Fruity Topping

Place frozen cherries, raspberries, or blackberries in a small glass bowl. Microwave at HIGH 30 seconds or until thawed; drain. Stir in orange liqueur or orange juice and powdered sugar.

Note: For testing purposes only, we used Grand Marnier for orange liqueur.

Pecan shortbread cookies + Creamy Filling + Cherry Fruity Topping.

Pure butter shortbread rounds + Creamy Filling + finely chopped peanut brittle.

Sugar cookies + Creamy Filling + Blackberry Fruity Topping.

Double chocolate-filled vanilla wafer sandwich cookies + Creamy Filling + Raspberry Fruity Topping.

Soft-baked chocolate chip cookies + Creamy Filling + your favorite chopped candy bar.

Homemade snickerdoodle cookies + Creamy Filling + crumbled chocolate-covered crispy peanut-buttery candy bar.

Brownies + Creamy Filling + chopped turtle candies.

Fudge-mint graham cracker cookies + Creamy Filling + chopped thin crme de menthe chocolate mints.

Bonus: More Tips for "Dreamy, Creamy Cookie Desserts".

Our Nutter Butter-Banana Pudding Trifle, Clementine-Gingersnap Trifle, and Triple Chocolate-Cookie Trifle Pie call for chill time. Written as a range, such as 2 to 24 hours, the numbers indicate the minimum and maximum amount of chill time for the dessert to be at peak flavor and texture.

Homemade Whipped Cream to top Nutter Butter-Cookie Trifle: Make 2 cups sweetened whipped cream by beating 1 cup whipping cream and 2 Tbsp. sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.

The Triple Chocolate-Cookie Trifle Pie was originally tested in a bowl. Our Food staff noted it held its shape and threw out the wild idea to assemble it in a springform pan. Next day, this trifle pie invention was sliced instead of scooped and received our top rating.

Lowest cost: Nutter Butter-Banana Pudding Trifle. On-hand ingredients are used in the pudding, cookies usually cost less than $50, and bananas are a bargain at less than $1 per pound.

Moderate spending: Clementine-Gingersnap Trifles. Clementines are sometimes sold individually but are most often available in mesh bags or small wooden crates for $4 to $ Gingersnaps cost just more than $ Don't skip the poppy seeds (about $4 a bottle). You'll like them in this recipe as much as in lemon-poppy seed bread.

Splurge sensation: Triple Chocolate-Cookie Trifle Pie. It would cost double to buy this style of dessert at a bakery. Allow $15 for chocolate and cookies, $4 for whipping cream, and probably $7 for raspberry garnish. To save money on the garnish, buy one container of raspberries instead of two. Use 10 to 12 arranged near outside edge of pie to garnish each piece. Skip the Raspberry Glaze.

Serve remaining berries for guests to add to their servings.