Dessert/9 recipes

Vienna crescents are flaky yeast-leavened butter cookies filled with sweet pecan meringue and shaped into delicate crescents. A traditional Christmas cookie from Austrian and Hungarian baking.

Cinnamon ribbon bread layers tender sour cream cake batter with cinnamon-sugar swirls and a pecan crown. A breakfast loaf with a marbled cinnamon ribbon running through every slice.

Modern fruitcake loaf with pecans, dates, dried cranberries, chocolate chips, and rum, topped with white chocolate cream cheese frosting. A fruitcake even fruitcake haters will love.

Espresso tuiles with whole coffee beans, pecans, brown sugar, and corn syrup. Crispy, lace-like French cookies shaped into elegant curves while still warm.

Entenmann's-style apple crumb cake with a yeasted braided dough filled with Granny Smith apples, cinnamon, mace, and currants, topped with a pecan crumb topping.

Gugelhupf is an Austrian yeasted bundt cake rich with butter, eggs, raisins, ground almonds, and lemon zest. Traditional Habsburg breakfast bread served warm with butter or coffee.

Buttery cinnamon pound cake studded with toasted almonds, baked in a Bundt pan until golden. Dense, velvety crumb with nutty crunch in every slice.

Cinnamon apple noodle kugel with sautéed Golden Delicious apples, pecans, raisins, and whipped egg whites. A light, airy take on the classic Jewish noodle casserole.

No-bake low-calorie fruit truffles made with mashed bananas, orange juice and zest, ground almonds, rolled in cocoa and crushed almond coating. Naturally sweet, gluten-free.

Mexican fiesta tart in a cornmeal pastry crust layered with jalapeño Monterey Jack, sharp cheddar, tomatoes, zucchini, olives, and bell pepper. A savory, cheesy Tex-Mex tart served warm.

A moist, warmly spiced Bundt cake made with yogurt and applesauce instead of heaps of butter. Loaded with raisins, cinnamon, and cloves, then drizzled with a tangy yogurt glaze that seals the deal.

Old-fashioned spicy date cookies with oats, chopped nuts, cinnamon, and allspice. Chewy drop cookies that spread thin and crisp at the edges. Ready in 30 minutes.

Apricot and cardamom bars with dried apricot, apricot nectar, and unsweetened applesauce in the batter, finished with a sweet apricot glaze drizzle. Low-fat and done in 45 minutes.

Patriotic Fourth of July chocolate sheet cake decorated as an American flag with vanilla and blue frosting and fresh strawberry stripes. A buttermilk-rich chocolate cake the kids can help decorate.

Spice beer cake loaded with raisins and walnuts, made with brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. Beer adds moisture and malty depth to this old-fashioned tube pan cake.

This is a good cookie recipe to use up those over ripe bananas.