Dessert/7 recipes

Buttery almond snowball cookies made with biscuit mix and chopped nuts, rolled in powdered sugar while warm. Just 6 ingredients and no chilling needed.

Lemon cayenne cookie press cookies with bright lemon zest and a spicy kick from cayenne pepper. Buttery, crisp, and sweet-heat in every bite.

Rose geranium cookies made with rosewater and chopped geranium leaves baked into a soft, floral butter cookie. A unique garden-to-cookie-sheet treat.

Classic British teatime shortbread cookies with just four ingredients: butter, sugar, flour, and salt. Buttery, crumbly, and pale golden with the traditional fork-pricked tops.

Rigo Jancsi, the classic Hungarian chocolate cake with two layers of rich sponge filled with rum-spiked chocolate cream and topped with a glossy chocolate glaze. An elegant European pastry.

Buttery nut ball cookies rolled in powdered sugar, also called Russian tea cakes or Mexican wedding cookies. Six ingredients, no eggs, and they melt in your mouth.

A classic double-crust cherry pie made from scratch with frozen tart cherries, cornstarch thickener, and a whisper of almond extract. Baked golden with a lattice or vented top.

Italian tiramisu with whipped mascarpone, cottage cheese and egg yolks, layered over coffee-soaked ladyfingers and dusted with cocoa. Includes a strawberry-rhubarb variation. Make-ahead, no-bake dessert.

Tender cream cheese pastry sandwiches a layer of thick dried fruit filling, then bakes into golden bars. These reduced-sugar cookies cut into 2 dozen squares for sharing.

Poppy seed tea cake with sour cream, almond extract, and cinnamon, baked in a tube pan. A buttery, tender cake with nutty seeds and a delicate crumb from cake flour.

Sunshine cake is a tall, lemon-kissed cousin of angel food and sponge cake, leavened entirely by whipped egg whites and yolks with bright lemon zest and juice.

Funnel cake batter is poured through a funnel into hot fat in a swirling spiral, fried until golden, then dusted with confectioners sugar. The state-fair classic, made at home.

Classic Girl Scout-style trefoil shortbread cookies with butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Roll-and-cut sugar cookies for the trefoil cutter, makes 4 dozen.

Buttery shortbread-style nut cookies with almond extract and chopped nuts, shaped by hand into rustic finger rolls. Tender, crumbly, and lightly sweet.

Soft sour cream cookies with a sugar-pressed top, made from simple pantry staples. The sour cream keeps them pillowy and tender for days.

Cream cheese snowflake cookies with lemon zest, topped with powdered sugar icing and edible glitter. Delicate, buttery Christmas cutout cookies that sparkle.