Food Holidays & Occasions Our Best Holiday Desserts By Food & Wine Editors Food & Wine Editors This is collaborative content from Food & Wine's team of experts, including staff, recipe developers, chefs, and contributors. Many of our galleries curate recipes or guides from a variety of sources which we credit throughout the content and at each link. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on December 21, 2022 Trending Videos Photo: © Kristin Perers Finish an impressive holiday dinner with an equally stunning dessert. Whether you prefer gingerbread cake or a traditional chocolate yule log, panna cotta or pecan pie, these treats don't disappoint. From an over-the-top Italian trifle to airy cream puffs with chocolate sauce, here are amazing holiday desserts. 01 of 20 Miracle Peanut Butter Crunch © Tara Fisher This flaky candy combines layers of crisp caramel, creamy peanut butter, and crunchy peanuts. Incredibly, it takes just 20 minutes to make and the only special equipment you need is a heatproof candy thermometer. Be sure to buy the freshest, highest-quality peanut butter and peanuts you can find. Get the Recipe 02 of 20 Chocolate Babka © Con Poulos This amazing chocolate babka from former Sadelle's pastry chef Melissa Weller gets extra flavor in the swirl from chocolate cookie crumbs. As a bonus, the tender-crumbed babka is topped with a thick and luscious chocolate glaze. Get the Recipe 03 of 20 Banana and Chocolate Cream Pie Parfaits © Con Poulos To make her outstanding deconstructed banana cream pie, Honolulu pastry chef Michelle Karr-Ueoka layers eggless chocolate pudding with cinnamon-flavored graham cracker crumbs, ice cream, bananas, and banana whipped cream. Get the Recipe 04 of 20 Italian Trifle with Marsala Syrup © John Kernick In Italy, chef Fabio Trabocchi makes this dessert with Alchermes, a bright-red cinnamon-scented liqueur rarely seen in the States. The Sicilian fortified wine Marsala is a good substitute: It has a subtler color but a similarly spiced flavor, perfect for drenching squares of soft sponge cake layered with vanilla-infused pastry cream. Get the Recipe 05 of 20 Gingerbread Roll with Cinnamon Cream © Tina Rupp Jennifer Giblin's riff on a bûche de Noël combines tender ginger cake with a tangy cream-cheese filling. Get the Recipe 06 of 20 Mini Cheesecakes with Wine Gelées © Anna Williams Pastry chef Kate Zuckerman thinks most cheesecakes are too heavy and sweet. Her recipe uses goat cheese to lighten the texture and tangy crème fraîche to cut the sweetness. Here, she tops mini cheescakes with wine gelées — a new kind of wine and cheese pairing. Get the Recipe 07 of 20 Cream Puffs with Chocolate Sauce © Anna Williams At Christmas, Elizabeth Katz likes to create a tower of fluffy, chocolate-covered cream puffs. The dessert harkens back to her time as a pastry chef in the French kitchen at New York City’s Daniel, where a croquembouche (a pyramid of custard-filled profiteroles draped in caramel and wrapped in spun sugar) was de rigueur at holiday dinners. Get the Recipe 08 of 20 Caramel-Pear Cheesecake Trifle © Chris Court This decadent pear and caramel trifle is perfect for a party because it can be made a day ahead and serves a crowd. Get the Recipe 09 of 20 Chocolate Truffle Layer Cake © Anna Williams This outrageous chocolate cake was born from a lucky mistake. Pastry chef Kimberly Sklar was baking a crème fraîche-spiked chocolate cake and, by accident, took the pan out of the oven early. Discovering that the cake was super fudgy, she layered it with dark chocolate and white chocolate ganache, then covered it in dark chocolate frosting. Get the Recipe 10 of 20 Sticky Toffee Pudding Photo by Andrew Bui / Food Styling by Caitlin Haught Brown On a trip to London, chef David Guas noticed sticky toffee pudding on the menu at dozens of restaurants. Inspired, he created his own irresistible version in Virginia, which has been a bestseller at Bayou Bakery ever since. Guas likes to balance the buttery pudding with brandy-milk punch ice cream, but a shot of brandy or Frangelico is lovely on a cold night as well. Get the Recipe 11 of 20 Salted Caramel Pie Dana Gallagher This super-easy caramel lovers' dream pie is made with sweetened condensed milk sprinkled lightly with sea salt and baked until thick and gooey, then chilled in a simple graham cracker crust and topped with a cloud of fresh whipped cream. Get the Recipe 12 of 20 Vanilla and Cider Panna Cottas with Spiced Ginger Cookies © John Kernick Chef Shawn McClain tops his cinnamon and vanilla-flavored panna cotta with an elegant apple cider gelée. He likens the dessert to a Creamsicle because it successfully combines creamy and tangy flavors. Get the Recipe 13 of 20 Chocolate-Peppermint Brownies © Kristin Perers These rich peppermint brownies topped with crushed candy canes are from London's cult-favorite bakery Violet. If you can't find candy canes, use striped peppermint candies. Get the Recipe 14 of 20 Cardamom Thumbprints © Chris Court Adding cardamom to these crispy cookies gives them a subtle spiced flavor. You can fill the thumb print with other jams or with chocolate. Get the Recipe 15 of 20 Bûche de Noël with Mascarpone Cream and Dark Chocolate Ganache Photo by Antonis Achilleos / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Kay Clarke Bûche de noël is the ultimate winter celebration cake, and this one is a cut above the rest. Mascarpone stabilizes the whipped cream filling so that it can be chilled overnight without weeping. Slivered toasted almonds stirred into the ganache frosting give it a “tree bark” look and contrasting texture to the silky filling and tender cake. Meringue mushrooms add an extra wow factor; these can be made a few days ahead. Get the Recipe 16 of 20 Cheesecake Bars with Candied Orange and Pizzelle Crust Cheesecake Bars with Candied Orange and Pizzelle Crust. Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Thom Driver This elegant dessert showcases a mild anise-flavored pizzelle cookie crust with rich cheesecake and glossy candied orange slices. The perfect ratio of cream cheese, sour cream, and eggs yields a creamy and dense cheesecake filling that requires no water bath to bake. Get the Recipe 17 of 20 Spice Cake with Bourbon-Pecan Frosting © Yunhee Kim This layer cake combines moist, spongy cake and frosting that's a perfect balance between sweet and buttery. Keep the decor simple and rustic, or deck it out with lavish swirls and adorn it with toasted or candied pecans for a more celebratory aesthetic. Get the Recipe 18 of 20 Pecan Pie with Candied Ginger and Rum © John Kernick For a wonderful, festive contrast to the sweetness of her pecan pie, expert baker Alice Medrich adds minced candied ginger and a splash of rum to the filling. Get the Recipe 19 of 20 Maple-Meringue Doughnuts Tara Donne The secret to doughnuts at home is in the dough: Retarding the shaped doughnuts allows a more complex, yeasty flavor to develop. The meringue filling is marshmallowy in texture; use an intense, robust, high-quality maple syrup to ensure lots of maple flavor. Get the Recipe 20 of 20 Fig and Caramel Nut Tart Photo by Caitlin Bensel / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Rich, barely bitter caramel, deeply toasted nuts, and chewy figs combine in a buttery crust for this dessert designed for pairing with Madeira. A pinch of flaky sea salt makes it the perfect end to a big holiday meal. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit