Dessert Recipes

My friend Jenna asked me last week why I couldn’t just use fresh cranberries instead of dried in my sweet roll recipe. I started to … Read more

The woman at the next stall watched me stare at her gingerbread cookies for a solid minute before she finally spoke. “You keep looking at … Read more

This was supposed to be a batch of classic chocolate chip cookies. I had the butter softening on the counter, the vanilla measured out, and … Read more

The velvety, spoon-coating thickness of this dip as it falls from a spatula—that’s what I was after. Not the eggnog itself, not the spices, but … Read more

There was a gap in my holiday dessert spread that nobody else seemed to notice. Every Christmas party I went to, the table was loaded … Read more

My sister took one bite of these Peppermint Bark Cheesecake Bars and just stared at the plate for a solid ten seconds. She didn’t say … Read more

I want gingerbread and cheesecake on the same fork right now, and I am not going to apologize for it. The craving hit me mid-November, … Read more

Let me be real with you for a second. Finding a snack that both my kids and I can agree on? That’s the holy grail … Read more

The neighborhood fall potluck was in six hours and I’d completely forgotten. Everyone else would be bringing elaborate pies from scratch, hand-rolled pastry crusts, the … Read more

I was standing in the canned goods aisle at the grocery store last October when a woman walked past me carrying a paper bag of … Read more

The first Saturday of November, and the only thing I wanted was a kitchen that smelled like something — anything — other than the leftover … Read more

Rosa wasn’t trying to impress anyone. I’d stopped by her house on a Thursday afternoon to drop off a book I’d borrowed months ago, and … Read more

This was supposed to be a pumpkin pie. I mean, that was the plan. I had the deep dish crust ready, the can of pumpkin … Read more

My friend Jen asked why I couldn’t just use a store-bought cookie mix for the Halloween party. I started to explain why that wouldn’t work—then … Read more

I was maybe seven, and she’d just pulled a pan of marshmallow squares from the fridge. No candy eyes, no spooky designs — just sticky, … Read more

I burned my first three batches of Pan de Muerto before I understood what I was doing wrong. Not a little burned—I mean hockey puck … Read more

The peanut butter jar was down to its last sticky scrape, and I had exactly one square of semi-sweet chocolate left in the pantry—the kind … Read more

My niece Clara asked why I couldn’t just melt the white chocolate in the microwave, save myself the fuss of a double boiler. I started … Read more

The first Saturday of October, and rain is tapping against the kitchen window in that steady, unhurried way that tells you not to go anywhere. … Read more

The pan came out of the oven, and the whole kitchen just stopped. My husband, who had been half-watching football, actually walked over without saying … Read more