of butter. Wrapped in bourbon-soaked cheesecloth and aged for up to a month for a rich, boozy fruitcake.

Kentucky bourbon brown sugar pound cake: a tender bundt-style pound cake spiked with real bourbon and sweetened with dark brown sugar for a caramel-deep, slightly boozy Southern classic.

Reese's peanut butter cake stacks two peanut-butter-and-brown-sugar layers with a cream cheese peanut butter filling and a warm pour-over chocolate glaze. The candy bar in cake form.

Buttery drop cookies loaded with oats, vanilla milk chips, flaked coconut, and macadamia nuts. Sour cream keeps them soft and chewy. Makes 5 dozen for the holiday cookie swap.

Mint Surprise Cookies hide a melty chocolate mint wafer inside soft brown-sugar dough, each one crowned with a toasted walnut. Chill the dough so it seals the surprise neatly before baking.

This classic New York-style cheesecake starts with a ready-made graham cracker crust for simplicity, then bakes rich cream cheese filling topped with sweetened sour cream. The two-temperature baking creates creamy texture without cracks.