Dessert Recipes & Ideas

I’ll be baking it all summer!

The Italian dessert might make you forget all about gelato.

Calling all banana bread lovers.

Meant to bee.

No-bake cookies — the kind made with oats, peanut butter, and chocolate — are a classic dessert and an easier option than homemade cookies from scratch. Mothers and grandmothers around the country regularly make this stovetop cookie, to varying results. I remember at least a few times eating failed no-bake cookies with a spoon because they never fully set. Here’s my secret to better no-bake cookies: Think of the process more like candy-making than cookie baking.

They’re so easy to make!

When you have a glut of fresh summer fruit, sorbets are the answer. You don’t need a recipe — just a basic template to follow and a little creativity. Strawberry-peach sorbet? Mint-infused watermelon sorbet? Raspberry-rosé sorbet? Yes, let’s make all of these this summer. All you need is chopped fruits, puree it, then add a little simple syrup and lemon juice, chill the base, churn the sorbet, and then freeze it.

Cooler than the original.

People will beg you for the recipe.

Bonus: a zippy lemon frosting!

It has the fluffiest biscuit topping.

As much as I love all the burgers, grilled hot dogs, and classic BBQ sides, 4th of July simply isn’t complete without an easy dessert. Maybe it’s my sweet tooth or the fact that all the best summer fruit is currently in its prime. I look forward to the festive red, white, and blue sweets, no-bake delights, gooey s’mores, and classic fruit pies. There’s so much to choose from.

Ice cream is great and snow cones are good, but for me the ultimate summer dessert is halo-halo. The refreshing, multi-layered, shaved-ice-based Filipino dessert is packed with incredible flavors and textures — icy, creamy, chewy, crunchy, sweet, syrupy. I’ve been lucky to eat halo-halo here in the United States and all over the Philippines and it still thrills me every time.

Not every recipe can be a winner.

It doesn’t get any better than this.

If you’re a fan of Little Debbie honey buns, you'll love this cake.

It takes just 15 minutes to prep.

If you love margaritas, this one’s for you.

It’s sweet, tart, and so creamy.

It’s a game-changer!

Lemon bars could never.

“I already want to make another batch.”

You only need six ingredients.

Butter mochi is a staple at almost any party in Hawai‘i, and it’s easy to see why. The coconut custard glutinous rice cake is perfectly chewy, slightly sticky, and just dense enough, with a hint of vanilla and salt. Growing up Japanese-American, or hapa, in Hawai‘i, I’ve had my fair share of butter mochi.

You don’t even have to make a crust or topping.

The humble banana gets the spotlight.

It’s the “perfect” dessert for summer!

Have you heard of the “Cuppa Cuppa Cuppa” cake?

Five layers of buttery, brown-sugar, chocolate chip cookie delight.

True to their name, poke cakes are sheet cakes that are baked, then (you guessed it!) poked, then filled with a liquid or syrup to add extra flavor and moisture into each bite. These no-fuss cakes (like dump cakes) are one of oldest baking hacks in the book. If you love retro recipes like icebox cake and pineapple upside-down cake, give poke cakes a try. These crowd-pleasing desserts are perfect for potlucks, parties, and gatherings.

It’s the best.

Simpler than shortcake.

They’re like lemon bars — but so much better.

They’re always the first to disappear at parties.

Five layers of chocolate-peanut butter perfection.

It takes just 20 minutes to prep.

They’re decadent and deeply chocolaty.

We love an easy recipe!

Everything you love about lemon bars … but better.

Creamy, fluffy, and delightfully airy cheesecake bars get a nice, earthy ube update.

My dad has an intense sweet tooth, just like me. One afternoon when I was around 10 years old, Dad got a hankering and he enlisted me to help him make Toll House chocolate chip cookies. That was the first time he and I had ever baked together. Since then, whenever I make chocolate chip cookies, including the ones from this recipe, I think of him and that special afternoon we spent together in the kitchen. I developed this recipe over the years.

Even though I’ve always loved the idea of rhubarb pie, I’ve steered clear of it for years, assuming it was too fussy and difficult to get right. But this spring I was determined to find an easy, foolproof way to enjoy my spring haul of rhubarb in pie form. The answer is this double-crust pie, which looks like a showstopper but couldn’t be easier to make.

Plus, a foolproof technique to make sure it slides right out of the pan.

It's heaven in a cake.

It’s light, but still berry decadent.

They’re soft, tangy, and oh-so tender.

Chocolate + peanut butter forever.

They’re so good!