Dessert Recipes

Sweet potato pie with brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a flaky shell, finished with a decorative ring of pecan halves and a dollop of whipped cream. The yogurt in the custard adds tang and lift that traditional milk-only versions miss.

Homemade herb or mint jelly with fresh herb infusion, sugar, apple cider vinegar, and liquid pectin. A glossy, fragrant condiment for roast lamb, cheese, and toast.

Holiday master butter cookie dough combines flour, cornstarch, and creamed butter into a tender, rollable base for cut-outs, Linzers, thumbprints, and pinwheels. Chills up to 3 days or freezes up to 6 months.

Classic four-ingredient shortbread cookies with just flour, butter, sugar, and salt. Pressed into a sheet pan, pricked with a fork, and baked until set.

Light honey gelato made with skim milk, whipped egg whites, and unflavored gelatin. No ice cream maker needed. A fluffy, low-fat frozen dessert sweetened entirely with honey.

Hot fig pudding with molasses, buttermilk, dried figs, and ginger baked in a tube pan, served with a warm sherry-butter sauce with nutmeg and lemon. A British-style steamed pudding baked in the oven.

No-bake indoor s'mores bars made with Golden Grahams cereal, melted milk chocolate, corn syrup, and mini marshmallows. A campfire treat without the campfire.

Iowa applesauce cake, a moist spiced sheet cake with raisins and walnuts, crowned with tangy cream cheese frosting and dusted through a paper doily. Heartland baking at its cozy best.

Ischler hearts: Austrian sandwich cookies with almond shortbread, apricot jam filling, and a glossy chocolate-rum glaze. Named after the spa town Bad Ischl, favorite of Emperor Franz Joseph.

White chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies made with both butter and shortening for a chewy-crisp texture. Loaded with chopped macadamias and white chocolate in a brown sugar-vanilla dough.

Chocolate pecan pie with melted semisweet chocolate and butter swirled into a classic corn syrup filling. Rich, fudgy, and loaded with pecan halves in a flaky pastry shell.

Kosh tili are Central Asian fried dough twists (also called bow ties or angel wings) made with yogurt and eggs, deep-fried until puffed, and dusted with powdered sugar.

Krumiri: Piedmontese piped butter cornmeal cookies from Casale Monferrato, Italy. Crisp, mustache-shaped shortbread with a distinct golden crunch and subtle vanilla flavor.

Lemon butter biscotti: buttery lemon-zest dough rounds layered with microwave vanilla pastry cream in cupcake pans, then baked into individual lemon cream pastries.

Two-layer white cake filled with lemon curd, covered in fluffy seven-minute frosting, and pressed with shredded coconut. A classic Southern-style coconut cake with a tangy lemon surprise inside.

Vegan lemon tofu cheesecake with a Grape-Nuts-and-maple crust and a bright, creamy silken tofu filling. Dairy-free cheesecake that slices clean and skips the cream cheese entirely.