Dessert recipes

Sweet potato pie with warm brandy, fresh lemon zest, and a sprinkle of chopped citron over the top. The brandy-citrus brightness lifts the spiced filling into something more sophisticated than typical sweet potato pie.

Classic hamantashen with a tender oil-based dough scented with orange zest, folded into triangles around your favorite filling. The traditional Purim cookie.

The ultimate sweet-and-salty cookie: buttery dough loaded with butterscotch chips and crushed potato chips. Crispy edges, chewy centers, totally addictive. Makes 5 dozen.

Mocha swirl pound cake: a buttery, coffee-spiked pound cake batter marbled with melted chocolate and baked in a tube pan. Tight, tender crumb shot through with bittersweet ribbons.

Oatmeal lace cookies from a 1930s recipe with just seven ingredients. Thin, crispy, and caramelized with no flour at all. Quick or regular oats, never instant.

A four-layer chocolate butter cake with ganache filling, whipped cream frosting, and a glossy dark chocolate glaze poured over the top. Bakery-level elegance made at home.

Choux pastry puffs studded with chocolate chips and dusted with powdered sugar create elegant French-inspired cookies that look harder to make than they are.

Old-fashioned walnut pound cake started in a cold oven for a tall, even crumb. Buttery vanilla base studded with finely chopped walnuts, baked in a tube pan.

Brownie cookies are roll-and-cut chocolate cookies with melted semi-sweet and unsweetened chocolate, walnuts, and a tender, fudgy bite. Doubles as a press-in crust for ice-cream pies.

Impossible coconut pie: a self-crusting magic pie that separates into custardy filling, golden top, and chewy crust as it bakes. Just dump everything in a blender, pour, and bake.

Winner of the 1991 Michigan Chocolate Cake Contest Created by Linda Theil

Cookie brittle with chocolate chips and walnuts pressed into one pan, baked, then snapped into snappy shards. Sugar-substitute friendly with crisp, candy-like edges.

Soft chocolate oatmeal cookies made with cocoa, yogurt, and chocolate extract instead of butter. Low-fat, slightly puffy, and rich in chocolate flavor without the guilt.

Peachy pinwheels swirl a soft butter cookie dough around a nutmeg-spiced dried peach filling, then slice and bake into spiral cookies. A pretty pinwheel cookie for the holiday tin.

Fudgy cocoa brownie cookies packed with chocolate chips, baked just until set for a soft, chewy center. Brown sugar and cocoa powder deliver intense chocolate flavor in every bite.

Old-fashioned peanut squares with a light sponge cake base, iced and rolled in ground peanuts for a crunchy, nutty finish. A classic vintage church-supper treat.