Dessert/5 recipes

Chewy pecan date squares with brown sugar and vanilla, baked low and slow then dusted with powdered sugar. No butter needed, the dates keep them moist.

Beverwyks are old Dutch spiced cookies with cloves, allspice, cinnamon, and chopped raisins rolled and cut into shapes. A traditional holiday cookie from New York's Dutch heritage.

Dried fruits taste sweeter than candy and also provide fiber and potassium.

Cranberry honey pecan crunch pie with a tart cranberry-orange puree filling and a caramelized honey-pecan topping. A stunning holiday pie with bright fruit and buttery crunch.

Baci di Dama are Italian "lady's kisses": delicate ground almond cookies with candied orange peel, sandwiched together with melted chocolate. Gluten-light, flourless-forward, and elegant enough for gifting.

Jan Hagels are crisp Dutch shortbread cookies spiced with cinnamon and ginger, brushed with egg white, and topped with chopped pecans or walnuts. Sliced into rectangular bars while warm.

Orange custard cookies are mini tartlets with buttery shortbread shells filled with an almond-orange flower water custard, baked in muffin tins. Two dozen elegant bite-sized desserts with a Mediterranean fragrance.

Pumpkin Frangelico cheesecake: a spiced pumpkin cheesecake on a gingersnap crust, spiked with hazelnut Frangelico liqueur and topped with a boozy sour cream layer. The Thanksgiving cheesecake adults reach for first.

These buttery and sweet cookies are so addictive, great treat in any occasion.

Mandeltorte is a German almond torte with a buttery pastry shell, rich almond filling, raspberry jam layer, and piped lemon icing. An elegant European bakery-style dessert.

Elegant deep-dish apple pie with homemade almond crust and a dramatic cider pour through the top crust for extra moisture and flavor in every spiced bite.

German chocolate pie with a fudgy cocoa-and-evaporated-milk custard loaded with toasted coconut and chopped pecans. The classic German chocolate cake flavors baked into two pie shells.

Maple syrup spice cake with cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves baked with buttermilk and plump raisins. A warmly spiced one-pan cake sweetened entirely with real maple syrup.

Biscotti di Prato (cantucci) with whole roasted almonds and ground almond flour for that authentic Tuscan crunch. The classic twice-baked Italian cookie meant for dunking in vin santo or coffee.

Banana rum sherbet made with yogurt, dark brown sugar, lime juice, nutmeg, and chopped almonds. A tropical frozen dessert churned in a food processor, no ice cream maker needed.

Spiced pepper cake with pumpkin, prunes, crystallized ginger, and walnuts. Black pepper adds a warm, unexpected bite to this deeply flavored autumn loaf cake.