Baked Good Recipes

Intensely rich chocolate silk mousse cake baked in a water bath with a pound of semi-sweet chocolate and a glossy ganache glaze. Make up to 3 days ahead. Serves 8.

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.

Apple cookies with butterscotch chips, walnuts, and brown sugar topped with a cinnamon butter glaze and a walnut half. A soft, fruit-studded fall cookie.

Traditional fruitcake loaded with dried apricots, golden raisins, candied fruit, almonds, and cherries, aged for weeks for deep flavor.

Soft banana spice cookies with cinnamon, cloves, walnuts, and raisins. Made with mashed bananas and packed brown sugar for a chewy, cake-like drop cookie. A great way to use overripe bananas.

Cream cheese cookies with lemon zest, tender and buttery with a subtle tang from the cream cheese. A versatile roll-and-cut dough with just six ingredients. No eggs needed.

Swedish anise twists, sweet yeast-bread strips twisted and baked golden under a sugary anise glaze. The warm, licorice-like flavor of anise runs through these tender Scandinavian treats, made for coffee time.

Traditional New Mexican biscohos cookies spiced with cinnamon, star anise, and cloves, then dusted with cinnamon sugar while still warm from the oven. A cherished holiday cookie that fills the kitchen with the most intoxicating aroma.

Black pepper biscotti studded with sweet chopped figs, twice-baked to a crisp snap. The peppery warmth plays against the figs' honeyed sweetness, making these as good with a cheese board and wine as with coffee.

Budapest tea bread bundt cake with a swirled cinnamon, cocoa, raisin, and walnut filling. A Hungarian-inspired sour cream coffee cake for tea time or brunch.

Slice-and-bake butterscotch cookies with brown sugar, cinnamon, and a make-ahead frozen dough. Press into loaf pans, freeze, then slice thin and bake whenever the craving hits.

Warm pear pudding cake with pecans, cinnamon, and cloves baked under a bubbling brown sugar caramel sauce. An old-fashioned comfort dessert best served hot with ice cream or whipped cream.