Dessert Recipes

Vanilla pecan slice-and-bake cookies from a make-ahead dough that chills into logs and freezes for up to 3 months. Crisp, buttery icebox cookies baked from frozen in 12 minutes.

Peanut butter bears: cinnamon-spiced peanut butter cut-out cookies shaped like teddy bears with detailed dough faces. A holiday baking project that's as fun as the cookies are good.

Classic rhubarb pie with a lattice crust and orange pastry made by swapping water for orange juice in the dough. Tart, sweet, and best served warm with vanilla ice cream.

Crunchy candied pecans coated in a cinnamon-vanilla meringue and slow-baked in butter. These addictive Swedish Nuts are the holiday snack your guests will fight over.

Sweet green tomato pie: thin-sliced unripe tomatoes baked like fruit in a spiced, double-crust pie. Tart and tangy with cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, it tastes surprisingly like old-fashioned apple pie.

Strawberries give the refreshing and fruity flavor, and panna cotta is so smooth and creamy. It is a perfect dessert at any time.

Fresh fruit ice is a light, low-fat frozen dessert made with orange juice, lemon, mashed banana, and strawberries or peaches. Gelatin and a rebeat give it a creamy, scoopable texture without a churn ice cream maker.

Low-fat lemon chiffon pie with lemon gelatin, fresh lemon juice and zest, and whipped topping in a graham cracker crust. A no-bake dessert with bright citrus flavor and airy texture.

Milk chocolate chip cheesecake built on nonfat cream cheese and egg whites, studded with milk chocolate chips throughout. A lighter cheesecake recipe that delivers the chocolate-and-cream flavor without the heavy fat content.

Orange shortbread hearts dipped in bittersweet chocolate. Buttery, citrus-scented cut-out cookies with a glossy chocolate half-dip for Valentine's Day or any occasion.

Giant apple cookie bakes a 12-inch pizza-style cookie loaded with reduced dried apples, walnuts, golden raisins, and cinnamon, drizzled with a tangy lemon icing. Sliceable shareable dessert.

Kolachky cream cheese dough, the rich, flaky pastry base for these Eastern European cookies. Just flour, butter, cream cheese and egg, chilled overnight, rolled on sugar and filled with prune, apricot, walnut or poppy seed.

Edible cake-decorating roses and leaves shaped from a marshmallow-and-powdered-sugar fondant. A budget-friendly alternative to professional gum paste for birthday and wedding cakes.

Passover cheesecake with a chocolate macaroon and almond crust, filled with a silky cream cheese custard. A flour-free holiday dessert best made a day ahead.

Pumpkin walnut cream cheesecake with a toasted walnut crust, spiced pumpkin filling, and a brown sugar walnut praline topping. A holiday-worthy dessert that splits the difference between cheesecake and pumpkin pie.

Rhubarb and blueberry double-crust pie with a hint of nutmeg. Tart rhubarb and sweet blueberries balance each other in this classic spring-to-summer fruit pie.