Our Favorite Flourless Desserts

Italian Flourless Chocolate Torta

A deeply chocolatey flourless cake, devised from a century-and-a-half-old secret recipe from Vignola, Italy.

By Rose HattabaughJune 11, 2021

Chocolate Meringue Cookies

Can a chocolate cookie be fudgy, airy, and crispy at the same time? We were delighted to find that the answer is yes!

Caprese Chocolate and Almond Torte

This gluten-free, flourless chocolate cake from Capri, Italy gets rich, almost brownie-like texture, thanks to ground almonds and a generous amount of egg.

Gluten-Free White Chocolate and Apricot Torte

Cheesecake meets flourless chocolate cake in this elegant, impressive dessert. But instead of being pure indulgence, the torte is healthy-ish. Made with reduced-fat cream cheese and nonfat Greek yogurt, it is sweetened only with honey, white chocolate

Spanish Almond Cake (Tarta de Santiago)

This fragrant almond cake taught us the secret to extra springy, chewy texture.

By Julia RackowAugust 6, 2018

Bête Noire

Cookbook author Lora Brody’s creation bête noire is no typical chocolate cake: silky, custardy, with a base of sugar syrup.

By Wes MartinOctober 16, 2019

Coconut-Saffron Macaroons

Cardamom and ground ginger infuse these macaroons with alluring fragrance and flavor, and the saffron adds a golden hue. They're the perfect sweet to pair with hot tea or coffee. The cooled cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temper

Coconut-Almond Macaroons with Cherry Preserves

Cloyingly sweet, one-dimensional coconut macaroons get a makeover with this simple recipe. We add sliced almonds for texture, fruit preserves for color and tangy notes and aniseed for licorice-like fragrance and flavor. The cookies are best eaten the

By Rose HattabaughOctober 13, 2020

Coconut Bars with Almonds and Chocolate

Adapted from Honey & Co’s cookbook, subtly sweet, Middle Eastern-inspired coconut bars with nuts, dried fruit and a chocolate base.

By Rose HattabaughNovember 16, 2022

Coconut Cashew Cake (Sanwin Makin)

Our lighter, springier version of Burma’s simple, richly coconut-y cake.

By Yvonne RupertiDecember 11, 2017

Chocolate-Almond Spice Cookies

From Switzerland, an easier, chewier chocolate cookie.

By Albert StummOctober 8, 2018

Ricotta-Semolina Cheesecake

This is Chris Kimball’s recreation of a light, creamy cheesecake with a “grownup flavor” that eluded him for 20 years.

Malbec-Poached Pears with Ice Cream and Toasted Almonds

We’ll take poached pears any night of the year—especially with the almost magical combination of fresh ginger and star anise-spiced wine.

By Erin RossNovember 20, 2017

Mixed Berry Crumble with Spiced Oats and Almonds

Frozen mixed berries make it easy to throw together this simple fruit dessert. A mixture of oats, spices and sugar does double duty here. We add a small amount to the berries to sweeten and thicken the filling; into the remainder we add almonds and so

By Malcolm JacksonNovember 16, 2022

Chocolate Blender Cake

Our chocolate blender cake, with a brownie-like consistency and a rich chocolate glaze, comes together with only one blender and one cake pan.

By Courtney HillFebruary 8, 2024

Meringue Cookies with Salted Peanuts and Chocolate

Airy, melt-in-your-mouth meringues need no sales pitch; make them plain or try our three flavor variations, including salted peanuts and chocolate.

By Rose HattabaughOctober 31, 2022

Instant Pot Floating Island Meringue

This melt-in-your mouth meringue offers delicate elegance and unparalleled fluffiness with only 5 ingredients.

Raspberry-Pistachio Meringue with Spiced Whipped Cream

Traditional eton mess is like a simplified trifle—strawberries, cream and meringue cookies, folded together in a large bowl. For our version, we used raspberries and spiked the whipped cream with sour cream to lend a subtle tang. Store-bought meringue

By Julie RackowApril 2, 2018

Corn and Cinnamon Butter Cookies (Galletas de Maíz)

These buttery cookies, with the warm, sweet fragrance and flavor of cinnamon and the subtly nutty notes of ground corn, are food writer and recipe developer Paola Briseño-González’ re-creation of the galletas de maíz (corn cookies) from a home bakery

By Rose HattabaughSeptember 12, 2023