Dessert/5 recipes

No-bake peanut butter cup squares: a creamy peanut butter and graham cracker base topped with melted chocolate. Tastes like a giant homemade Reese's. Six ingredients, no oven, set in the fridge.

Buttery Italian pine nut biscotti brightened with fresh lemon juice and zest. Twice-baked until golden and crisp, with toasted pignoli in every bite. A cookie that keeps beautifully for weeks.

Lemon butter cookies with fresh lemon juice and zest in a crisp rolled-and-cut shortbread. A tender, citrusy classic dusted with sugar for a sparkly bakery-style top.

Gold cake is a rich, egg yolk-based layer cake with lemon zest, frosted and sprinkled with shredded coconut. Six egg yolks give this two-layer cake its golden color and tender, velvety crumb.

Parisian hearts, a French almond cookie sandwich cut in heart shapes, filled with lemon icing and raspberry jam peeking through a cutout center. Elegant, buttery, and bakery-beautiful.

A self-saucing chocolate cake that creates its own gooey pudding layer as it bakes. Pour the cocoa-brown sugar topping right over the batter and let the oven work its magic. One pan, zero fuss.

Mexican orange drops are caramelized sugar candies made with evaporated milk, orange juice, orange zest, and chopped nuts, rolled into balls and hardened. A traditional Mexican dulce with bright citrus flavor.

Frosted orange cookies made with mandarin oranges baked into the dough, topped with an orange syrup glaze and fresh orange zest. Soft, fruity, and loaded with raisins and nuts.

Poppyseed cookies made with sweetened poppy seed paste folded into a buttery shortbread-style dough. Tender drop cookies with deep blue speckling and a powdered sugar finish.

Classic snickerdoodles rolled in cinnamon sugar with a tangy cream of tartar dough. Soft, chewy cookies with crinkled tops and a sparkly cinnamon crust that flatten as they bake.

Garlic or shallot jelly made from infused white wine vinegar, sugar, and pectin. Sweet, savory, and tangy with subtle alliums. Perfect with cream cheese or roast meats.

Tender butter cookies studded with chopped fresh strawberries and scented with nutmeg and brandy, dusted in powdered sugar. Little jewel-like bites that melt on the tongue.

No-bake eggnog cheesecake built on a crumb crust, with sieved cottage cheese, gelatin, and whipped cream folded into a spiced eggnog custard. Light, airy, and finished with a dusting of nutmeg.

Puppy Chow is the classic no-bake party snack: Chex cereal coated in melted peanut butter and chocolate, tossed in powdered sugar until every piece looks like a sweet snowdrift. Addictive by the handful.

Maple walnut cookies made from boiled maple syrup, whipped egg whites, sherry, and chopped walnuts. Piped from a pastry tube and baked into crisp, meringue-style cookies.

Amigdala praline is a Greek almond brittle made with blanched almonds caramelized in butter and sugar with a drop of lemon juice. Crush it over tarts and ice cream for a crunchy topping.