Warm-and-Cozy Dessert Recipes
Ginger-Cinnamon Apple Crisp [1]
"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.
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Sandwich Cake [5]
A cream cheese layer and rich chocolate frosting make this pumpkin cake a crowd-pleaser.
Apple-Butter Cakelets [9]
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.
Never-Fail Rice Pudding [13]
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.
Sweet Potato Cupcakes [17]
A rich cream cheese frosting tops cinnamon-spiced cupcakes. Garnish with shredded orange peel.
Cinnamon-Cardamom Crisps [21]
Great with coffee or an afternoon snack, these cookies combine the flavors of cinnamon and cardamom, with sliced almonds on top.
Glazed Gingerbread Cake [25]
Lemon glaze and a sprinkle of crystallized ginger enhance the flavor and presentation of this old-fashioned gingerbread.
Pumpkin-Bourbon Pudding [29]
This baked pudding features pumpkin, raisins and bourbon. Serve it in individual dishes for company or in one casserole for your family.
Cranberry Layer Cake [33]
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 [34]
Mistress Suzanne's Bananas Foster [37]
This cinnamoned New Orleans classic is a popular dessert at Rider's Inn in Painesville, Ohio. Mistress Suzanne's Dining Room at the inn is named for the third wife of the original owner, Joseph Rider.
Pumpkin Pie Cake [41]
Sprinkle moist pumpkin filling with a cake mix topping for a quick and easy dessert. The recipe is from Farmer's Inn in Havana, North Dakota.
Pumpkin Pie Cake [42]
Fat Molasses Cookies [45]
Packed with flavor from molasses, ginger, cinnamon and brown sugar, these cookies look especially nice when cut with a scalloped or round cutter and sprinkled with coarse sugar or crystallized ginger.
Fat Molasses Cookies [46]
Winter Shortcake [49]
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 [50]
Cranberry-Apple Crisp [53]
A Kettering, Ohio, reader shared this easy dessert that pairs sweet apples with tangy cranberries. The recipe requires less sugar and butter than the average fruit crisp, making this homey dish more healthful.
Maple Syrup Cake [57]
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 [58]
Amazing Creme Caramel [61]
Here's our version of a sweet, soothing Latin dessert specialty known as flan. We steeped citrus peel and cinnamon in the milk to add flavor. Caramelized sugar on the bottom becomes a caramelly sauce. Serve the creme caramel with raspberry or chocolate sauce, or all by itself.
Hummingbird Cake [65]
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 [66]
Tiramisu [69]
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 [70]
Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes [73]
This gooey-center, intense chocolate dessert is a favorite among guests at the Kirby House Bed-and-Breakfast in Saugatuck, Michigan.
White Chocolate Bread Pudding with Hard Sauce [77]
Zingerman's Roadhouse restaurant in Ann Arbor, Michigan, developed this winning version of bread pudding. It's filled with dried cherries, white chocolate and vanilla bean.
Maple-Apple Pudding Bake [81]
The Wisconsin Maple Producers created this recipe to showcase maple syrup and juicy apples in a moist, rich dessert.
Turkey Run Inn’s Bread Pudding [85]
A brown sugar and butter sauce completes this down-home dessert served at Turkey Run Inn at the state park in Marshall, Indiana.
Oliebollen [89]
These fried Dutch coffee dunkers will remind you of fat doughnut holes. The recipe comes from a reader in Cedar Grove, Wisconsin.
Oliebollen [90]
Gingersnap Gems [93]
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 [94]
Pumpkin-Praline Layer Cake [97]
Whipped cream tops a moist filling of pumpkin, brown sugar, pecans, butter and more whipping cream. "Absolutely delicious! So moist," writes one of our website reviewers. "My church community group all gave rave reviews!"
Single-Serving Caramel Apples [101]
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."
Apple Pudding with Rummy Sauce [105]
Creamy rum sauce tops this warm, homey pudding. Generous scoops of ice cream are good, too!
Prairie State Oatmeal Cake [109]
This moist, coconut-walnut-topped oatmeal cake comes from an Alexis, Illinois, reader who likes to serve it at family outings.