20 Christmas Dessert Recipes Everyone Will Ask For

Christmas dinner gets the planning, but dessert gets the applause. The christmas dessert recipes below are the ones families ask for again: a proper fruit cake, a yule log, pies and puddings, plus no bake treats for the days when the oven is already spoken for. There are 20 christmas dessert recipes here, grouped into cakes, pies and puddings, easy no bake makes, and small treats, and most of them can be made at least a day ahead, which is the real secret to a calm Christmas.

Christmas Dessert Recipes to Bake: Cakes

1. Classic Christmas Fruit Cake

Soak mixed dried fruit, cherries, and peel in brandy or strong tea overnight, then stir into a spiced brown sugar batter and bake low and slow for about 3 hours. Feed the cooled cake with a spoon of brandy each week. Of all the christmas dessert recipes here, this is the one to start earliest; it keeps for weeks and improves.

2. Gingerbread Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Whisk molasses, brown sugar, ginger, and cinnamon into a simple butter batter and bake in a square pan for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool it fully, then spread with cream cheese frosting beaten with a little lemon zest. It slices cleanly, travels well, and tastes like the season in one bite.

3. A Chocolate Yule Log

Bake a thin chocolate sponge in a lined jelly roll pan, roll it warm in a sugared towel, then unroll and fill with whipped cream before rolling again. Cover with chocolate ganache and drag a fork through it for the bark effect. Dust with powdered sugar snow at the table.

4. Red Velvet Christmas Cake

Make a cocoa kissed red velvet batter with buttermilk, split it between two round pans, and bake about 30 minutes. Layer and cover with cream cheese frosting, then press white chocolate shavings or coconut around the sides. The red and white look is pure Christmas with no decorating skill needed.

5. Sticky Toffee Pudding

Blend soaked dates into a light sponge batter, bake until risen, then pour over a hot sauce of butter, brown sugar, and cream. Serve warm with extra sauce and vanilla ice cream. It reheats beautifully, which makes it a kind Christmas Day dessert for the cook.

Pies and Puddings: Classic Christmas Dessert Recipes

6. Classic Pecan Pie

Fill a pastry shell with pecans, then pour over a whisked mix of eggs, corn syrup or golden syrup, brown sugar, and butter. Bake until the center just trembles, about 50 minutes. Cool completely before slicing so the filling sets. Serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream.

7. Traditional Christmas Pudding

Stir suet or butter, breadcrumbs, dried fruit, spice, and citrus zest into a firm mix, pack it into a pudding basin, and steam for about 5 hours. Store it wrapped until Christmas, then steam again for 2 hours and serve with brandy sauce or brandy butter. This is the most traditional of all christmas dessert recipes.

8. Eggnog Cheesecake

Press a spiced biscuit crumb base into a springform pan, then bake a filling of cream cheese, eggnog, sugar, eggs, and nutmeg in a low oven until just set. Chill overnight. The flavor is gentle and unmistakably festive, and the overnight rest makes it an easy make ahead.

9. Cranberry Orange Trifle

Layer cubes of sponge or leftover cake with cranberry sauce loosened with orange juice, orange scented custard, and whipped cream in a glass bowl. Chill at least 4 hours so the layers settle. Finish with sugared cranberries. Trifle is the kindest of the christmas dessert recipes for using what you already have.

10. Panettone Bread Pudding

Cube a panettone and soak it in a custard of eggs, milk, cream, and vanilla, then bake until puffed and golden, about 40 minutes. The fruit and peel are already in the bread, so there is nothing to chop. Serve warm with cream. It turns a gifted panettone into the easiest pudding of the season.

No Bake Christmas Dessert Recipes

11. Peppermint Bark

Melt dark chocolate and spread it thin on a lined tray; let it almost set, then pour over melted white chocolate with a drop of peppermint extract. Scatter crushed candy canes on top, chill, and break into shards. Bark keeps for two weeks in a tin and fills gift bags as well as dessert plates.

12. Chocolate Cookie Truffles

Blitz chocolate sandwich cookies to crumbs, mix with cream cheese until it holds together, and roll into balls. Chill until firm, then dip in melted chocolate and dust with cocoa or crushed peppermint. Three ingredients, no oven, and children can do most of the work.

13. Rocky Road Christmas Slice

Stir broken biscuits, mini marshmallows, glace cherries, and nuts into melted chocolate with a spoon of golden syrup, then press into a lined pan and chill. Cut into squares once firm. The red cherries make every slice look festive without any decorating at all.

14. Ginger Snap Icebox Cake

Whip cream with a little sugar and vanilla, then layer it with ginger snap cookies in a loaf pan or dish, finishing with cream. Chill overnight and the cookies soften into cake layers. Slice to reveal the stripes. Among no bake christmas dessert recipes, this one draws the most questions at the table.

15. Chocolate Salami

Mix melted chocolate and butter with crushed biscuits, chopped nuts, and a handful of dried cranberries, then roll the mix in parchment into a log and chill until hard. Dust with powdered sugar, tie with string if you like, and slice to serve with coffee. It keeps for weeks in the fridge.

Small Treats and Christmas Dessert Recipes for Gifting

16. Christmas Fudge

Heat sweetened condensed milk with chocolate and butter until smooth, stir in vanilla, and pour into a lined pan. Top with red and green sprinkles before it sets, then chill and cut into small squares. Fudge is rich, so small pieces are right, and it posts well to far away family.

17. Chocolate Rum Balls

Stir cake crumbs or biscuit crumbs with cocoa, powdered sugar, chopped nuts, and rum or orange juice until the mix rolls cleanly. Roll into balls and coat in cocoa, coconut, or sprinkles. Rest them a day before eating; the flavor settles and deepens overnight.

18. Peppermint Meringues

Whisk egg whites with sugar to stiff glossy peaks, fold in crushed peppermint, and pipe or spoon small kisses onto a lined tray. Bake low, about 200 degrees F, for 90 minutes, then cool in the switched off oven. They stay crisp for days in a sealed jar.

19. Mini Mince Pies

Line a mini muffin tin with shortcrust pastry circles, fill each with a spoon of mincemeat, and top with a pastry star. Bake about 15 minutes until golden and dust with powdered sugar. Warm them briefly before serving. Two bites each is exactly the right size after a big dinner.

20. Coconut Snowballs

Mix desiccated coconut with sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until it holds, roll into balls, and chill. Dip half in white chocolate if you like, or leave them plain as snow. They are the sweetest looking of these christmas dessert recipes and the simplest to make with children.

How to Plan Christmas Desserts Without the Stress

Choose two desserts, not five: one grand centerpiece and one easy make ahead. Bake cakes and puddings in the weeks before and freeze or store them; save Christmas Eve for trifle layers and whipped cream. Serve dessert with the drinks from my hot chocolate bar ideas and let guests help themselves. Planned this way, christmas dessert recipes become the calmest part of the whole menu.

Christmas Dessert Recipes Cheat Sheet

• Make weeks ahead: fruit cake (1), christmas pudding (7), chocolate salami (15)
• Make the day before: eggnog cheesecake (8), trifle (9), icebox cake (14)
• No bake and fastest: peppermint bark (11), cookie truffles (12), rocky road (13)
• Best for gifting: fudge (16), rum balls (17), peppermint bark (11)
• Best for a crowd: trifle (9), yule log (3), sticky toffee pudding (5)

Save these christmas dessert recipes to Pinterest while you plan the menu, and pair them with something from my christmas cookies article for the days around the main event. Happy baking, and happy Christmas.