Dessert/4 recipes

Impossible banana cream pie blended in 30 seconds with Bisquick, eggs, milk, and sugar that forms its own crust while baking. Topped with fresh bananas and sweetened whipped cream.

Individual baked chocolate fig puddings with cocoa, stewed California figs, and vanilla, topped warm with marshmallows and walnut halves. A vintage dessert with old-fashioned charm.

Double chocolate mint chip cookies with melted mint chips in the dough plus whole chips folded in. Rich, fudgy, and intensely minty with chopped nuts.

Maple syrup nut cake with a full cup of real maple syrup baked into a tender two-layer cake. Studded with chopped nuts and ready to frost with your favorite icing.

Crunchy sundae topping made from toasted oats, brown sugar, butter, and salted peanuts. A make-ahead crumble for ice cream, pudding, and desserts.

Pears poached in red Burgundy wine with cinnamon and lemon zest. An elegant French dessert with just 5 ingredients, served warm or cold in ruby-red syrup.

Strawberry squares with a buttery graham cracker crust, real crushed strawberry and Jello filling folded with whipped cream, topped with a sweet cream layer. A chilled no-fuss dessert.

Cranberry fool dessert with homemade orange and star anise cranberry sauce swirled into whipped cream. A make-ahead holiday dessert that chills for up to 6 hours.

Gooey butter cake bakes a yellow cake-mix base under a sweet cream cheese topping that bubbles and cracks like cheesecake on top while staying molten in the middle. A St. Louis classic.

Pistachio torte with 2 cups of finely chopped pistachios and breadcrumbs standing in for flour, lifted with beaten egg whites, and topped with a cup of lemon curd. A proper European-style celebration cake.

Homemade yogurt made with whole milk, cream, and a cooler for incubation. No yogurt maker needed, just a picnic tote and 8 to 10 hours of patience.

Funnel cakes pour a sweet batter through a funnel into hot oil for golden, lacy fried treats dusted with powdered sugar. State-fair classic, ready in 30 minutes at home.

Three-ingredient chocolate almond filling for cakes, pastries, and tortes: melted chocolate, butter, and toasted almonds blended into a spreadable ganache-like filling.

Hot apple pandowdy is an early-American upside-down apple dessert: cinnamon-sugar apples baked under a soft butter cake batter, then inverted and served warm with whipped cream.

Pears De Cacao features pear halves filled with chocolate mint whipped cream, sandwiched back together, and drizzled with Creme de Cacao liqueur.

Kruchiy (Ukrainian fried knot cookies) made with sour cream, egg yolks, and vanilla, tied into knots and deep-fried until golden. Sprinkled with sugar to finish.