Our Best Dessert Recipes

Cookie Recipes

Frosted Sugar Cookies

Eric Kim

55 minutes

Chocolate Chip Cookies

David Leite, Jacques Torres

45 minutes, plus chilling

Black Sesame Shortbread

Genevieve Ko

45 minutes, plus chilling and cooling

Easy

Pistachio-Almond Cookies

David Tanis

45 minutes, plus cooling time

Easy

M&M Cookies

Eric Kim

30 minutes

Sugar Cookies

Naz Deravian

35 minutes, plus at least 1 hour chilling

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Millie Peartree

1 hour 50 minutes

Perfect Black and White Cookies

Melissa Clark

1 hour, plus cooling

Triple-Sesame Tea Cakes

David Tanis

30 minutes

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Our Best Chocolate Dessert Recipes

Chocolate Layer Cake

Claire Saffitz

2 1/4 hours

Four-Layer Surprise

Lisa Donovan

6 hours 20 minutes

Brownies

Lidey Heuck

45 minutes

Easy

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Genevieve Ko

1 hour 15 minutes

Chocolate Caramel Tart

Amanda Hesser, Gramercy Tavern

1 hour 15 minutes

Easy

Chocolate Lava Cake for Two

Yossy Arefi

25 minutes

German Chocolate Cake

Samantha Seneviratne

1 1/4 hours

Brownies With Coffee and Cardamom

Nargisse Benkabbou

1 hour

Easy

Peanut Butter Hot Fudge Sundaes

Yossy Arefi

10 minutes

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Lovely Layer Cakes

Chocolate Layer Cake

Claire Saffitz

2 1/4 hours

Strawberry and Cream Layer Cake

Claire Saffitz

2 hours

Hummingbird Cake

Vallery Lomas

1 hour

Rainbow Sprinkle Cake

Julia Moskin, Candace Nelson

1 1/2 hours, plus cooling

Devil’s Food Cake With Black Pepper Buttercream

Melissa Clark

2 1/2 hours

Baked Alaska

Lidey Heuck

About 7 hours 20 minutes

Vanilla Cake

Lidey Heuck

1 hour and 50 minutes

Toasted Sesame and Citrus Wedding Cake

Natasha Pickowicz

18 hours

Classic Birthday Cake

Alison Roman

About 1 hour 15 minutes plus chilling

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Our Best Lemon Desserts

Lemon Squares

Dena Kleiman, Susan Mahnke Peery

1 hour

Lemon Yogurt Cheesecake

Yossy Arefi

About 6¼ hours

Chess Pie

Yewande Komolafe

1 hour, plus at least 50 minutes’ chilling

Easy

Lemon Bars

Genevieve Ko

1 hour, plus 4 hours’ cooling

Lemon Bundt Cake

Yossy Arefi

1 hour 30 minutes

Baked Lemon Pudding

David Tanis, JR Ryall

1 hour

Lemon-Almond Butter Cake

Regina Schrambling, Jody Adams

2 hours 30 minutes, plus cooling time

Easy

Pistachio-Lemon Bars

Molly O'Neill

45 minutes

Pan-Baked Lemon-Almond Tart

Mark Bittman

20 minutes

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No-Bake Desserts for Lazy Days

No-Bake Chocolate Mousse Bars

Samantha Seneviratne

30 minutes, plus chilling

Easy

Microwave Chocolate Pudding Cake

Samantha Seneviratne

20 minutes

Easy

Sago Pudding

Hetty Lui McKinnon

40 minutes, plus 2 hours' chilling

Easy

Fruity Ice Cream Sodas

Melissa Clark

20 minutes

Mocha Icebox Cake

Yossy Arefi

25 minutes, plus chilling and freezing

Easy

Dulce de Leche

Lidey Heuck

About 5 hours

Easy

Easy Peanut Butter Fudge

Lidey Heuck

15 minutes, plus at least 2 hours' chilling

Easy

Hawaii-Style Sherbet

Ligaya Mishan, Neale Asato

20 minutes, plus at least 14 hours’ freezing

Halo-Halo

Naz Deravian

15 minutes

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Our Best Brownie Recipes

Easy

Katharine Hepburn’s Brownies

The New York Times

About 45 minutes

Brownies

Lidey Heuck

45 minutes

Grasshopper Brownies

Yossy Arefi

About 1 hour plus chilling

Brownies With Coffee and Cardamom

Nargisse Benkabbou

1 hour

Fudgy Nutella Brownies

Yossy Arefi

45 minutes

Salted Caramel Brownies

Julia Moskin, Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

1 1/4 hours

Easy

Easy Brownies

Mark Bittman

40 minutes

New Classic Brownies

Julia Moskin, “Alice Medrich’s Cookies, Brownies”

40 minutes

Olive Oil and Coconut Brownies

Melissa Clark

45 minutes

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Dessert Bars You Can Eat With One Hand

Lemon Bars With Olive Oil and Sea Salt

Melissa Clark

1 hour 30 minutes, plus cooling and chilling

Easy

Rice Krispie Treats

Scott Loitsch

20 minutes, plus cooling

Cranberry-Pear Crumble Bars

Yossy Arefi

1 hour

Magic Cookie Bars

Samantha Seneviratne

1 hour

Date Bars

Korsha Wilson, Tanya Holland

45 minutes, plus cooling

Easy

Pistachio-Lemon Bars

Molly O'Neill

45 minutes

Easy

Almond and Goat Cheese Candy Bars

Melissa Clark

30 minutes, plus chilling

Crisp Toffee Bars

Julia Moskin, Charlotte Druckman

1 hour

Dark Chocolate-Cherry Ganache Bars

Melissa Clark

1 hour, plus chilling time

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One-Hour-or-Less Chocolate Desserts and Treats

S’mores Crispy Treats

Ali Slagle

15 minutes, plus cooling

Easy

Chocolate Ganache

Julia Moskin

5 minutes

Evelyn Sharpe's French Chocolate Cake

Amanda Hesser

15 minutes

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Samantha Seneviratne

50 minutes, plus chilling

Easy

Saltine Cracker Brickle

The New York Times, Kelly Mahoney

20 minutes

Easy

Frozen Fudge Pops

Kim Severson

10 minutes, plus freezing

Easy Chocolate Fudge

Julia Moskin, Michael Chu

15 minutes

Easy

Chocolate-Bourbon Truffles

David Tanis

20 minutes, plus chilling

Chocolate Soufflé

Mark Bittman

45 minutes

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Our Best Pie Recipes

Mississippi Mud Pie

Samantha Seneviratne

90 minutes, plus chilling

Pumpkin Meringue Pie

Genevieve Ko

2 hours 5 minutes, plus cooling

Chocolate Chess Pie

Vaughn Vreeland

3 hours

Cranberry Cheesecake Tart

Claire Saffitz

2 hours 20 minutes, plus at least 4 1/2 hours’ setting

Pumpkin Pie With Pepitas

Claire Saffitz

2 hours 30 minutes

Caramelized Apple Pie

Claire Saffitz

4 hours 30 minutes

Lemon Cream Pie With Honey and Ginger

Claire Saffitz

1 hour 40 minutes, plus at least 4 hours’ setting

Apple Pie

Sam Sifton, Kierin Baldwin

1 hour 30 minutes

Peach Cobbler

Millie Peartree

1 hour

See all recipes

More Dessert recipes

Easy

Raspberry-Almond Clafoutis

David Tanis

50 minutes

Piloncillo Chocolate Chip Cookies

Rick A. Martínez

1 hour

Chocolate-Hazelnut Schaum Torte

Joan Nathan

About 2 ¾ hours

Easy

Doolsho (Cardamom Sponge Cake)

Ifrah F. Ahmed

45 minutes, plus cooling

Sgroppino

Rebekah Peppler

8 minutes

Citrus and Coconut Ambrosia

David Tanis

40 minutes

Lemon Bars With Pecan Crust

Lisa Donovan

4 1/4 hours

Easy

Chew Bread

Christina Morales, Ed Mitchell, Ryan Mitchell

45 minutes

Easy

Chewy Lemon Cookies

Clare de Boer

1 hour

Spice Bun

Brigid Washington

3 1/4 hours

Easy

Chocolate Doughnut Muffins

Yossy Arefi

50 minutes

Easy

Birthday Cake Blondies

Genevieve Ko

35 minutes, plus cooling

Easy

Vegan Banana Bread

Genevieve Ko

1 1/4 hours, plus cooling

Easy

One-Bowl Chocolate Cake

Genevieve Ko

2 hours, mainly cooling

Easy

Fruit Crumble

Genevieve Ko

1 1/4 hours, plus cooling

Easy

Chunky Chocolate Cookies

Genevieve Ko

25 minutes, plus cooling

Easy

One-Bowl Molasses-Chocolate Cake

Yossy Arefi

1 hour 35 minutes

Irish Cream Coffee Cake

Lidey Heuck

2 hours

Homemade Pop-Tarts

Margaux Laskey

About 2 hours, plus cooling

Four-Layer Surprise

Lisa Donovan

6 hours 20 minutes

Walnut Sponge Cake

David Tanis

2 hours

Sopapillas

Farideh Sadeghin

About 2 hours

Gelato

Lidey Heuck

About 6 hours

Easy

Granny’s Five-Flavor Pound Cake

Genevieve Ko, Carla Hall

1 hour 40 minutes, plus cooling