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There’s nothing better than grandma’s food! I love the memories of being fed pure love by my grandma. And now we have grandma’s best desserts gathered in one place for some old fashioned comfort you can make yourself.
Coffee and dessert
I have fond memories of my grandma baking away in the kitchen. She would embrace me there and let me make mistakes and try things. I would say how good cocoa powder smelled and she would say, should we taste some? And we would get a speck and it was so gross and we would giggle and say yucky.
She was such a delight.
It was so much fun to be loved by her! And she always had a big box full of recipes. She would cut the recipes off the packages, like the flour bag or out of magazines. She would save the best ones. She made notes on them. She had hand written recipe cards. Cooking was an important part of her life. And Grandma’s best desserts were a treasure!
I can always picture her sitting at the table with a cup of coffee and a little sweet of some kind. Sweets were her jam. She had a big sweet tooth and every cake and cookie she made tasted like pure love. I hope I’m passing that on!
I have worked at perfecting many of her recipes since she passed away. I remember her through her cooking. I have her canisters in my little kitchen, they are one of my most prized possessions. I think of her every time I cook and hope she is proud of how seriously I take it.
Today I’m going to share some of the recipes I’ve come up with that either remind me of her, that she taught me, or that I’ve tried to recreate that she would make. I hope it does her justice. She was just absolutely one of a kind. And anyone who knew her, when asked, will remark about her cooking.
Peach desserts
Peaches are my favorite! We love making this peach crumble and you’re going to be in love!
If you love crust, this old fashioned peach cobbler is a winner as well!
Apple dessert ideas
Apple crisp is a super fun old fashioned dessert. My grandma would whip up these crisps and crumbles with fresh fruit often. They taste like love.
My grandma loved cakes and she would always make an old fashioned apple cake like this one. I haven’t worked on a recipe for it yet, but I found this one and it’s very similar to how grandma made hers.
And again, if you’re a crust person, here’s a great old fashioned apple pie with a traditional crust.
And apple fritters cannot be ignored. I mean, what is better than fried dough? Am I right? Grandma didn’t make these often, but when she did, oh man! But she did like to buy them and have them often. Check out this old fashioned apple fritter recipe.
Desserts that use a lot of eggs
More often than fruit desserts though, my grandma would make desserts that use a lot of eggs. She made things like custards and puddings a lot more. Here are some of her favorites.
Chocolate desserts
Grandma’s Old Fashioned Chocolate pie was her standby. I just loved the smell of this cooking. It’s definitely one of grandma’s best desserts. When I made it I get happy tears for all the yummy memories we had together. Plus with the meringue on top, it’s just pretty and so old fashioned looking. It makes me feel like a master baker to make it. I use homemade chocolate extract in mine and it gives it another level. Homemade extracts are the bomb!
And if you don’t put this in a crust and top it with meringue, you’re making homemade chocolate pudding. Yum yum.
She loved making these monster cookies filled with chocolate chips and m and ms. We got the recipe from my Aunt Pat and us cookie monsters would make them up!
My devil’s food cake is bomb. I used to make it for her and she would say it was better than hers. I don’t know about that, but I know it still draws a crowd every time I make it. It’s a special recipe. If grandma tells you yours is good, you keep that! You can make cake or cupcakes, but this is a really old recipe. I’ve been making it since I was a kid.
And we can’t skip old fashioned fudge. My grandma made it but my mom is famous for it. Here’s a recipe that’s really close to hers.
Desserts with pumpkin puree
Grandma loved pumpkin pie. In fact, she called me punkin. And when I asked her why she said I was sweet like punkin pie and she loved punkin pie. We make our own pumpkin puree for our pumpkin pies. When I was a kid, she used canned, but when my mom was a kid, she made her own. Around the time I was born, canned and convenience foods were really coming into fashion.
She also loved to make pumpkin cookies. Hers had cinnamon, but I’m allergic to it, so she would make them for me without and I started making them recently too. We don’t use cinnamon in ours.
Lavender dessert recipes
My grandma didn’t make recipes with lavender, but it’s a really old fashioned ingredient. She used lavender for other things, but didn’t eat it. I loved making these mini lavender bundt cakes and they made me think of her and her bundt cakes she loved to make. Sometimes she would make lemon or chocolate, but I came up with this recipe for honey, lemon, lavender cake that we just love. I know she would too. I wish I could let her try it!
And don’t forget about these great old fashioned desserts as well:
- Peanut butter cookies
- Strawberry pie without jello
I hope you enjoy these tasty treats. Grandma’s best desserts definitely hold a special place in my heart.
