Dessert Recipes

Elegant French-style bread pudding layered with dark sweet cherries, baked in a rich egg custard, and topped with silky homemade vanilla sauce. A show-stopping dessert from simple ingredients.

Tiny heart-shaped chocolate cakes for two, made without eggs or butter. Cut from a simple cocoa sheet cake using a cookie cutter, then stacked and frosted for Valentine's Day.

Buttery, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread bites with dried blueberries and orange zest, pressed into mini muffin tins. Food processor simple and done in 25 minutes flat.

Grilled polenta cake with orange blossom yogurt, fresh strawberries, and pistachios. A sophisticated Middle Eastern-inspired dessert built from pantry staples and summer fruit.

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.

Nutter Butter chocolate-peanut butter pie packs a crushed peanut butter sandwich cookie crust under a frozen mousse of whipped cream, peanut butter, and toasted peanuts, swirled with melted semi-sweet chocolate.

Old-fashioned sugar cookies made with butter and oil for a tender, melt-in-your-mouth crumb. Rolled in sugar and pressed flat, these bake up with soft centers and lightly crisp edges. Makes 3 dozen.

Savannah ice cream cake stacks coconut cake layers with strawberry, chocolate, and orange ice creams, finished with whipped cream and chocolate glaze. A Southern showpiece dessert for special occasions.

Chocolate and strawberry stuffed French toast: whole-wheat sandwiches filled with ricotta, fresh berries, and chocolate chips, griddled until golden. A lighter twist on weekend brunch indulgence.

Simple 3-ingredient breakfast parfait with cottage cheese or yogurt, fresh fruit, and wheat germ. A 5-minute high-protein breakfast or snack for busy mornings.

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.

Phyllo fruit nests are an oil-free, low-fat dessert: torn phyllo sheets baked into crisp golden cups, then filled with poached pears or apples and a drizzle of fragrant syrup.

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.

Homemade chocolate sauce with semi-sweet chocolate, butter, sugar, and a splash of vanilla. Glossy, pourable, and shelf-stable for 6 months in the fridge. The make-ahead dessert sauce that beats every jarred version.

Cherry pudding cake with a spoonable cinnamon batter studded with canned cherries and chopped nuts, served with a hot almond-cherry sauce poured over warm portions.

Crispy puff pastry sticks glazed with orange sugar and drizzled with melted chocolate. Makes 60 elegant little matchsticks with just 6 ingredients.