If you need a delicious dessert at the eleventh hour this holiday season, look no further! These 25 holiday dessert ideas are coming to the rescue.
Looking for a quick treat to leave out for Santa this year? Check out my best easy Christmas cookie recipes.
The Best Christmas Dessert Ideas
Amidst all the shopping, decorating, festivity planning, and cooking up a holiday roast, it’s sometimes easy to forget about dessert! If you need something sweet and delicious in a hurry this holiday season, I’m sharing some of my favorite holiday desserts.
From cookies to truffles, and bars to no-bake desserts, many of the festive recipes below are quick to prep on the spot with ingredients you already have on hand. As a bonus, these treats also make great gifts!
Christmas Oreos
How adorable are these chocolate-covered Christmas Oreos? These are crazy-easy to make and perfect for last-minute gifting. Decorate them any way that you’d like!
Peanut Butter Balls
Crispy peanut butter balls are a quick and delicious no-bake dessert made from Rice Krispies cereal and creamy peanut butter, wrapped in a rich dark chocolate coating. You only need 6 pantry ingredients to make them!
Snowball Cookies
Snowball cookies are such a classic! You might also know them as Russian tea cakes or Mexican wedding cookies. These sweet and buttery shortbread cookies melt in your mouth, and they’re super simple to make for last-minute Christmas cookie platters.
Christmas Cupcakes
Whether you make one of these or try a variety of these techniques, your friends and family will be amazed at your creativity with these easy Christmas Cupcakes ideas. Everything from Santa to Christmas Trees and Reindeer.
Easy Sugar Cookies
If you’re too pressed for time to fuss with cut-out Christmas cookies, never fear. My EASY drop sugar cookies recipe is here to save the day. These cookies are soft and buttery, and you don’t need to chill the dough. You can easily make them festive by tossing in some Christmas M&Ms or red and green sprinkles.
Chocolate Truffles
Homemade chocolate truffles are the easiest no-bake dessert that you can make with 5 ingredients. Whip up a batch of fudgy, chocolatey truffles, roll them in your favorite coatings, and you’re ready to go.
Mini Peppermint Bark Cheesecakes
Try these bite-sized mini cheesecakes made from creamy filling loaded with peppermint crunch candy, topped with rich chocolate ganache. You’ll be swirling on a finishing touch of whipped cream in under an hour.
Seven Layer Bars
Seven-layer bars? More like seven layers of heaven! Also called magic bars or Hello Dollies, these gooey dessert bars use common pantry ingredients like chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and nuts, layered over a buttery graham cracker crust. This may be one of the quickest recipes to throw together.
Peanut Butter Buckeyes
Classic peanut butter buckeye candy needs only a handful of ingredients and it’s always a hit at the holidays! These chocolate and peanut butter balls require no baking and very little fussing.
Cranberry Orange Cookies
Soft, chewy and packed with flavor, these Cranberry Orange Cookies are a Christmas must-have. Dip or drizzle in white chocolate for a festive twist.
Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies
Peanut butter kiss cookies, also called peanut butter blossoms, are another classic that you can make in a flash. Mine are soft-baked peanut butter cookies that are rolled in sugar and topped with creamy Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Kisses.
Mini Gingerbread Cheesecakes
Quick to make and even quicker to disappear at holiday parties, these cute mini gingerbread cupcakes are an easy Christmas dessert. The creamy cheesecake filling is filled with spice, and baked in a Biscoff cookie crust.
Chocolate Rum Balls
Remember those chocolate truffles from earlier? Meet their indulgent, boozier cousins! These chocolate holiday rum balls are filled with crunchy nuts and a splash of spicy dark rum. These are great for grown-ups-only gifting.
Christmas Tree Cupcake Cake
Arrange your cupcakes in the shape of a Christmas tree for this easy and festive Christmas dessert. This tutorial will provide tips for assembly and decorating along with the recipes to use.
Mini Pecan Tarts
These mini pecan tarts are ready in an hour or less and taste like full-sized pecan pie. Make the sugary pecan filling with only 5 ingredients, then load it into bite-sized pie crusts and bake!
4 Ingredient Peanut Clusters
You might know peanut butter clusters as crockpot candy, but making them on the stovetop is quick and easy! Chocolate chips, butterscotch, creamy peanut butter, and peanuts combine into irresistible crunchy clusters in this fail-proof no-bake dessert recipe.
Reindeer Chow
Fun and festive reindeer chow is a sweet holiday snack that does double duty as dessert. Chocolate muddy buddies, mini peanut butter cups, salty pretzels, and mini M&M combine in the perfect Christmas snack mix.
Peppermint Sugar Cookie Bars
Sugar cookie bars are the best shortcut to sugar cookies that don’t require any chilling, rolling, or portioning of the dough. These cookie bars are soft, chewy, and filled with crunchy peppermint candy, ready to be decorated with your favorite frosting.
Mint Chocolate Brownies
Mint chocolate brownies are incredibly easy to make (you can even use a boxed brownie mix!) and they always receive high praise. Topped with creamy mint frosting and a layer of fudgy ganache, these brownies are an easy last-minute dessert for holiday potlucks.
Christmas Pinwheel Cookies
These Christmas pinwheel cookies are buttery sugar cookies infused with peppermint extract. It’s a soft-baked sugar cookie rolled into a festive pinwheel design. Slice and Bake cookies make a great addition to your Christmas cookie lineup.
No-Bake White Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake
No-bake desserts are the perfect recipes to make ahead of time. Take the stress out of the last-minute holiday baking with this No-Bake Cheesecake.
Soft Chocolate Sugar Cookies
These soft and chewy Chocolate Sugar cookies are the fudgy counterparts to my favorite easy sugar cookie recipe. You can roll them in sugar or festive Christmas sprinkles for a holiday twist.
Anise Cookies
Anise cookies are traditional Christmas cookies that you can prepare in under 30 minutes. They’re filled with delicious flavor from anise extract and topped with sweet icing. Just add sprinkles!
Christmas Cookie Dessert Charcuterie Board
Whether you use homemade cookies or gather up your favorite store-bought treats at the last minute, you can’t go wrong with a Christmas cookie charcuterie board. This easy tutorial walks you through how to assemble the ultimate dessert charcuterie platter in just a few steps!
Cinnamon Sugar Bread
Technically this could be breakfast or dessert, but Cinnamon Sugar Bread is one of my favorite recipes to gift to friends, neighbors, and teachers. It’s soft, buttery, and has all warm cinnamon and brown sugars flavors in the streusel.
Craving more baking inspiration this festive season? Be sure to check out all of my latest holiday recipes!
Yum! What great ideas! I don’t think I can choose a favorite!
Thanks Laura! Happy Thanksgiving to you!
Julianne, oh my gawd, what a round-up!! that Sweet Potato Cake with Bourbon Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting and the Triple chocolate poke cake!!! oh my gawd. . looks SO good!!!
Thanks Alice! I wish I could have ALL the desserts for Thanksgiving 🙂 I hope you have a wonderful holiday!
Great collection. Happy Thanksgiving, Julianne!
Thank you Mir and Happy Thanksgiving to you!