If you love chocolate, get your forks ready. For a special occasion dinner (okay, for any dinner), there’s no better way to close the meal than with a rich, decadent chocolate dessert. Whether you’re in the mood for a brownies or some homemade chocolate ice cream, these tried and true recipes will satisfy any sweet tooth. From gooey chocolate cakes to classic French chocolate mousse and a whole slew of delicious chocolate cookies, our best chocolate dessert recipes will have you craving sweets for breakfast, dinner and every snack in between.
This rich, multilayered dessert of angel food and devil’s food cake, peanut butter mousse, and milk chocolate ganache should be frozen before icing is added and refrigerated before it’s sliced. Get the recipe for Heaven and Hell Cake »
A crunchy cookie crust contrasts with cool, pudding-like filling in a showstopper of a dessert that keeps well in the fridge. Get the recipe for Chocolate Cream Pie »
This cinnamony chocolate cake was a staple at the now-closed Half-a-Hill Tavern in Greene County, Missouri, in the heart of the Ozark Mountains. It gets a pleasing tang from vinegar, and a moist, light crumb thanks to shortening in the batter. Get the recipe for Sour Chocolate Cake »
In these minty ice cream sandwiches, the chocolate mousse “ice cream” and cake are both sweetened with bittersweet chocolate, letting the chocolate’s richness—brightened by fresh spearmint—be the main flavor. Get the recipe for Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches »
With a dense chocolate coating and a soft, cakelike cookie base, we think these homemade mallomars are even better than the original. Get the recipe for Homemade Mallomars »
Though this recipe takes some advanced planning (you need to allow around 2 weeks for the bananas to ferment), it’s well worth the wait. The fermented, sweet tang of bananas blends with bitter chocolate for a tropical spin on the classic pudding. It’s easier, too, as the pudding is set with gelatin rather than egg yolks, which also lets the banana flavor shine through. Get the recipe for Fermented Banana Chocolate Pudding »
Note: If you want to ferment and puree more bananas than this recipe needs, the three bananas called for in this recipe should yield 1 1/4 cups of puree. Combine that with your half-and-half and reserve the rest for another day.
