Dessert recipes

Buche de Noel: the iconic French Christmas yule log cake. Light sponge rolled around fruit jam, frosted with chocolate buttercream, and decorated to look like a snowy birch log. The classic holiday showstopper.

Broiled pineapple slices topped with buttery brown sugar and macadamia nuts until caramelized and bubbly. A five-ingredient tropical dessert ready in 20 minutes.

French pear pie with sliced Bartlett pears, orange juice concentrate, and a cinnamon-ginger crumb topping. A rustic, crumble-topped fall dessert with warm spice.

Mock apple pie (cracker pie) made famous on the back of the Ritz box during the Depression. Ritz crackers, sugar syrup, cream of tartar, and apple spices fool the tongue into thinking it's eating real apple pie.

No-bake chocolate mousse pie made with blended cottage cheese, skim milk, and cocoa on a cinnamon-graham cracker crust. Light, creamy, and high in protein. A smarter way to satisfy a chocolate craving without heavy cream or butter.

Impossible cranberry-orange pie forms its own crust as it bakes, with sweet-tart cranberry-orange relish setting beneath a custardy biscuit-mix top layer. A no-roll retro pie for the holidays.

A frozen no-bake chocolate orange pie with cream cheese, condensed milk, and orange juice concentrate in a chocolate crust. Swap in Grand Marnier or Cointreau for a boozy twist.

Classic hermit cookies with brown sugar, cold coffee, raisins, nuts, cinnamon, and nutmeg. An old-fashioned New England drop cookie that's soft, chewy, and warmly spiced.

Mini pecan pies bake in individual flan tins with a press-in shortbread crust and a golden syrup, brown sugar, and pecan filling. British-style hand-held tarts perfect for parties.

Seven-layer cookie bars with a chocolate graham crust, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coconut, and nuts. Makes 36 bars with just 10 minutes of hands-on work.

Basler Brunsli are flourless Swiss chocolate almond cookies spiced with cinnamon and cloves, cut into festive shapes. A traditional Basel Christmas cookie, chewy inside with a crackly crust.

Key lime pie from the Pierhouse in the Florida Keys, a custardy filling of sweetened condensed milk, egg yolks and tart key lime juice in a graham cracker crust. Finished with a reduced lime syrup glaze.

Silky pumpkin mousse with warm spices and caramel, set with gelatin for airy texture. Elegant make-ahead dessert that tastes like autumn in a glass.

Impossible buttermilk pie forms its own crust while it bakes. Just blend buttermilk, sugar, eggs, melted butter, Bisquick and vanilla, pour, and the magic happens in the oven.

Whacky cakes are the Depression-era chocolate classic reworked for a pizzelle iron: no eggs, no butter, no milk. Vinegar and baking soda do the lift. Vegan, fast, kid-friendly.

Maple walnut squares with a brown sugar shortbread crust topped with a chewy maple syrup filling and chopped walnuts. A New England take on the classic pecan pie bar.