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Hi Bold Bakers!
WHY YOU’LL LOVE THESE HOLIDAY DESSERTS: Planning your dessert table? Start here! I’ve gathered my favorite sweets for celebrating, from classic pies and cakes to festive cookies, rich chocolate desserts, creamy cheesecakes, and easy no-bake treats. Whether you’re baking for a family dinner, a cookie exchange, or a festive gathering, there’s something here for every occasion.
- A dessert for every occasion: Find recipes for family dinners, parties, cookie exchanges, and edible gifts.
- Something for every craving: Choose from fruity, chocolatey, creamy, spiced, buttery, and festive desserts.
- Classic favorites: Make the treats that bring back memories, from traditional pies and cakes to beloved cookies.
- Showstopping treats: When you want something that makes an impression, you’ll find plenty of beautiful centerpiece desserts.
- Easy when you need it: Simple recipes with big payoff for those busy days when you still want something homemade.
- Make-ahead friendly: Get a head start with desserts you can prepare in advance, leaving more time to enjoy the celebration.
After years of baking professionally and developing recipes, I’ve learned that the best desserts are the ones people genuinely look forward to eating. When I’m planning my own dessert table, I like to mix nostalgic favorites with a few new treats, and I always appreciate recipes that can be made ahead. These are the desserts I’d bake when I want the table to feel abundant, festive, and, most importantly, delicious.
Table of Contents
What Makes a Holiday Dessert Worth Bringing Again?
The best holiday desserts aren’t just beautiful—they’re the ones people remember and request again the following year.
- A Dessert Everyone Loves: Classic holiday flavors are classics for a reason. Pumpkin, pecan, chocolate, gingerbread, cranberry, and buttery shortbread always have a place on the dessert table.
- Something Memorable: A beautiful presentation, unexpected flavor, or special family recipe can turn a good dessert into a holiday tradition.
- Easy to Share: If you’re bringing dessert to Thanksgiving dinner, a Christmas party, or a cookie exchange, choose something that’s easy to transport and serve.
- Make-Ahead Friendly: The holidays are busy enough. Desserts you can prepare ahead give you more time to enjoy the celebration.
- A Little Variety: Build a dessert table with different flavors and textures so there is something for everyone.
Best Holiday Desserts for Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving calls for classic desserts, but there’s no reason to serve the same pie every year. These recipes include traditional favorites along with a few desserts that will give your Thanksgiving table something new.
A Thanksgiving classic with a silky, warmly spiced pumpkin filling and flaky homemade crust. This is the pie to make when you want that unmistakable taste of Thanksgiving.
Toasted pecans and a rich, luscious filling come together in a buttery crust for the kind of pie that disappears quickly from the dessert table.
Why choose between two Thanksgiving favorites? This clever combination gives you creamy pumpkin pie underneath a gorgeous, gooey pecan topping.
If you want something a little different from pumpkin pie, this beautifully spiced sweet potato pie makes an impressive Thanksgiving centerpiece.
A creamy, custard-like filling and subtle buttermilk tang give this pecan pie a delicious contrast to its sweet, nutty topping.
When you’re feeding a crowd, make pumpkin pie bigger. This generous slab version gives you plenty of creamy pumpkin filling and even more buttery crust in every slice.
These individual pumpkin pies turn a Thanksgiving favorite into a fun, personal dessert with a crisp phyllo crust and creamy pumpkin filling.
A lighter, creamier take on traditional pumpkin pie with a buttery no-bake crust. It’s especially useful when your oven is already working overtime.
Tart cranberries and bright orange bring a welcome burst of flavor after a rich Thanksgiving meal, finished with a buttery, crunchy crumble.
Creamy pumpkin cheesecake becomes an easy-to-serve bar with a buttery Graham cracker crust and beautiful seasonal swirl. They’re especially handy when you’re feeding a crowd.
Best Christmas Desserts
Christmas is where you can really have fun with dessert. These recipes include traditional Irish favorites, festive cakes, elegant desserts, and recipes that can become part of your Christmas traditions.
This is more than a Christmas dessert—it’s a family tradition. Packed with dried fruit, spices, and whiskey, the cake develops deeper flavor as it rests.
Bring a taste of an Irish Christmas to your dessert table with flaky pastry and warmly spiced mincemeat tucked inside charming festive shapes.
My Mum’s Christmas Pudding is a true holiday tradition, packed with boozy fruit and warm spices. Make it ahead and let this classic become part of your Christmas celebration.
A crisp meringue exterior and marshmallow-like center make this festive wreath a true showstopper, finished with whipped cream and colorful fruit.
A nostalgic family favorite for when you want all the festive flavor of Christmas cake without turning on the oven.
Rich mincemeat and warming spices make this a wonderfully traditional Christmas dessert, especially served warm with something creamy alongside.
This elegant French pastry brings something different to the holiday table, with golden puff pastry surrounding rich homemade frangipane.
Best Holiday Cookies
A holiday dessert table isn’t complete without cookies. Choose a few classics for a cookie tray, or make a larger assortment for gifting.
A holiday essential that’s easy to roll, cut, decorate, and make ahead. It’s the dependable sugar cookie recipe to keep in your back pocket all season long.
Deep molasses and warming ginger give these soft cookies their unmistakable holiday flavor. The dough can also be prepared well ahead and frozen for easy holiday baking.
Tender cream-cheese pastry wrapped around a sweet filling makes these cookies feel extra special on a holiday platter.
With just three ingredients and a simple dough, these buttery shortbread cookies are perfect when you need an easy last-minute bake that still feels festive.
Buttery, crisp, and melt-in-your-mouth, these homemade cookies capture the nostalgia of the classic blue tins—and make a beautiful homemade gift.
Delicate, buttery, and beautifully shaped, these German cookies are a festive addition to any Christmas cookie tray.
Fudgy chocolate cookies get a festive peppermint finish in this crowd-pleasing holiday bake. They’re especially good for cookie exchanges.
These buttery shortbread cookies turn classic fruitcake flavors into a lighter, bite-size treat filled with festive fruit and nuts.
Rich, brownie-like chocolate cookies covered in powdered sugar are instantly festive and especially irresistible to chocolate lovers.
Best Holiday Pies & Tarts
From traditional Thanksgiving pies to elegant Christmas tarts, these desserts are made for the holiday table.
Silky chocolate filling, tender pastry, and billowy whipped cream make this an elegant dessert for a special holiday dinner.
When the oven is full, this is the dessert to remember. Five ingredients come together into a rich chocolate pie with remarkably little effort.
This is for anyone who thinks holiday pie should be unapologetically rich, combining the flavors of pecan pie with an indulgent chocolate-fudge filling.
Smooth homemade chocolate pudding fills a buttery crust for a nostalgic dessert that’s rich, creamy, and easy to make ahead.
Imagine a giant chocolate chip cookie baked into a flaky pie crust. It’s a fun alternative to traditional holiday pies and guaranteed to get attention at the table.
Bright citrus flavor makes this elegant tart a refreshing change from the rich chocolate, caramel, and spice that dominate many holiday dessert tables.
Classic apple pie gets a decadent upgrade with homemade salted caramel for a dessert that feels familiar but decidedly more indulgent.
A simple Irish favorite that lets fresh apples and buttery pastry do all the work. With just four ingredients, it’s wonderfully straightforward for a holiday bake.
Best Chocolate Holiday Desserts
Chocolate deserves its own place on the holiday dessert table. These are rich, indulgent recipes for the chocolate lovers in your family.
Silky dark chocolate ganache and a spiced Biscoff crust make this elegant tart look far more complicated than it is.
Everything you love about hot chocolate—rich cocoa and gooey marshmallows—gets turned into a festive cookie that’s especially fun for holiday gatherings.
Layers of fudgy brownies, salted caramel, cream, and chocolate make this a true showstopper. Best of all, the components can be prepared ahead.
Chocolate and hazelnut are a classic combination, and these little treats add an easy, bite-size dessert to a holiday spread.
Best Easy Holiday Desserts for a Crowd
When you’re feeding a crowd, look for desserts that are easy to portion, transport, and serve. Bars, large-format desserts, and simple cakes are especially useful for holiday gatherings.
All the familiar flavors of pecan pie in an easy-to-cut bar that’s perfect for passing around at a busy holiday gathering.
Toasty pecans, maple, and buttery shortbread give you all the flavor of pecan pie in a much easier format.
A rich, moist pound cake packed with toasted pecans makes a dependable dessert for a holiday gathering—and it’s easy to slice and share.
Soft, chewy, and easy to portion, these pumpkin blondies are a practical choice when you need a dessert that feeds a crowd without fuss.
Pumpkin and banana come together in one wonderfully moist loaf that’s easy to slice and serve alongside coffee after a holiday meal.
Let your slow cooker handle dessert while your oven is busy with dinner. This warm pumpkin dessert is especially useful for casual holiday gatherings.
Best No-Bake & Make-Ahead Holiday Desserts
Not every holiday dessert needs to take up valuable oven space. These recipes are especially useful when you’re already juggling several dishes.
A quick way to turn familiar gingerbread flavors into bite-size treats that are perfect for parties, dessert trays, or last-minute gifts.
These festive little treats capture the flavor of Christmas sugar cookies in a fun format that’s easy to make and share.
A grown-up holiday treat with rich whiskey flavor, these no-bake bites are a fun addition to an adults-only dessert spread.
Creamy, rich, and full of classic eggnog flavor, these bite-size truffles make a festive addition to a Christmas dessert tray.
Rich chocolate truffles with the nostalgic flavor of hot cocoa make an easy little dessert for holiday parties and homemade gifts.
Best Holiday Desserts for Gifting
Cookies, candy, and bite-size treats are perfect for holiday gifts, cookie exchanges, hostess gifts, and dessert trays.
Buttery, crisp toffee feels far more special than anything from a store. Break it into pieces and package it for friends, neighbors, hosts, or teachers.
Beautiful cut-out centers, fruity jam, and a dusting of powdered sugar make these cookies look especially lovely in a holiday tin.
Buttery shortbread gets a festive lift from tart cranberries and bright citrus. The simple square shape also makes these especially easy to package.
These delicate Spanish almond cookies are wonderfully crumbly, not overly sweet, and beautiful dusted with powdered sugar. They make an elegant addition to a homemade cookie box.
Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips
- Plan your dessert menu first. Choose recipes based on the number of guests, your oven space, and how much you can make ahead.
- Make your freezer work for you. Cookie dough, pie crust, and many baked desserts can be prepared well in advance.
- Don’t bake everything on the same day. Save day-of baking for desserts that truly benefit from being freshly made.
- Balance the dessert table. Pair rich chocolate and caramel desserts with fruit-forward or citrus desserts.
- Include something easy. One simple dessert can take the pressure off the rest of your holiday menu.
- Think about transport. Cookies, bars, sturdy cakes, and individual desserts are especially easy to bring to someone else’s home.
Make-Ahead Holiday Dessert Guide
The holidays are much easier when you know what can be made ahead.
Dessert
Make Ahead
Freeze
Best For
Cookies
Yes
Yes
Gifting and cookie exchanges
Cookie dough
Yes
Yes
Holiday baking prep
Pie crust
Yes
Yes
Thanksgiving and Christmas pies
Fruit pies
Yes
Yes
Holiday dinners
Cakes
Yes
Often
Christmas and parties
Bars
Yes
Often
Large gatherings
Truffles
Yes
Often
Gifting
No-bake desserts
Yes
Depends on recipe
Last-minute prep
FAQs
What are the best desserts to bring to a holiday party?
Choose desserts that are easy to transport, serve, and share, such as cookies, bars, sturdy cakes, and make-ahead pies.
What holiday desserts can I make ahead?
Many cookies, pie crusts, cakes, bars, truffles, and pies can be prepared ahead. Check the individual recipe for specific storage instructions.
What Christmas desserts can I freeze?
Many cookies, cookie doughs, cakes, pies, and bars freeze well. Always follow the storage instructions for the specific recipe.
What desserts are best for Thanksgiving?
Classic pumpkin pie, pecan pie, sweet potato pie, pumpkin desserts, and cranberry desserts are all excellent choices for Thanksgiving.
What desserts are good for gifting?
Cookies, shortbread, truffles, toffee, and other sturdy bite-size desserts are especially good for holiday gifts.
What is an easy holiday dessert to make for a crowd?
Bars, slab pies, pound cakes, trifles, and large-format desserts are excellent choices when you’re serving a crowd.
What Christmas desserts can I make without an oven?
No-bake pies, truffles, chocolate desserts, and other chilled desserts are great options when your oven is already busy.