Dessert Recipes

Mini chocolate chip cheesecakes: fudgy chocolate cupcake batter topped with a creamy cream cheese dollop and studded with mini chips. Pop-in-your-mouth sized, bake-sale ready, impossible to eat just one.

Chewy peanut butter cookies loaded with ground and whole sesame seeds, brown sugar, honey, and a warm ginger kick. Rolled in raw sesame seeds for a nutty, crackly coating.

Caramel apple pie recipe loaded with chopped Jonathan or Rome apples, melted caramel candies, gooey caramel topping, and toasted pecans baked into a buttery crust.

Homemade banana layer cake with mashed ripe banana and buttermilk for a moist, tender crumb. A classic two-layer cake ready to frost with your favorite icing.

Spiced pumpkin cheesecake with a walnut graham crust and a buttery pecan praline topping. Thanksgiving-worthy dessert layered with cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and allspice.

The shredded zucchini makes this cake very moist, and the topping adds a nice crunch. Whenever zucchini is in season I freeze some, shredded, in 2 cup amounts so I can make this favorite anytime of the year.

Pinon cookies bake into light sponge-like rounds topped with toasted pine nuts, made from just eggs, sugar, flour, and pignoli. Italian-style cookie with an elegant payoff.

Apple praline cheesecake layers spiced sauteed apples into a cream cheese filling, then bakes under a buttery brown sugar pecan praline crust. Fall dessert showstopper.

Make a delicious and sweet pizza with apples, almonds and dulce de leche glaze. It's good enough for both kids and grown-ups to keep picking up another slice.

Pumpkin pie cake is a fall dump-cake with creamy spiced pumpkin pie filling on the bottom, dry yellow cake mix on top, then melted butter and pecans. A no-crust pumpkin dessert hybrid.

Hungarian poppy seed wafers with fresh orange zest, allspice, and a smooth powdered sugar glaze. Piped butter cookies with warm spice and citrus flavor.

Spiced cherry biscotti studded with candied cherries and almonds, warmed with nutmeg, and dusted with cinnamon-nutmeg sugar. A ruby-flecked holiday coffee cookie.

Cream puff cake built on a from-scratch choux pastry crust, layered with a vanilla pudding and cream cheese filling, whipped topping, and a chocolate drizzle. Tastes like a giant eclair in 9x13 form.

Eggless chocolate cake bakes up tender and rich with no eggs needed. A vintage Depression-era recipe that uses melted unsweetened chocolate, milk, and pantry basics for a dependable layer cake.

Ginger-almond florentines: thin, lacy caramel cookies with crystallized ginger, toasted almonds, and citrus zest, finished with a smooth chocolate coating on the flat side.

Elegant apple pie with port wine filling and sharp cheddar pastry crust. Apples simmer in port, apple juice, and lemon zest until just tender. Lattice top shows off the ruby-tinted filling.