1,425 vanilla sugar recipes

Buttery brown sugar shortbread pressed into a sheet pan, brushed with egg white, and topped with cinnamon sugar and sliced almonds. Cut into elegant diamond shapes for a cookie platter showstopper.

German sweet chocolate cream cheese brownies swirl a tangy cheesecake layer through rich German chocolate brownie batter with nuts. Marbled bars in one pan, ready in under an hour.

Drop sugar cookies with cardamom or nutmeg, soft and tender with lightly browned edges. No rolling or chilling needed. Makes six dozen and freezes beautifully.

Fudge truffle cheesecake bakes a chocolate cookie crust under a dense cream cheese filling laced with 8 ounces of melted semi-sweet chocolate. Rich, fudgy, no flour, no fuss.

Two-layer banana cake studded with chopped Butterfinger bars, spiked with dark rum, and coated in a glossy semisweet chocolate ganache. A showstopper that can be made 2 days ahead.

Slice-and-bake walnut refrigerator cookies with brown sugar and toasted walnuts in a buttery dough. Roll into logs, chill overnight, slice thin, and bake fresh whenever the craving hits.

This three-layer coconut cake starts with a yellow cake mix shortcut, then gets loaded with shredded coconut, crunchy walnuts, and a from-scratch cream cheese frosting with toasted golden coconut on top. Ready in about an hour.

Chocolate banana split cake with cocoa-banana layers, fresh sliced bananas, homemade chocolate sauce, whipped topping, and a cherry on top. No butter, no egg yolks.

White chocolate cheesecake on a chocolate wafer crust, covered in glossy semi-sweet chocolate ganache. Two kinds of chocolate in one rich, make-ahead showpiece dessert.

Lite 'n easy crustless pumpkin pie sets pumpkin puree with skim evaporated milk, gelatin, and brown sugar substitute. No crust, no oven, no eggs. A 7-ingredient dessert friendly to weight watchers and diabetics.

Chocolate sandwich cookies with a pastel mint wafer hidden inside each one. Thin cocoa dough rounds sealed with a fork, sugared on top, and baked until set. A fun surprise cookie.

Crispy caramel biscuits with coconut, corn flakes, and sweetened condensed milk. Buttery drop cookies that bake in 15 minutes and make 3 dozen from one batch.

Tender bundt cake layered with cinnamon-walnut streusel and studded with dried apricots, finished with a sweet almond glaze that drips down the ridges.

Fig and pistachio quick bread with dried figs soaked in boiling water and crunchy pistachios. A dense, honey-sweet loaf that improves overnight.

Light Weight Watchers banana French toast with vanilla yogurt topping and caramelized banana slices. Reduced-calorie bread and egg substitute keep it guilt-free.

Senior winner in Cake Division of 1953 Pillsbury Bakeoff.