Warm-and-Cozy Dessert Recipes

Toast oats, coconut and macadamia nuts, set them aside, then warm bananas and dried figs in brown sugar and rum. Put the two together and you’ve got crisp, no oven required!

Banana-Fig Skillet Crisp

Caramel in the bottom of the pan melds with the brownie, creating a dessert so rich and gooey that you need a spoon to serve it. Because cast iron holds heat, the brownie will still be warm when you go back for seconds.

Caramel Pecan Skillet Brownie

"This is a twist on a popular dish and is one of my personal favorites," says April Osburn from the Clabber Girl Bake Shop in Terre Haute, Indiana. Thinly slice the apples so they soften in the allotted baking time.

Ginger-Cinnamon Apple Crisp

We often equate Amish food with comfort. Here's our version of a favorite dessert you might find at Amish-based restaurants in the Midwest.

Amish Apple Dumplings

The recipe for this warm, comforting dessert, one of the winners in a Midwest Living® recipe contest, comes from a Brookfield, Missouri, reader. Serve with raisins, dried cherries or dried cranberries for extra flavor and color.

Never-Fail Rice Pudding

Just three ingredients go into this quick dessert: sweetened condensed milk, caramel ice cream topping and chocolate. Vary your dippers to match the mood of your party.

Chocolate-Caramel Fondue

A cream cheese layer and rich chocolate frosting make this pumpkin cake a crowd-pleaser. 

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Sandwich Cake

Caramel sauce adds a creamy-sweet finish to individual Apple-Butter Cakelets created by Midwest Living® in honor of Illinois' Amish bakers. You can choose between two Prairie State ingredients, apples or pumpkins, for this treat.

Apple-Butter Cakelets

Cherries usually dot this French country dessert, but we opted for plump blackberries and a wisp of orange liqueur. Baked in a large skillet or a group of minis, the simple, eggy batter yields a texture between cake and custard.

Blackberry Clafouti

A rich cream cheese frosting tops cinnamon-spiced cupcakes. Garnish with shredded orange peel.

Sweet Potato Cupcakes

Lemon glaze and a sprinkle of crystallized ginger enhance the flavor and presentation of this old-fashioned gingerbread.

Glazed Gingerbread Cake

This baked pudding features pumpkin, raisins and bourbon. Serve it in individual dishes for company or in one casserole for your family.

Pumpkin-Bourbon Pudding

This moist white cake combines toasted pecans and refreshing orange peel with cranberries. Orange peel flavors the thick cream cheese frosting, too.

Cranberry Layer Cake

Jill Prescott, a Midwest cooking-school teacher, shared this dessert named for her home state. Top the creamy pudding with fresh berries and whipped cream.

Wisconsin Honey Bee and Vanilla Bean Pudding

These tiny tarts mix cranberries and orange peel into a delightful pecan tassie recipe. Butter and cream cheese make the crust rich in this state fair blue-ribbon recipe from Sheila Bethia of West Allis, Wisconsin.

Cranberry-Pecan Tarts

Crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside: This spice cookie has it all. It's a state fair prizewinning recipe from Catherine Blackwood of Columbus, Ohio.

Molasses Cookies

Try a new twist on an old favorite! We added some spice and a topping of warm apples and cherries to summertime shortcake. It’s company-special, but right for every day, too.

Winter Shortcake

Spiced coconut streusel adds crunch to healthy apples and berries.

Rise and Shine Cranberry-Apple Crisp

Ruth Smiley of Parke County, Indiana, gave us her recipe for Maple Syrup Cake, which she makes in a fluted tube pan. We mixed up an easy maple syrup icing to drizzle over the top. Ruth's family produces maple syrup on land that's been in the family for five generations.

Maple Syrup Cake

Minnesota wild rice adds chewiness to this moist, chocolaty cake from Salty Tart in Minneapolis.

Janice's Chocolate Oatmeal Cake

This tall layer cake, with a medley of flavors from nuts, fruit and spices, comes from the kitchens of Silver Dollar City theme park near Branson, Missouri. Add a sprinkling of pecans on top for even more crunch.

Hummingbird Cake

Gian-Tony's on the Hill in St. Louis shared this classic Italian dessert recipe with us. Our Test Kitchen decided the liqueurs could be omitted if necessary, but we like the flavor they add. You could also use just one flavor of liqueur in place of the others.

Tiramisu

A luscious chocolate and pecan mixture swirls throughout these festive cookies.

Chocolate Nut Revels

The Wisconsin Maple Producers created this recipe to showcase maple syrup and juicy apples in a moist, rich dessert.

Maple-Apple Pudding Bake

A brown sugar and butter sauce completes this down-home dessert served at Turkey Run Inn at the state park in Marshall, Indiana.

Turkey Run Inn’s Bread Pudding

From The Cookie Jar in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, these soft, no-restraint chocolate chip cookies pack in cocoa powder, chocolate chips and a very chocolatey chocolate frosting.

Cookie Jar Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

We gussied up chocolate cake mix with sour cream and red food coloring for Fabulous Red Velvet Cake. Then, we crowned the cake with a white chocolate-cream cheese frosting and toasted coconut.

Fabulous Red Velvet Cake

The recipe for these sweet-and-spicy cookies comes from the Warren family in Stanley, Kansas. The gingersnaps are a favorite at family gatherings.

Gingersnap Gems

Joan Wagner of Overland Park, Kansas, considers this baked apple dish her easy-entertaining recipe. "You can make these up to six hours ahead and cover them with plastic wrap, so the puff pastry doesn't dry out," she says. "The desserts bake while your coffee is brewing."

Single-Serving Caramel Apples

We love the nutty oatmeal taste of this sweet treat, and it's a healthier alternative to most desserts. If you're watching calories, serve this pie with a berry topping instead of whipped cream. 

Mom's Oatmeal Pie

This moist, coconut-walnut-topped oatmeal cake comes from an Alexis, Illinois, reader who likes to serve it at family outings.

Prairie State Oatmeal Cake