Dessert/6 recipes

Poppyseed thumbprint cookies with Grand Marnier, orange zest, and currant jelly centers. Buttery shortbread-style cookies with a subtle crunch and jewel-toned filling.

Big-batch go-to pie crust: 5 pounds of flour and butter-flavored shortening yield 20 freezer-ready dough balls. Microwave-thaw any single ball in 30 seconds for pie any night.

Buttery chocolate chip cookies with crispy edges and chewy centers. Made hundreds of times, this simple all-butter recipe uses optional oats for extra texture.

Unique vegan rye bread pudding with apples, caraway seeds, and tahini-miso sauce that soaks for hours then bakes into comforting dairy-free dessert.

Steamed cranberry pudding with molasses and a warm vanilla butter sauce. A dense, tart-sweet holiday dessert with jewel-red cranberry halves throughout, steamed for 90 minutes in a mold.

Orange butter cake with fresh orange juice, zest, brown sugar, and graham cracker crumbs in the batter, finished with a Grand Marnier-spiked tropical cream cheese spread.

Citrus angel pie features a baked meringue crust layered with lemon curd and whipped cream. The shell stays crisp at the edges while the cream and curd settle into a tangy, mousse-soft filling that chills until you're ready to serve.

Amaretto peach cheesecake with a buttery shortbread base, peach-amaretto cream cheese filling, and a toasted almond garnish. The summery dessert that turns canned peaches into something elegant.

Sweet baked Southern praline grits with brown sugar, pecans, cinnamon, and butter. A custard-like grits casserole that turns humble breakfast grits into a warm, spiced dessert.

Acadian cranberry pie, a Nova Scotian tradition: tart cranberries cooked with sugar and enriched with egg and butter, baked in a lattice crust and served with cream. Sweet-tart, rustic, and old-fashioned.

Pineapple upside down cake: classic skillet cake with caramelized brown sugar pineapple and pecan topping. Single-pan dessert that flips into a showstopper.

Kahlua chocolate mousse made with dark chocolate, coffee liqueur, instant coffee, and whipped cream. A rich no-bake dessert with a deep mocha flavor that sets overnight.

Pumpkin mousse layered three ways: a warmed pumpkin-cream cheese-yolk base, folded with whipped cream and beaten egg whites, then chilled and topped with crystallized ginger.

Stunning layered fruit terrine with strawberries, kiwi, mango, and papaya set in white grape juice gelatin. Served with a honey-raspberry cream dressing.

Triple-chocolate cheesecake on a chocolate wafer crust with both unsweetened and semi-sweet chocolate melted into the cream cheese filling. Rich, velvety, and unapologetically decadent. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream if you dare.

Texas-style chocolate sheet cake bakes a thin, fudgy buttermilk-cocoa cake in 25 minutes, then gets crowned with warm pecan-laced fudge icing poured straight onto the still-warm surface. Sixteen squares from one 9x13 pan.