Dessert Recipes

These rich chocolate-toffee bars from Mary Lueke of Menasha were our top pick in the bar category.

Pecan pudding baked in a custard cup in the microwave: dark corn syrup, egg, and chopped pecans in a buttered cup, dusted with powdered sugar. Pecan pie filling in individual pudding form.

Cindy Schweitzer of Muskego offered this cherry twist on melt-in-your-mouth finger cookies.

Sugarplum cookies with dried or candied fruit hidden inside each ball of vanilla sugar cookie dough. Topped with creamy frosting and colored sugar for Christmas cookie trays.

Try something new for dinner with this side dish made with corn flour, kataifi and a pinch of cinnamon.

This moist apple cake is absolutely delicious. Raspberry jam, fresh apples and lemon juice make the cake taste refreshing and fruity, the almond-sour cream topping adds nuttiness and tanginess, and the lemon glaze gives the cake extra citrus and sweetness.

Jan's 1940s apple pie heaped with McIntosh and Cortland apples, finished with a quick water-rinse trick on the top crust that produces an exceptionally flaky finish.

Egg-free chocolate cake layered with a ganache filling loaded with sliced Snickers bars, then frosted in glossy chocolate and crowned with chopped peanuts. If you've ever wanted to hide a candy bar inside a cake, this is your blueprint.

Peanut butter puffs made with phyllo dough folded into crispy triangles around a sweet peanut butter filling, then drizzled with melted chocolate and chopped pecans.

Chewy chocolate cookies made with cocoa powder, corn syrup, and egg whites for a fat-free treat that's soft, fudgy, and guilt-free.

Friendship cake brandied starter ferments pineapple, cherries, and peaches with sugar and brandy over 6 weeks. A slow-building fruit base you share and pass along.

A cookies and cream layer cake made with white cake mix and crushed Oreos folded right into the batter. Easy enough for beginners, impressive enough for birthdays.

Classic double-crust apple pie with cinnamon, nutmeg, and fresh lemon juice in a buttery pate brisee shell. Three pounds of Northern Spy or McIntosh apples baked golden and bubbling.

Light, tender white cake with a fine crumb made from sifted cake flour and whipped egg whites. Works as a layer cake or cupcakes and pairs with any frosting.

A decadent chocolate chocolate chip pound cake is made with chocolate morsels and German sweet chocolate. Buttery, chocolaty and super moist.

Oatmeal apple cake with three cups of oats, chopped apples, brown and white sugar, cinnamon, and nuts. A dense, hearty cake that's more oat than flour with chunks of apple throughout.