What’s for Dessert?

Indulge in this collection of easy recipes meant to satisfy any sweet tooth! We’ve also put together a helpful guide to the best baking ingredients to keep on hand, so you’re ready to whip up a delicious dessert at any time.

Chocolate Treats

Try this simple 3-ingredient recipe for Nutella Brownies. Chocolate mousse might seem complicated, but you can actually make it easily by melting 200 grams of dark chocolate and 2/3 cup water in a bowl over low heat, whisking slowly until combined, transferring the bowl to a pan of ice cubes, and continuing to whisk until it’s light and fluffy, like whipped cream. Want some easy chocolate muffins? Combine 2 ripe bananas with ½ cup peanut butter and 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder and pour the mixture into your muffin pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 350° until a toothpick comes out clean. For the simplest chocolatey recipe ever, make Cookies n’ Cream Bark by melting white chocolate, stirring in crushed Oreos, pouring the mixture into a pan, smoothing it, topping it with more crushed Oreos, and refrigerating until it’s solid before breaking into pieces.

Tasty Cookies

Does baking cookies seem like a time-consuming, complicated chore? It doesn’t have to be! These Brown Butter Wedding Cookies require just six ingredients and are finished in a flash. Want something super rich and chewy, but small enough to be manageable? These Chocolate Brownie Cookies fit the bill to perfection. For the simplest Oatmeal Cookies you’ve ever made, mash two ripe bananas, add a cup of oats and a scant handful of walnuts, shape into cookies and bake. And shortbread cookies are the picture of simplicity, made by just mixing a cup of butter, ½ cup of sugar, and two cups of flour, mixing until a soft dough forms, cool to stiffen, and bake until golden.

Cakes and Muffins

Can’t decide if you want a cake or some muffins? This Blueberry Muffin Cake only requires one bowl and is as easy to make as it is delicious. This Almond Cake is springy and just sweet enough, made with a jar of almond paste, beaten with butter and sugar. If you want to keep up with the trends, check out this TikTok-famous Phyllo Crinkle Cake, famous for a reason and easily adaptable. For a simple fruity cake, this Blackberry Icebox Cake is creamy, delicious, and doesn’t require baking, and this Easy One-Bowl Upside-Down Cake uses frozen fruit and is a breeze to bake.

Delicious Fruit Desserts

Sometimes, you just want something fruit-filled and warm. Try Strawberry-Graham Galette, with a freeform graham cracker crust, or Cheater’s Berry Crumb Pie, with a press-in cookie crust. For a night when you want to impress dinner guests, try these gorgeous Plum Tarts with Honey and Black Pepper, or this Pear Galette that is as easy as it is fancy. For high drama with minimal effort, give Classic Bananas Foster a try.

Desserts That Couldn’t Be Simpler

Hanging out at home and craving something sweet? Make yourself a Chocolate Mug Cake by mixing a ripe banana, an egg, and 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder in a mug, then microwaving for two minutes. A craving for something warm and fruity can be satisfied with Pan-Fried Cinnamon Bananas, made by cooking a chopped ripe banana, one tablespoon of sugar, and ½ teaspoon of cinnamon in a greased pan over medium heat, flipping to cook both sides. And for something cool, fruity, and refreshing, Make Watermelon Sorbet by freezing watermelon cubes, pureeing them in a blender, then freezing the puree in a deep pan for two more hours.

Must Have Ingredients for All Your Baking Needs

One of the tricks for always being able to whip up the perfect dessert is to keep a well-stocked pantry. There are certain ingredients you absolutely must have, and then there are embellishments, variations on each staple, that make your pantry top-notch.

• Flour: If you have all-purpose flour, you can make just about anything, including cookies, quick breads, muffins, cupcakes, cakes, pie crusts, and more. Shelf-stable, it should be stored at room temperature in an airtight container.
  • Nice to Have Alternatives: Bread flour, cake flour, whole wheat and self-rising flour are all great options to have on hand for special recipes. Cornmeal is a must for cornbread and more, cornstarch is a great thickener. Nut flours, seed flours, and gluten-free blends are becoming more common.
• Sugars: If you have granulated sugar (white sugar), brown sugar, and powdered sugar on hand, you can bake just about anything.
  • Nice to Have Alternatives: Honey, molasses, corn syrup, pure maple syrup, and decorator sugar give you more versatility.
• Leaveners: Baking soda, baking powder, and yeast are all essential items for the home baker. These cause the chemical reactions that allow baked goods to rise.
• Cocoa Powder: Unsweetened cocoa powder is the cocoa used in most recipes.
  • Nice to Have Alternatives:: Dutch-process cocoa powder, is a richer, more mellow type of cocoa.
• Salt: Most of the time, all you need is table salt. Even if a recipe calls for kosher salt, you can substitute table salt.
  • Nice to Have Alternatives: Flaky sea salt, also known as fleur de sel or Maldon salt, can be used to make your cookies, brownies, or caramel sauce a little fancier.
• Dairy: Unsalted butter (to allow you more control), eggs, and milk will get you through just about any baking you need to do.
  • Nice to Have Alternatives: Other dairy options that can expand your baking repertoire include buttermilk, cream cheese, evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, sour cream, heavy cream, and canned coconut cream.
• Fats: You can’t go wrong if you have both butter and vegetable oil.
  • Nice to Have Alternatives: Vegetable shortening and lard can be used in pie crusts and other recipes, and coconut oil is a good substitution for other fats.
• Flavorings: Really, pure vanilla extract is the only thing you absolutely need.
  • Nice to Have Alternatives: Depending on the flavors you enjoy and the recipes you’d like to make, it can be useful to have other extracts as well, like almond, anise, mint, lemon, peppermint, coconut, or rum extract.
• Spices: Cinnamon, cloves, allspice, ginger, and nutmeg will cover most of your baking needs.
  • Nice to Have Alternatives: Cream of tartar can work as a leavener, a thickener, and in snickerdoodles. Espresso powder is often added to chocolate desserts to intensify the flavor of the chocolate. And cardamom is a little bit exotic but used in a surprising number of recipes. You will find that you will add spices to your collection as recipes call for them.
• Add-ins: Keep your pantry stocked with chocolate chips, chocolate bars, dried fruit, coconut, oats, nuts, jams and jellies, peanut butter, food coloring and sprinkles, and you will be ready for almost anything.
  • Nice to Have Alternatives: To take your add-ins to the next level, consider storing crystallized ginger, butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips, mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, toffee bits, candies, graham crackers and graham cracker crumbs, marshmallows, malted milk powder, canned pumpkin, powdered gelatin, freeze-dried fruit, and instant tapioca.

Find Everything You Need at Busch’s Fresh Food Market

We’ve got everything you need for any baking product you undertake! Better yet, skip the baking and head to our bakery, where you will always find a mouthwatering variety of fresh baked sweet treats, breads, and more. Since 1975, Busch’s Fresh Food Market has served customers in Michigan, first as a small business, and now as a privately held independent supermarket chain with 16 stores and over 1,400 associates. Proud to be mitten born and raised, we bring our customers local products grown and produced right here in Michigan. Our hometown local food market combines today’s emphasis on freshness and style with our traditional values, personal service, and wholesomeness. When you enter our grocery store, you will find everything from fresh meat and produce to baked goods, beer, and wine, all chosen because of their superior ingredients and exceptional flavor. Shop Busch’s Fresh Food Market in-store or online at Buschs.com.