Dessert/9 recipes

Try making the French version of apple pie today that's both scrumptious and healthy for you.

Low-fat cocoa spice cake made with applesauce instead of oil, egg whites only, and a hint of cinnamon. A lighter chocolate cake that still bakes up moist and satisfying.

Festive peppermint pie with layers of mint-spiked fruit and whipped cream, fudgy chocolate marshmallow sauce, and a toasted meringue top with crushed candy cane.

No-bake peppermint cheesecake with crushed candy canes, milk chocolate chunks, and whipped cream on a chocolate wafer crust. Set with gelatin, no oven needed for the filling.

Christmas tree cake cut from a 13x9 sheet cake into a tree shape, frosted green and decorated with peppermint candies, pretzel rod trunk, and a gumdrop star. Festive holiday show-stopper from one boxed mix.

Harvest spice tea cake folds steeped autumn-spice tea into a simple egg-and-sugar batter for a fragrant, almost-sponge cake. Served warm with butter, fresh nutmeg, and spiced whipped cream.

Swedish ginger cookies (pepparkakor) made with dark corn syrup, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. A spiced roll-and-cut dough that bakes thin and snappy for the holidays.

Old-fashioned drop cookies made with real sorghum syrup, buttermilk, and warm spices like cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Topped with raisins and ready in 20 minutes.

Holiday molasses crinkles are spiced sugar-coated cookies with cracked, snowy tops. The water-droplet trick guarantees that signature crinkled surface every time. Soft inside, slightly crisp at the edges.

Old-fashioned gingersnap cookies with molasses, ginger, and cinnamon, rolled in sugar and baked until crinkly. Oil-based for a chewy center with crisp edges.

This deep-dish pumpkin pie swaps the traditional pastry crust for a buttery brown sugar crumb topping with chopped nuts. Sweetened condensed milk and warm spices like cinnamon and allspice make every bite rich and creamy.

Harvest apple pie with a brown sugar-nut praline topping baked over the top crust. A double-crust apple pie with a caramelized, crunchy finish.

Sauerkraut apple cake with walnuts, cinnamon, and nutmeg topped with orange-cinnamon cream cheese frosting. A secret ingredient cake nobody can guess.

Deep-fried Hanukkah cookies with lemon zest, dusted in cinnamon sugar while still warm. Crispy on the outside and soft inside, these traditional fried dough balls celebrate the holiday's oil tradition in every golden bite.

Omie's apple torte loaded with chopped apples and nuts in a buttery cinnamon batter. A dense, rustic German-style apple cake that's more fruit than cake in every bite.

Honey apple pie with Granny Smith apples in a honey-cream sauce dusted with cinnamon and nutmeg. Open-faced, no top crust, and caramelized to golden perfection.