Milk Chocolate Desserts

Milk-Chocolate Tart with Pretzel Crust

This dessert from pastry chef Colleen Grapes at the Harrison in Manhattan, a tribute to the chocolate-covered pretzel, hits just the right salty-sweet note. Grapes mixes crushed pretzels with flour, butter, sugar and egg to make a crunchy crust, pours in a luxurious milk-chocolate filling, then sprinkles on more crushed pretzels as a garnish.

• More Pies and Tarts

Milk Chocolate Crémeux with Sesame Crème Anglaise

"My favorite thing growing up was peanut butter on a spoon. Sesame is similar but more refined. And nut-free," says Shawn Gawle. This silky pudding-like milk chocolate dessert is laced with bourbon, then topped with a simple sesame-custard sauce.

• More Chilled Chocolate Desserts

Milk-Chocolate Pots de Crème

Pot de crème ("pot of cream") is a traditional French custard typically served in a pot-shaped cup. This milk-chocolate version from pastry chef Frank Urso at Philadelphia's Parc is supersilky and dense.

• More Great Chocolate Desserts

Milk-Chocolate-Frosted Layer Cake

This cake from Karina Gowing, the pastry chef at Arrows Restaurant in Ogunquit, Maine, is perfection for anyone who loves frosting. The ultracreamy icing, which is almost like a milk-chocolate ganache, gets spread liberally over layers of light, delicate, cocoa-flavored cake.

• More Layer Cake Recipes

Silky Chocolate Mousse with Peanut Butter Crunch

Any chocolate and peanut butter lover will adore this elegant dessert from pastry chef Rachel Lansang-Hidalgo of Manhattan's Aureole. Lansang-Hidalgo tops a rich milk-chocolate mousse with a roasted-peanut cream and deliciously crunchy cornflakes mixed with peanut butter, milk chocolate and peanuts.

• More Great Chocolate Desserts

Milk-Chocolate Cremoso with Espresso Parfait

Although Miamians are assumed to be too bathing-suit conscious to indulge in dessert, this decadent milk-chocolate cremoso (a silky pudding-like dish) drizzled with olive oil is a best-seller. "Some people are like, "Whoa...olive oil and chocolate?" says Michael Schwartz. "But the olive oil reinforces the richness of the cremoso. As if you need any more richness."

• More Recipes Using Coffee

Milk Chocolate–Peanut Custards

San Francisco chef Matthew Accarrino is a firm believer in making desserts healthy. So instead of loading his custard with cream, he uses just a bit, along with low-fat chocolate milk and silken tofu, for texture. He also opts to include roasted peanuts, which add terrific flavor and a little crunch.

Warm Double-Chocolate Brownie Cakes

Brownie meets cake in this fun dessert from Emily Luchetti, a cookbook author and the executive pastry chef at San Francisco's Farallon. She bakes the batter in muffin cups so the edges turn crispy and chewy like a brownie, but the inside becomes soft and fluffy like a cake.

• More Brownie Recipes

Milk-Chocolate Cookies with Malted Cream

Pastry chef Mathew Rice grew up loving an Oreo-like sandwich cookie called Murray Chocolate Cremes. In this homage, he creates a malty filling for milk-chocolate wafers by mixing butter and sugar with Ovaltine.

• More Cookie Recipes

Crunchy Milk Chocolate-Peanut Butter Layer Cake

The genius of this layer cake is its extraordinarily crunchy filling, made with almonds, salted peanuts, creamy peanut butter, chocolate and Rice Krispies. The silky milk-chocolate ganache frosting almost pushes the recipe over the top.

• More Peanut Butter Recipes

Chocolate Pots de Crème with Maple Caramel and Salt

Le Bernardin pastry chef Michael Laiskonis serves this milk-chocolaty dessert in an eggshell with caramel foam; it's known as "the egg." It's just as good in ramekins, topped with a simple caramel sauce blended with maple syrup.

• More Recipes from Eric Ripert