Dessert/9 recipes

This cut-out cookie from Bev Bosveld of Waupun is dressed up with chewy oats and crushed peppermint for a pleasing result.

No-bake cheesecake blending cream cheese, sour cream, and Cool Whip gets spread into graham cracker crusts and topped with cherry pie filling for easy refrigerator dessert.

Herbal lemon cookies with fresh lemongrass, lemon thyme, or lemon basil baked into a buttery sugar cookie. A unique drop cookie with real herb flavor in every bite.

Raspberry nut cake: a tender buttermilk-cinnamon layer cake studded with fresh raspberries and chopped nuts, finished with pink raspberry-puree frosting. The most photogenic layer cake on the table.

Dairy-free tofu cheesecake with a graham cracker crust, crushed pineapple, orange juice, and honey. Silky smooth filling with no cream cheese needed. Topped with fresh kiwi slices.

Gingerbread drop cookies are soft, cake-like spice cookies sweetened with molasses and brown sugar, studded with raisins. A wholesome wheat germ-boosted twist on classic holiday cookies.

Lots of apples and nuts make a filling rich snacking cake.

Raspberry chocolate swirl cheesecake on a cocoa-vanilla wafer crust. Two batters marbled together for a dramatic black-and-pink presentation.

Polish nalesniki are delicate egg-white pancakes rolled around a lemon-vanilla sour cream pudding, baked until warm, then dusted with powdered sugar. An old-world dessert.

Three-layer pistachio cake with white chocolate buttercream, orange zest, and almond extract. A showstopper dessert with chopped pistachios pressed into the frosting.

Sophisticated apple pie with sharp cheddar cheese baked right into the crust. The filling simmers apples in port wine, apple juice, and lemon zest. Lattice top for elegant presentation.

Mini cream cheese tarts on vanilla wafer crusts topped with cherry pie filling. No-roll, no-fuss bite-sized cheesecakes that bake in just 15 minutes.

Saffron kulfi pops simmer whole milk with sugar until reduced by half, then bloom saffron threads in hot water and freeze in cones or cups. Authentic Indian frozen dessert without an ice cream maker.

No-bake chocolate almond pie with a crunchy chocolate-almond shell, marshmallow mousse filling, and whipped cream. Chills overnight for a silky, fudgy slice.

Almond-raisin biscotti, twice-baked until crisp, with toasted almonds, plump raisins and bright orange in two forms. A coffee-dunking Italian cookie made airy by folding in whipped egg whites.

Coconut brownies: chewy chocolate brownies loaded with flaked coconut in the batter and crowned with chocolate chips and walnuts. The fudgy chocolate-coconut bar that beats any candy.