Brownie

Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 3 3/4 hr (includes cooling)

Using stencils to add powdered sugar designs is a great way to dress up the treats.

Active time: 10 min Start to finish: 45 min

The flavor and texture of these chewy confections are even better if they are allowed to rest overnight.

Nobody can resist brownies, especially when they’re studded with chunks of white chocolate and served with strawberries.

Mexican chocolate, usually found in tablet form, contains cinnamon, sugar, and ground almonds — as do these fudgy squares.

A favorite flavor combination in a fudgy brownie.

In 1897, the Sears catalog offered its customers a treat called brownies. No one seems to remember whether they were bar cookies or a chocolate confection named after a popular cartoon character. No matter; by the 1900s the brownie as we now know it had arrived. The recipe for these dense, moist brownies is from Heather Ho, pastry chef at Boulevard in San Francisco.

These brownies can be fudgy or cakey depending on how long you bake them.

You might be tempted to bake 2 sheets of brownies at a time in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Don't give in to this urge—they must go in the middle of the oven to cook through and brown evenly.

Two toppings — one mint, one chocolate — accent these luscious treats. Serve them with your choice of fresh fruit. Wrap the brownies in foil, and pack the fruit in an airtight plastic container.

The lusciously sticky caramel-pecan top layer in this brownie was inspired by the chewy chocolate candies called "turtles."

An inspired cherry-chocolate dessert.

"My parents and I recently celebrated my mom's birthday at a local restaurant called The Farmhouse," writes Karen Eschenbach of Emmaus, Pennsylvania. "We ended a wonderful meal with an even better dessert—chocolate-peanut butter 'beggars' purses.'" Each elegant phyllo "purse" contains a flourless brownie topped with peanut butter and chocolate ganache.

Peanut butter chips and chopped salted peanuts take brownies to a new level. Offer fresh fruit alongside.

Chocolate lovers will be in heaven when they taste these ultra-moist treats. The marbled topping works on most bar cookies.