Brownie

Much richer than the average cookie, these treats start with a brownie crust, which gets filled with a luxurious mocha cheesecake mixture. The whole thing is finished off with a sour cream topping and then cut into bars. Be sure to bake the crust and filling a day before serving the bars.

Although they are baked, these intensely chocolaty bar cookies resemble fudge more than brownies. To retain the creamy texture, keep them in an airtight tin at room temperature for up to a week. If the bars are refrigerated, their texture will become more dense.

"When I lived in South Africa, rum and raisin chocolate bars were a special treat," says Beth Peterson of Phoenix, Arizona. "I created this brownie recipe based on that combination of flavors, and perfected it with the help of friends and colleagues who sampled the brownies at each stage of development. These have a grown-up taste with the right balance of sweetness and rum." Try these warm with vanilla ice cream.

These irresistible treats are filled with dried apricots, figs and cherries as well as dates and walnuts, and are topped with a cream cheese frosting.

This brownie, baked in a tart pan, gets its moistness from cream cheese and its fudginess from the best-quality cocoa and chocolate. Little puddles of ganache are poured into holes made in the brownie, after it has baked, with a the handle of a wooden spoon. Chocolate doesn't get better than this.

My children like to visit my Aunt Lisl's daughter-in-law, Dorothy, the way I used to visit Aunt Lisl. Dorothy doesn't make butter cookies, but she does make brownies which she serves at Hanukkah and every Friday night, a perfect ending to a meat meal. The children help make the brownies and then take a few extra home in aluminum foil. They love them—without the nuts.