25 Easy Holiday Dessert Recipes

Cookies, cakes and more no-fuss treats for the season.

Whether you’re an experienced baker who makes from-scratch croissants for fun or a beginner who isn’t quite sure how to operate your oven, sometimes you want something delicious and festive that you can throw together in a snap. These simple holiday recipes are just that, and most of them take less prep time than it takes to watch “The Grinch.” (The 25-minute 1966 original, of course.)

1. Sticky Toffee Pudding

There’s perhaps nothing cozier than a warm bowl of this soft, date-flecked cake draped in a brown, sugary sauce. Simon Hopkinson’s sticky toffee pudding, adapted by Mark Bittman, is a certified crowd-pleaser. Topping your warm cake with cold ice cream, whipped cream or sour cream is a welcome contrast.

Recipe: Sticky Toffee Pudding

2. Italian Ricotta Cookies

“Almost as good as my Nonna’s recipe that my family has made every Easter for four generations,” one reader wrote about Jessica Hulett’s tender, caky ricotta cookies. “Followed this recipe to the letter and the cookies came out perfect. Buonissimi!” That’s a rave review in our books!

Recipe: Italian Ricotta Cookies

3. Chocolate Cake With Peppermint Frosting

Everyone talks about leaving cookies for Santa, but what he really wants is cake. This one-bowl delight from Yossy Arefi is everything you want in a holiday dessert: tender, chocolaty and topped with swoops of peppermint frosting and chocolate curls.

Recipe: Chocolate Cake With Peppermint Frosting

4. Saltine Cracker Brickle

Technically, this is not a baking recipe, but it’s so incredibly good, who cares? This salty-sweet treat, which came to The Times from Kelly Mahoney, a reader in Boulder, Colo., calls for just saltine crackers, sugar, butter, vanilla and chocolate. Some readers like to sprinkle the melted chocolate with crushed candy canes, flaky sea salt or chopped nuts. You can make it with salted matzo in place of the saltines, too.

Recipe: Saltine Cracker Brickle

5. Blender Chocolate Mousse

Yes, you can make chocolate mousse in a blender! Instead of separating the egg yolks and whites, this method involves pouring hot sugar syrup into a blender with chocolate and whole eggs, and then folding that mixture into softly whipped cream. The final product is deliciously creamy and rich; it’s one of those recipes that you’ll want to pass along to as many people as you can.

Recipe: Blender Chocolate Mousse

6. Torticas de Morón

These delightfully sandy slice-and-bake cookies originated in Morón, in central Cuba. Some recipes for this treat call for only four ingredients: flour, shortening, sugar and lime zest. But Krysten Chambrot’s goes a step further, adding salt and vanilla to amplify the other flavors. Serve them with dulce de leche or guava paste, or alongside a strong cafecito.

Recipe: Torticas de Morón

7. Baked Lemon Pudding

“Maybe my favorite dessert ever,” one reader wrote about David Tanis’s beloved recipe. “All the delight of lemon curd with none of the fuss.” As it bakes, it separates into two distinct layers, custardy on the bottom and spongy on top. It’s not a soufflé, but it has a similarly light, airy feel that makes you keep going back for more, spoonful by spoonful.

Recipe: Baked Lemon Pudding

8. Scotcheroos

Samantha Seneveritne has updated this classic — originally printed on Rice Krispies boxes in the 1960s — with a spray of flaky salt and crushed peanuts. Think of them as Rice Krispies treats without the marshmallows but with lots of peanut butter, chocolate and butterscotch chips.

Recipe: Scotcheroos

9. Gingerbread Latte Cookies

As evidenced by his cookie recipes, Vaughn Vreeland loves a cozy holiday beverage. Readers loves his peppermint brownie cookies (inspired by peppermint hot chocolate), his eggnog snickerdoodles and these gingerbread latte cookies, which one reader called “the best cookie EVER.”

Recipe: Gingerbread Latte Cookies

10. One-Bowl Lemon and Olive Oil Cake

“This is THE cake from now on,” one reader wrote about Brian Levy’s lemon and olive oil cake. And we get why. The simple dessert comes together in one bowl and needs no flashy techniques or adornment — no glaze or drizzle, no syrupy soak. Almond flour adds a hint of nutty richness to the velvety crumb, and yogurt brings out the tangy, bright citrus notes.

Recipe: One-Bowl Lemon and Olive Oil Cake

11. Rose and Almond Ghriba

Nargisse Benkabbou, the author of “Casablanca: My Moroccan Food,” developed these one-bowl, no-mixer cookies that are like a cracked and caky rose lukum, the jelly candy often referred to as Turkish delight. If you don’t have rosewater, you can substitute vanilla extract.

Recipe: Rose and Almond Ghriba

12. Chocolate-Chip Banana Bread

This banana bread from Erin Jeanne McDowell is here to use up the four overripe bananas that are languishing on your counter or in the back of your freezer. Make it chocolate-chocolate chip banana bread by substituting cocoa powder for some of the flour. (See the Tip in the recipe for measurements.) And thankfully, it doesn’t even require a mixer.

Recipe: Chocolate-Chip Banana Bread

13. Easy Chocolate Fudge

This absurdly easy fudge recipe, which was adapted from Michael Chu, an engineer and food blogger, requires just three ingredients: butter, chocolate and sweetened condensed milk. Salt and chopped nuts are optional. Some readers like to add a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Recipe: Easy Chocolate Fudge

14. Pear-Almond Cake

This simple cake from David Tanis comes together with little effort: It’s just sliced pears baked in an easy almond flour batter. But in flavor and texture, it’s so much more. One reader likened it to eating an almond croissant. It keeps well, so feel free to make it early in the day, or even the day before serving.

Recipe: Pear-Almond Cake

15. Sugared Shortbread

This shortbread, which came to The Times from Amy Casey, a reader in Sparta, N.J., is so easy it feels a little silly. Melt the butter, add the rest of the ingredients and then stir to combine. Press into a pan, top with plenty of sugar and bake. Some readers like to add a dash of cardamom or citrus zest. Good news: If you don’t have rice flour, you can use cornstarch.

Recipe: Sugared Shortbread

16. One-Bowl Chocolate-Mayonnaise Cake

Readers went gaga over this one-bowl Depression-era cake from Melissa Clark. For a bit more flair, try adding a handful or two of chocolate chips to the batter, or slicking the top with a simple ganache. (One very helpful reader tip: Check your mayonnaise’s ingredients before getting started; some contain dried onion powder, which would not taste great here.)

Recipe: One-Bowl Chocolate-Mayonnaise Cake

17. Shortbread Jammers

These cute little jam-topped squares, which are adapted from “The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion,” taste like linzer cookies but are much easier to make. Use your best jam, preserves or marmalade, not jelly, which is too runny. (Now is the time to put the spoils of your Bonne Maman advent calendar to good use.)

Recipe: Shortbread Jammers

18. Chocolate-Bourbon Truffles

These chocolate truffles from David Tanis may sound fancy, but this is one of the best low-effort, maximum-result recipes there is. Make a bourbon- and vanilla-infused chocolate ganache (which is really just heavy cream and chocolate), chill and then roll into balls and coat in chopped nuts.

Recipe: Chocolate-Bourbon Truffles

19. Cookie Butter Blondies

Packed with brown sugar and browned butter, Yossy Arefi’s blondies are caramel-flavored and chewy. The lightly spiced Speculoos cookie butter in the batter complements the toasty notes of the shredded coconut. A generous amount of salt keeps these treats from being too sweet.

Recipe: Cookie Butter Blondies

20. Sticky Cranberry Gingerbread

Everyone loves a dessert that gets better as it sits, and this delightfully sticky no-mixer gingerbread from Melissa Clark does just that. Some readers use a combination of fresh and dried cranberries, while others add chopped crystallized ginger for a bit more oomph.

Recipe: Sticky Cranberry Gingerbread

21. Red Velvet Cupcakes

Nothing says festive and fun (and Santa?) like a bright red cupcake topped with a little hat of cream cheese frosting. Millie Peartree’s red velvet cupcakes are simple to make and rich with cocoa, but as one reader said, “The icing is really the main event.” Don’t hold back.

Recipe: Red Velvet Cupcakes

22. Gingerbread Rum Balls

Leftover pieces of a gingerbread house inspired this recipe from Melissa Clark, but you can use store-bought gingersnaps instead (or the remains of that gingerbread house kit your kid never finished). Be sure to let them rest for a couple of days before serving.

Recipe: Gingerbread Rum Balls

23. Coconut-Nut Macaroons

Looking for a gluten-free, one-bowl cookie? These coconut-pistachio macaroons from Mark Bittman are here for you. And if you’re wondering, adding some chocolate chips would not be a terrible idea.

Recipe: Coconut-Nut Macaroons

24. No-Bake Chocolate Clusters

There are so many reasons to adore Dorie Greenspan, and these no-bake cookies are just one of them. All you have to do is combine melted butter and chocolate, dried cranberries, cornflakes and coconut, arrange in little piles on a parchment-lined sheet pan and chill. The ideal spur-of-the-moment cookie.

Recipe: No-Bake Chocolate Clusters

25. Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

Cupcakes for everyone! These eggless, dairy-free, mixer-free cupcakes from Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero have hundreds of five-star ratings. They’re so tender and moist that most people who try them can’t believe they’re made without butter and eggs.

Recipe: Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

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