Dessert/9 recipes

Yogurt chocolate chip cookies with honey and brown sugar for a soft, chewy texture. Plain yogurt replaces some fat for tender cookies with a subtle tang.

Make Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk at home: rich chocolate ice cream loaded with white and dark chocolate chunks, pecans, walnuts, and chocolate-covered almonds.

Friendship cake using yellow cake mix, vanilla pudding, brandied starter fruit, raisins, and pecans baked in a Bundt pan. The shortcut version of the gifted-starter holiday cake.

Lighter chocolate caramel cheesecake built on a crispy rice cereal crust with nonfat cream cheese, fat-free sour cream, and egg whites. A gooey caramel layer and chocolate-walnut crumble keep things indulgent without the guilt.

Mile-high three-layer chocolate celebration cake for a crowd, filled with raspberry jam and orange marmalade, frosted with mocha cream cheese buttercream. Party show-stopper.

Crustless sweet potato pie with almond extract for a Southern-style dessert that bakes in 25 minutes. Mashed sweet potatoes, butter, and sugar create a custardy slice without rolling a single piece of dough.

A massive batch cookie recipe loaded with oats, raisins, pecans, butterscotch chips, and maple syrup. Makes dozens and dozens of chewy, buttery cookies for bake sales, holidays, and gifting.

Southern-style bundt cake with buttermilk tang and coconut-rum flavor. The dense, buttery crumb stays moist for days. Perfect for family reunions and Sunday suppers.

Pepsi-Cola cake is a fudgy chocolate sheet cake made with real Pepsi, buttermilk, cocoa, and mini marshmallows, topped with a broiled peanut butter and brown sugar frosting studded with chopped peanuts.

Yeast based Czechoslovakian pastry filled with a poppy seed or cream cheese filling.

A classic French pear and frangipane tart: vanilla-poached pears arranged over almond pastry cream spiked with kirsch and crushed macaroons, finished with apricot glaze and pistachios.

European mocha fudge cake with a dense cocoa-pecan base and creamy coffee whipped cream filling. A flourless-style chocolate cake that's rich, fudgy, and made without leavening.

Light fruitcake is the pale, buttery holiday classic: candied pineapple, cherries and citron with golden raisins, pecans and walnuts, brightened with lemon and vanilla, then brandy-soaked and aged for weeks.

What can I say but delicious. Made this Jewish cookie the first time in my life, and I was impressed! Definitely a sweet cake. If you have a sweet tooth like I do, you will love it.

Two-layer banana cake with pecans and buttermilk, filled and frosted with chocolate whipped cream and fresh banana slices. A showstopper that pairs ripe banana with rich chocolate mousse.

Triple chocolate cookies with melted semi-sweet and unsweetened chocolate in the batter, chocolate chips folded in, then dipped in more melted chocolate. Fudgy, crackle-topped, and loaded with nuts.