Baked Good Recipes

Finnish fingers (sokerikakkusormet) are short, buttery shortbread sticks brushed with egg white and rolled in pearl sugar for a crunchy, sparkling exterior. Classic Scandinavian Christmas cookie.

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.

Nutcracker sweets, peanut butter sheet cookies layered with creamy peanut butter frosting and a chocolate drizzle, cut into squares. The Christmas cookie tin classic that combines bar cookie ease with three-component flavor.

Chocolate caramel nut bars with a German chocolate cake-mix crust, melted caramel middle, and chopped walnuts and chocolate chips. A potluck-ready bar cookie you can shortcut with a boxed mix.

Rocks cookies with oats, brown sugar, figs, nuts, and warm spices in a bumpy, hearty drop cookie. An old-fashioned spiced oatmeal cookie loaded with dried fruit and chopped nuts.

Gingersnap crumb crust: a 3-ingredient spiced cookie crust for cheesecakes, pumpkin pie, or icebox desserts. No-bake option for frozen pies.

Kourabiedes are traditional Greek butter cookies with ground almonds and brandy, dusted heavily in powdered sugar. Fragile, sandy, and meant for celebrations.

Croatian poppy seed povitica with a yeasted sweet dough stretched paper-thin and rolled around a honey-sweetened poppy seed filling. Traditional Eastern European holiday bread.

Thin, crisp Swedish cookies brushed with egg white, dusted with cinnamon-clove sugar, and topped with a whole almond pressed into each one. Lemon zest brightens the buttery dough. Ready in 25 minutes, makes 2 dozen.

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.

Magic chocolate pie melts unsweetened chocolate into sweetened condensed milk over a double boiler, then sets into a dense fudge-like filling in a baked shell. Five ingredients, no eggs.

Vanilla pignoli biscotti are buttery Italian twice-baked cookies packed with toasted pine nuts and fragrant vanilla. Crisp enough to dunk in coffee, with a tender, golden crumb.

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.

Lemon filling for cakes with egg yolks, fresh lemon juice, zest, and butter. A tangy, silky curd that spreads between layers. Stovetop or microwave method included.

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.

The classic Joy of Cooking devil's food cake with a cooked chocolate custard folded into the batter and whipped egg whites for lift. Finished with caramel icing. A vintage recipe worth mastering.