18 Nostalgic Desserts Straight from Grandma’s Recipe Box

With crisp puff pastry, rich almond filling, and fresh raspberries, this simple but stunning dessert balances sweet, nutty, and very subtly floral flavors.

Get the Raspberry-Rose Frangipane Tart recipe.

If you love pumpkin spice but aren’t quite ready to turn on the oven, this pumpkin icebox cake is the dessert for you. Made with layers of spiced pumpkin cream and crisp cookies that soften in the fridge, it’s cool, creamy and packed with fall flavor. Plus, it comes together with minimal effort, making it an easy choice for your next autumn gathering.

Get the Pumpkin Icebox Cake recipe.

This plum crumble (aka “plumble”) combines plum with a buttery, crisp topping—and this version gets an extra dose of cozy spice from crunchy gingersnaps. It’s warm, comforting and exactly the kind of easy dessert you’ll want to make all season long.

Get the Gingersnap Plumble recipe.

This tender, chocolatey cake gets a generous layer of creamy peppermint frosting, plus plenty of crushed candy canes for a little crunch. It’s easy to make, easy to serve a crowd, and guaranteed to bring some holiday cheer to the dessert table.

Get the Peppermint Frosted Sheet Cake recipe.

Nothing quite says Southern hospitality like a slice of pecan pie — especially when it's made from scratch by a grandma. A combo of bourbon, maple syrup, and brown sugar make for an ultra rich, toasty filling.

Get the Brown Sugar Pecan Pie recipe.

From the frugal ingredient list to the quick, easy assembly, there’s just something unquestionably “grandma-core” about icebox cakes. This one combines convenience foods like instant pudding with freshly whipped cream for a low-lift, no-bake dessert that both you and your grandmother can be proud of.

Get the Cinnamon-Scented Icebox Cake recipe.

What's a Southern dessert spread without a towering coconut cake? This three-layer stunner features generous swirls of homemade cream cheese frosting and a flurry of coconut flakes.

Get the Coconut Layer Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting recipe.

These tender, shortbread-like cookies taste like pure nostalgia, whether you serve them on their own or as part of a larger cookie assortment. All that’s missing is nana's iconic blue tin.

Get the Danish Butter Cookies recipe.

Simple enough to whip up on the fly, yet elegant enough to serve guests, this citrus-scented Bundt cake recipe feels exactly like something our grandmothers would have in their repertoires.

Get the Lemon Pound Cake recipe.

We can’t say for sure whether your grandmother would have used a stencil for her pie crust, but we're pretty sure she'd approve of this buttery double-crust apple pie.

Get the Apple Pie With Stenciled Crust recipe.

This icebox cake relies on store-bought cookies, which soften to cake-like comfort in the fridge overnight. Finish with a layer of fresh whipped cream for a rich—but shockingly easy—no-bake treat.

Get the Banana Pudding recipe.

This perfectly crisp, biscuit-topped cobbler is a fantastic way to use up juicy summer berries. That said, frozen fruit will also work during the off season.

Get the Mixed Berry Cobbler recipe.

These cake-like sandwich cookies are rich, fluffy, and just as nostalgic as they are delicious. But, we've given them a grown-up twist by adding a splash of Guinness to the batter.

Get the Chocolate Whoopie Pies recipe.

Melted white chocolate chips stand in for butter (gasp!) in this slightly tweaked version of the classic lemon bar recipe, giving it an extra-silky texture perfect for tea time.

Get the Lemon Curd Bars recipe.

If a box of Entenmann's coffee cake was a staple in your family's kitchen, you'll want to try this homemade version that's studded with walnuts and topped with cinnamon streusel. Paired with a cup of coffee, it's the perfect afternoon pick-me-up.

Get the Raisin-Walnut Coffee Cake recipe.

Fragrant, buttery and totally grandma-chic, these shortbread wedges are infused with lavender for a floral, elegant touch.

Get the Lavender Shortbread Wedges recipe.