Dessert Recipes

Chinese American fortune cookies bake from a thin batter of cake flour and egg whites, then fold around personal messages while still warm. A homemade version of the takeout staple.

Tunnel of Fudge cake from scratch with a gooey, fudgy center that forms naturally during baking. A rich chocolate bundt cake with walnuts and cocoa glaze, no cake mix required.

Raspberry sour cream pie with five cups of fresh berries under a thick sour cream-flour-sugar topping that bakes into a chewy almost-cobbler crust. Single-crust pie with a no-fail spread-on top.

Moist applesauce cake spiced with cinnamon and cloves, spiked with instant coffee, and topped with a creamy coffee buttercream frosting. A one-bowl spice cake that bakes in 30 minutes.

Dairy Hollow House almond pie with browned butter, corn syrup, honey, almond extract, and toasted almonds. Like pecan pie's nutty, elegant cousin.

Honey pear upside-down cake: tender pears glazed with honey, cinnamon, and orange zest under a soft orange-scented cake. Butter-free upside-down cake with real fall-dessert energy.

Mile high peach pie with a graham cracker crust and a frozen peach mousse beaten from finely chopped peaches, sugar, and egg whites. The 15-minute beat gives the filling its signature towering height.

Red wine apple pie with a cheddar cheese crust. Tart apples simmered in sweet red wine and lemon juice in a flaky, savory-sweet pastry shell.

Baci di Dama are Italian "lady's kisses": delicate ground almond cookies with candied orange peel, sandwiched together with melted chocolate. Gluten-light, flourless-forward, and elegant enough for gifting.

Linzer tart with a spiced almond crust, raspberry fruit spread, and a piped lattice top. An Austrian-inspired pastry sweetened with apple juice concentrate instead of refined sugar.

Apple-nut cinnamon streusel cake is a sour cream coffee cake folded with chopped apples and toasted sunflower seeds, finished with a cinnamon brown sugar streusel topping. Brunch and breakfast worthy.

Traditional German drop donuts (Tropfkrapfen) made with a buttermilk batter, fried golden and dusted in powdered sugar. Crispy outside, tender and cakey within. Simple old-world charm.

Southern chess pie with a custardy filling of eggs, sugar, butter, and a splash of vinegar, thickened with cornmeal in a pre-made pie shell. Old-school Southern dessert.

Fat-free cocoa squares with applesauce instead of butter or oil. A hot cocoa-brown sugar sauce poured over the batter before baking creates a gooey, self-saucing chocolate dessert.

Cherry pudding cheese pie with cherry extract, cream cheese, and vanilla pudding folded into a graham cracker crust. A no-bake five-ingredient dessert that chills in just 2 hours.

Christmas surprise cookies: brown sugar drop cookies with a hidden jam center and a dusting of sweet coconut on top. A vintage holiday thumbprint for the cookie tin.