Dessert/7 recipes

Chocolate cupcakes with a hidden cream cheese and chocolate chip filling baked right inside. An old-fashioned cocoa batter with vinegar for extra tenderness, topped with crunchy pecans.

Mexican wedding cookies, also known as polvorones, are tender pecan-shortbread balls rolled in cinnamon-powdered sugar. Buttery, crumbly, six-ingredient cookies that melt on contact.

Crustless cranberry pie with fresh cranberries and pecans under a golden, buttery batter that bakes into its own sweet crust. A simple holiday dessert with no pie dough needed.

Sugarless slice-and-bake cookies made with whole wheat flour, chewy dates, toasted coconut, fresh orange zest, and crunchy pecans. Naturally sweetened by fruit alone, these make 5 dozen crisp, nutty rounds.

No eggs, no butter, no milk in this vegan cake that's free of all dairy and egg products.

Austrian Ischil tartlets with a buttery almond-cinnamon shortbread, sandwiched with apricot jam, and topped with a glossy cooked chocolate icing. Elegant European cookies.

These muffins are great. They are not too sweet, have just the right amount of cream cheese, and are nice and filling.

Cran-raspberry cheesecake on an almond-genoise base, topped with decorative sponge cake cutouts. An elegant baked cheesecake layered with tangy cranberry-raspberry filling.

A naturally gluten-free almond cake made with whole boiled oranges, pith and all, served with a luscious marmalade cheesecake cream. Moist, fragrant, and utterly irresistible.

Crunchy almond apple pie layers an apricot-glazed crust with a buttery almond frangipane filling, fresh apple slices, and a crisp sliced-almond meringue topping. Like a Bakewell tart that met an apple pie.

Masterclass frozen raspberry souffle layered with crisp almond meringue discs and Italian meringue mousse with whipped cream, served with raspberry puree. A pastry chef's showpiece.

Ultimate chocolate chip cookies with shortening, light brown sugar, pecans, and semi-sweet chips baked until just set and still moist. A chewy, thick cookie that stays soft for days.

Graham cracker cake with blanched almonds and folded egg whites, frosted with a homemade apricot whip made from apricot puree, whipped cream, and vanilla. A vintage two-layer cake with a fruity cream frosting.

Milk chocolate bar bundt cake with melted Milky Way bars folded into the batter, plus buttermilk, pecans, and vanilla. A Southern church-cookbook classic with serious richness.

Crunchy candied pecans coated in a cinnamon-vanilla meringue and slow-baked in butter. These addictive Swedish Nuts are the holiday snack your guests will fight over.

Individual mini chocolate cakes baked in ramekins with a molten white chocolate center, toasted pecans, and a topping of whipped cream and grated dark chocolate. Restaurant-style plated dessert.