Hi there,
Thanks for updating the thread! You can use the shortcode generator button in the text editor to insert recent posts, then just take the code and use in in a text widget.
Here’s an example: [x_recent_posts type="post" count="4" orientation="horizontal" fade="true"]
You can also check this link for more examples:
http://theme.co/x/demo/integrity/1/shortcodes/recent-posts/
Note: if the shortcodes in the above page don’t work, you may need to add the “x_” prefix.
Hope this helps – thanks!