Dessert/9 recipes

Raspberry chocolate truffle pie layers whipped chocolate ganache spiked with raspberry liqueur over a flaky crust, finished with cream and a strained berry sauce. A bistro-quality dessert.

Peach pie with almond crumble topping layers fresh blanched-peeled peaches with almond extract under a buttery sliced-almond streusel. Two-temperature bake locks in juice and crisps the crumble.

Three-ingredient apple pie using chunky applesauce as the filling. Just pour it into a store-bought crust, sprinkle with cinnamon, and bake until golden. Beginner-friendly and foolproof.

Mexican cheese cookies are slim shortbread-style sticks made with shredded Monterey Jack folded into a buttery sugar dough, baked until golden at the edges.

Chocolate toffee flan cakes: no-bake dessert with marshmallow cream filling, melted chocolate, whipped topping, and chopped Heath bar crowns. Quick make-ahead party sweet.

Orange poppy seed pound cakes bake fresh orange juice, zest, and crunchy poppy seeds into individual butter loaves. Make-ahead holiday gift cake.

Layers of chocolate and vanilla ice cream in a spicy gingersnap crust, drizzled with homemade chocolate ganache. This no-bake frozen pie needs just 15 minutes of hands-on work and zero oven time.

Homemade cranberries jelly, not much time, goes well!

European-style apple tart with a buttery crumb crust pressed into a flan pan. Grated apples layered with cinnamon and sugar, topped with a pastry apple design. Best served cold for clean slicing.

For years I only ate carrot cake with a butter and cream cheese frosting, but I was surprised by this glazed carrot cake. It was actually delicious. I will not mind enjoying a glazed carrot cake any more.

Fresh strawberry pie with a pureed berry glaze thickened with tapioca, poured over whole berries in a flaky pie shell. No-bake filling, no gelatin, just real fruit.

Old-fashioned sugar cookies with a dual-sugar dough of granulated and powdered sugar, flattened with a sugar-dipped glass. Tender, crackly-topped, and buttery.

Lite cheesecake with raspberry sauce uses nonfat cream cheese and 2% cottage cheese for a silky, tangy slice without the guilt. Topped with bright homemade raspberry sauce.

No-bake chocolate cookies with colorful marshmallows that look like stained glass windows when sliced. Rolled in chopped nuts and chilled until firm. Kids go wild for these.

Gather round pound cake: a moist butterscotch-coffee bundt cake with melted butterscotch chips and instant coffee in the batter. The deep amber pound cake that smells like a coffee shop bakery.

The pound cake is so moist, buttery and soft, it is a great dessert at any time!