Carter Family Recipes

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Desserts

Dessert can be a slice of pie, a spoonful of custard, a crisp cookie, or a small confection. Cakes, fruit desserts, pastries, frozen preparations, and sauces give this collection its range of textures and serving styles. Browse by the kind of finish you want for the meal, then choose a recipe with the flavors and preparation you have in mind.

Browse the posts below, or choose a subcategory when available.

  • Brownies & Bars

    Brownies and bars gather a dessert into a bake that can be cut into portions. Pumpkin latte bars, blueberry squares, and coconut-cherry preparations offer different layers, fillings, and textures.

  • Cakes

    Cinnamon roll cake, hot fudge cake, and other bakes bring different crumb textures and finishes to this collection. Browse cakes for slicing, layering, or serving warm with a suitable accompaniment.

  • Candy

    Peanut brittle, chocolate truffles, and other candies turn sugar, chocolate, or nuts into small portions. Browse confections with different textures, from crisp pieces to a softer sweet center.

  • Cheesecakes

    Cheesecake can be served as a whole cake, a square, or part of another dessert. Bacon-bourbon caramel and salted caramel variations show different flavors within a creamy cheese-based preparation.

  • Chocolate

    Chocolate gives hot fudge sauce, cakes, and other desserts a common flavor while allowing very different textures. Browse this collection for a chocolate-focused component or a finished sweet dish.

  • Cobblers, Crisps & Crumbles

    Fruit, crumbs, and batter combine in different ways in cobblers, crisps, and crumbles. Apple crisp and cream cheese cobblers offer contrasting approaches to a dessert served in spooned or cut portions.

  • Cookies

    Lemon oatmeal cookies, biscotti, and savory pimiento cheese cookies show the variety of this collection. Browse for a cookie’s texture and flavor, whether you want a small sweet bake or a savory bite.

  • Dessert Pastries

    Apple fritters, cream puffs, and other dessert pastries bring dough and fillings together in different forms. Browse pastries for a crisp shell, a tender center, or a layered sweet serving.

  • Frozen Desserts

    Frozen desserts bring temperature into the texture of a sweet serving. Affogato, frozen yogurt, ice cream, and other preparations offer different bases and flavors for a chilled finish to the meal.

  • Fruit Desserts

    Fruit gives these desserts their flavor, moisture, or contrasting texture. Blueberry squares, cherry cream squares, and apple crisp offer different ways to bring fruit into a sweet serving.

  • Mousses, Possets & No-Bake Desserts

    Mousses, possets, and chilled desserts offer soft textures without relying on a baked cake structure. Lemon posset and chocolate mousse provide contrasting starting points for a spooned dessert.

  • Parfaits, Trifles & Layered Desserts

    A trifle or layered dessert combines several textures in one serving. Chocolate-peach trifle, coffee carlota, and pecan pie layers offer different arrangements of cream, fruit, and other components.

  • Pies & Tarts

    Apple squares, peach cream pie, and orange cream pie offer different fillings within the pie and tart collection. Pastry and crumb bases provide structure while fruit, cream, or other ingredients shape the finished slice.

  • Puddings & Custards

    Lemon posset, rice pudding, and bread pudding bring different ingredients into a soft dessert. These puddings and custards invite attention to the texture of a serving eaten with a spoon.

In this collection

  • Pecan Praline Cookie Pizza

    ¾ cups unsalted butter or margarine ¾ cups brown sugar; firmly packed 1 egg yolk 1 teaspoon vanilla 1½ cups all-purpose flour ¾ cups dairy sour cream ¼…

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  • Pecan Sugar Cookies

    1¼ cups light brown sugar; firmly packed ¼ cup water 3 tablespoons honey 1 egg 2⅓ cups flour 1 cup pecan pieces coarsely ground 2½ tablespoons cinnamon 1…

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  • Pecan Tossies

    3 ounces cream cheese ½ cup unsalted butter 1 cup flour 1 egg ¾ cups brown sugar; firmly packed 1 tablespoon soft unsalted butter 1 teaspoon vanilla Dash…

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  • Raspberry Pecan Thumbprints

    2 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup pecan pieces; finely chopped; divided ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ¼ teaspoon ground allspice ⅛ teaspoon sea salt 1 cup unsalted butter, softened…

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  • Texas Pecan Crispies

    ½ cup unsalted butter; softened ½ cup shortening 2 cups brown sugar; firmly packed 2 eggs 2½ cups all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon sea salt 1½ cup pecan pieces…

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  • Making Successful Pie Pastry

    An experienced cook tosses together a batch of pastry quickly and easily and in­variably turns out well-shaped pies with tender, crisp and somewhat flaky crusts. Some of the…

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  • Almond Crust

    1½ cups blanched almonds 1 egg white ¼ cup sugar Preheat oven to 375ºF. Using a knife, chop the almonds fine. Or chop them briefly in a food…

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  • Basic Pie Pastry

    2 cups flour ½ teaspoon salt ⅔ cups shortening ⅓ cup cold water, approximately If using a food processor, put the flour, salt and shortening into the con­tainer.…

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  • Brazil Nut Crust

    Brazil nuts 2 tablespoons sugar Using a food processor, chop enough Brazil nuts to make 1 cup. Blend the ground nuts with the sugar. Using the back of…

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  • Butter Pecan Crust

    ½ cup unsalted butter 1 cup all-purpose flour ¼ cup granulated sugar ½ cup pecan pieces Preheat oven to 375ºF. Blend together butter, flour and granulated sugar until…

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