Dessert Recipes

They are absolutely the greatest cookies in the world. They are buttery, flakey and chocolaty. Delicious treats at Christmas or at any occasion.

Kaesekuchen, traditional German cheesecake: a light cottage cheese and sour cream filling with lemon, vanilla, and raisins, baked on a buttery shortcrust base and topped with almonds. Lighter than the American style.

Gluten-free cherry crisp with sour cherries, almond extract, and an oat-walnut crumble topping. Easy dessert, no flour required, ready in under an hour.

Kolacky cookies made with a tender cream cheese pastry dough filled with fruit spread, pinched into tri-cornered shapes, and baked golden. A Czech holiday cookie tradition.

Sherry glazed poppy seed cake, a doctored cake mix bundt with sour cream richness, crunchy poppy seeds, and a boozy buttered sherry syrup that soaks deep into every slice.

Microwave apple crisp with Granny Smith apples under a brown sugar oat topping with cinnamon and nutmeg. A warm, spiced dessert ready in just over 20 minutes, no oven needed.

Chewy oat crumble bars layered with a thick, glossy blueberry filling brightened with lemon juice. A nutty brown sugar base does double duty as the topping. Makes 15 bars.

A moist chocolate date cake baked in an 8-inch square pan with chocolate chips in the batter and a crunchy chip-nut-sugar topping. Dates softened in boiling water keep it impossibly tender. The kind of no-fuss cake you carry straight to the picnic in the pan.

Finnish pecan balls (Finnish snowballs) made with butter, cake flour, and toasted pecans, rolled twice in powdered sugar for a melt-in-your-mouth holiday cookie.

Miniature chocolate peanut butter pies in mini muffin tins. Graham crust, frozen peanut butter filling, and chocolate ganache topping. Make 24 ahead and stash in the freezer for up to a week.

Moist pumpkin cake layered with spiced whipped cream. Brown sugar, cinnamon, sour milk, and pumpkin puree make a tender, old-fashioned two-layer cake for autumn dessert tables.

Whole-wheat snickerdoodles sweetened with pure maple syrup and rolled in cinnamon sugar. A nuttier, more wholesome take on the classic crackle-topped cinnamon cookie.

Classic lemon bars with a buttery shortbread crust and a tangy lemon-egg curd top, dusted with powdered sugar. A two-layer dessert with bright citrus snap.

Pumpkin-apple pie with a spiced brown sugar apple layer on the bottom and creamy pumpkin custard on top. Two fall pies in one, baked in a single crust.

A no-bake chocolate mint cheesecake made with cream cheese, Vandermint liqueur, and chocolate pudding mix in a chocolate crumb crust. Five ingredients, zero oven time, all indulgence.

Homemade vanilla wafer cookies with butter, shortening and a generous double dose of vanilla. Crisp around the edges, soft in the middle. Better than store-bought.