Dessert/9 recipes

Orange shortbread bars with fresh orange zest and cornstarch for a melt-in-your-mouth sandy texture. Score before baking for clean, even cuts.

Chocolate pixie cookies rolled in powdered sugar with a fudgy center, crackled crust, and chopped walnuts. Made with melted unsweetened chocolate for intense cocoa flavor.

Buttery lemon tea cake with chopped pecans, soaked in a hot lemon zest and juice sauce while still warm. A tender, citrus-drenched cake with crunchy pockets of toasted nut.

Ultra-tender shortbread cookies with a full pound of unsalted butter, sweetened condensed milk, and cornstarch for a melt-on-your-tongue crumble. Baked low and slow until barely golden.

Homemade maple cherry syrup with brown sugar, honey, fresh orange and lemon juice, cinnamon, and tart dried cherries. A rich, fruity topping for pancakes and waffles.

Four-ingredient cookie crust with butter, flour, and sugar pressed into a sheet pan. Golden, buttery base for bars, cheesecakes, and dessert squares.

Classic Mexican tres leches cake soaked in three milks (sweetened condensed, evaporated, and whole milk) with a hint of nutmeg, topped with whipped cream and chopped nuts. The Latin American birthday cake.

Eggnog cake with rum, orange and nutmeg, layered with eggnog cream filling and chocolate frosting. Festive holiday layer cake for Christmas dessert tables.

Classic French apple dumplings wrapped in lemon-scented pastry, filled with a cognac-butter stuffing and baked golden. Serve warm with whipped cream or a pour of Marsala wine.

Lady Baltimore cake is a tall white layer cake filled with fruit and nuts, then covered in fluffy boiled icing. The genteel Charleston dessert that's been a Southern wedding cake for over a century.

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.

Buttery Italian-style shortbread cookies made with powdered sugar, vanilla, and three-quarters of a pound of real butter. Chill the dough, roll it out, cut your favorite shapes, and bake until golden.

Traditional Irish porter cake made with stout beer, currants, raisins, mixed peel, and brown sugar. A dense, rich fruit cake that improves with a week of resting before slicing.

Golden sugar cookies made with egg yolks, butter, lemon extract, and cream of tartar for a rich, tender crumb with a hint of citrus. Rolled into balls and baked until just golden.

Espresso-hazelnut shortbread cookies with real coffee grounds, toasted hazelnuts, and cold butter baked low and slow. Sandy, crumbly, and deeply aromatic with a bold coffee bite.

Paintbrush cookies are honey-sweetened sugar cookies decorated with edible egg yolk paint before baking. A fun kids' baking project where the painting is half the joy and the colors bake on vibrant.