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

Easy

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Yossy Arefi

45 minutes, plus 40 minutes’ cooling

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Millie Peartree

1 hour 50 minutes

Perfect Black and White Cookies

Melissa Clark

1 hour, plus cooling

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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

Death by Chocolate

Dan Pelosi

3 hours (includes at least 2 hours’ cooling and chilling)

Easy Chocolate Cake

Yossy Arefi

About 2 hours

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

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Lovely Layer Cakes

Chocolate Layer Cake

Claire Saffitz

2 1/4 hours

Classic White Cake

Yossy Arefi

2 hours 20 minutes

Strawberry and Cream Layer Cake

Claire Saffitz

2 hours

Strawberry Layer Cake

Lisa Donovan

2 hours 40 minutes

Hummingbird Cake

Vallery Lomas

1 hour

Easy Chocolate Cake

Yossy Arefi

About 2 hours

Chocolate Birthday Cake

Eric Kim

1 hour 20 minutes, plus cooling and chilling

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

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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

Strawberry Eton Mess

Samantha Seneviratne

20 minutes

Easy

S’mores

Tanya Sichynsky

30 minutes

Easy

Mouhalabieh (Milk Pudding)

Ligaya Mishan, Fadi Kattan

3 ¼ hours

Easy

Fruit Salad

Ali Slagle

20 minutes

Mango Royale

Ligaya Mishan, Isa Fabro

30 minutes, plus freezing and thawing

Easy

Ice Cream With Olive Oil and Dates

Ali Slagle

10 minutes

Easy

Peanut Butter Hot Fudge Sundaes

Yossy Arefi

10 minutes

Strawberry Gingersnap Icebox Cake

Melissa Clark

1 hour, plus chilling

Easy

Peanut-Butter Fudge

Samantha Seneviratne

10 minutes plus 1 1/2 hours chilling

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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

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More Dessert recipes

Molten Chocolate Muffins

Genevieve Ko

1 hour, plus cooling

Spice Cake With Tamarind

Korsha Wilson, Isaiah Screetch

1 hour 10 minutes, plus cooling and 2 hours’ chilling

Strawberry Cheesecake

Yossy Arefi

About 6 hours

Classic White Cake

Yossy Arefi

2 hours 20 minutes

Easy

Creamy Peach Sorbet With Raspberries

David Tanis

35 minutes, plus at least 4 hours’ chilling

Easy

Butter Cake With Peaches

Samantha Seneviratne

1 1/2 hours

Black Forest Sheet Cake

Samantha Seneviratne

1 hour 25 minutes, plus cooling

Easy

Vanilla Bundt Cake

Yossy Arefi

2 hours

Buttermilk Chess Pie

Lisa Donovan

4 hour 40 minutes

Chocolate Birthday Cake

Eric Kim

1 hour 20 minutes, plus cooling and chilling

Bánh Bò Nướng (Honeycomb Cake)

Genevieve Ko, Hannah Pham

About 2 hours, plus cooling

Easy

Ice Cream With Olive Oil and Dates

Ali Slagle

10 minutes

Easy

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Yossy Arefi

45 minutes, plus 40 minutes’ cooling

Easy

Oven S’mores

Melissa Clark

10 minutes

S’mores Tart

Melissa Clark

4 hours 40 minutes

Easy

Mouhalabieh (Milk Pudding)

Ligaya Mishan, Fadi Kattan

3 ¼ hours

Creamy Coconut-Lemon Pie

Yossy Arefi

About 45 minutes, plus cooling and overnight chilling

Easy

Nectarines in Lime Syrup

David Tanis

20 minutes, plus at least 1½ hours’ cooling and chilling

Easy

Berries and Cream Sheet Cake

Yossy Arefi

1 1/2 hours, plus cooling

Lychee Cake

Ramin Ganeshram

About 2¼ hours, plus cooling and chilling

Strawberry Lemonade Cake

Yossy Arefi

90 minutes, plus 50 minutes cooling and chilling

Easy

Berries and Cream

Yossy Arefi

15 minutes, plus 30 minutes macerating

Easy Chocolate Cake

Yossy Arefi

About 2 hours

Buttermilk Tres Leches Cake

Lisa Donovan

6 hours (includes 1 hour soaking and 4 hours’ refrigeration)