Dessert/9 recipes

Classic butter pecan snowball cookies rolled in powdered sugar while warm for melt-in-your-mouth tender bites packed with toasted nuts.

Melt-in-your-mouth semolina butter cookies made with ghee, powdered sugar, and orange zest, topped with a whole blanched almond. Baked low and slow for a sandy, crumbly texture.

Coffee pots de creme infused with whole roasted coffee beans and Kahlua, baked in a water bath, and topped with homemade almond praline. A silky French custard dessert.

French-Italian almond crescent cookies rolled in pine nuts. Just four ingredients, naturally gluten-free, with a chewy-crisp texture from an overnight rest before baking.

French meringue strips with a buttery shortbread base topped with vanilla meringue, cinnamon sugar, and chopped almonds. Elegant bar cookies that yield 8 dozen.

Mississippi mud cake with cocoa pecan brownie base, melted marshmallow layer, and chocolate frosting. The triple-layer Southern Delta classic.

Pecan crescents, buttery melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookies rich with finely chopped pecans and a hint of nutmeg, shaped into little crescents. A cornstarch-tender holiday cookie in the wedding-cookie family.

Belgian spice crisps are paper-thin, shatteringly crisp cookies scented with cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, ginger, lemon, and rum. A European Christmas classic rolled ultra-thin for maximum crunch.

Fancy spritz cookies are tender, buttery pressed cookies enriched with ground almonds and almond extract for a marzipan-like flavor. Shape them with a cookie press into pretty holiday wreaths and stars.

No-bake Twinkie pie layered with chocolate mousse, chopped pecans, and whipped cream in a buttered casserole. A retro icebox dessert that turns store-bought snack cakes into something spectacular.

Panforte is the dense, chewy Sienese Christmas cake packed with toasted hazelnuts and almonds, dates, cherries, cocoa, and warm spices, bound by hot honey caramel. A traditional Italian holiday confection.

Rich chocolate truffles with crunchy pecan centers, dipped in smooth melted chocolate and topped with chopped nuts. Easy microwave method makes 3 dozen elegant candies.

Zimtsterne are German cinnamon star cookies: a chewy ground-almond and cinnamon dough crowned with a crisp white meringue glaze. Naturally gluten-free and a staple of the German Christmas cookie tin.

Raspberry trifle layers jam-spread ladyfingers, fresh raspberries and split almonds with a homemade wine-laced custard, all crowned with whipped cream. A classic English make-ahead showstopper in a glass bowl.

Caramel nut thumbprint cookies combine cocoa dough rolled in pecans with gooey caramel centers. A holiday cookie-tray favorite with chocolate, nut, and caramel in one bite.

Mini pecan pies bake in individual flan tins with a press-in shortbread crust and a golden syrup, brown sugar, and pecan filling. British-style hand-held tarts perfect for parties.