Our Best Holiday Desserts

Rebekah Stuber of Bay Laurel Baking Company in Des Moines says her flavor-packed spice cakes always earn the most raves. Her secret to airy cream cheese frosting? Folding in whipped cream.

Related: Meet Five Midwest Cake Creators (and Try Their Recipes)

Trust us: This festive and easy peppermint bark recipe is so much better than store-bought versions. Break it into bite-size pieces or cut it into six larger "candy bars" and wrap them up for gifting. 

With a maple-scented, butter-smooth filling and nutty graham cracker crust, this cheesecake leans toward more adult palates. Top it with drifts of whipped cream and a crown of walnut brittle.

Related: Rich and Creamy Cheesecakes

The nostalgic flavors of your favorite childhood sandwich come together in cookie form. Use your favorite preserves (these feature raspberry) to give your batch an extra-personal touch.

Dipping toffee pieces halfway in chocolate is way tidier and easier than fully coating them-and the result is more striking, visually. (We recommend melting chopped good-quality chocolate bars for dipping-chips have additives that affect their consistency.) For undeniable holiday wow, brush on some edible gold luster dust. It's a splurge, but applying it thinly with a paintbrush helps avoid waste.

Related: Delectable Christmas Candies and Treats

Christmas pudding is a dense, fruity, boozy steamed cake that's traditionally lit on fire before serving, and this version comes from British-born chef Kieron Hales of Cornman Farms in Michigan. Top each slice with a melting dollup of sweet brandied butter and serve.

Related: A British Chef Brings Holiday Flavors Across the Pond

Nutmeg lends unmistakable holiday flavor to these puffy, old-fashioned cut-out cookies. They do spread a bit, so don't use this recipe for delicate shapes. It's best-suited for circles, bells and the like.

Related: Christmas Cookies to Treasure

In Midwest Made: Big, Bold Baking from the Heartland, Shauna Sever describes this kitschy, candy-like classic as "the unicorn of the cookie tin" — irresistible, elusive, and mysterious.

You will most likely print this recipe to keep in your favorite's stash. With a satisfying crunch to the crust and plenty of PB&J flavor and chocolate chips in the filling, it was a test kitchen favorite.

Related: Peanut Butter Dessert Recipes

This shortcut fudge—from Shauna Sever's cookbook Midwest Made: Big, Bold Baking from the Heartland—gets a 21st-centery boost with bittersweet chocolate and flaky sea salt. If you want to streamline a little, use high-quality chocolate chips, such as Ghirardelli.

Related: Fabulous Fudge Recipes

This delicious (and big!) celebration cake is a staple at Bake Chicago and a particular favorite at the holidays. It has a wonderfully fudgy, old-fashioned, homemade texture. The frosting has an unusual method that may feel initially like it's failing, but stick with it. Laced with sour cream, it's creamy and utterly delicious.

Related: Decadent Chocolate Dessert Recipes

Soft, chewy homemade caramels are the bee's knees. For a twist on the classic, try Sarah Kieffer's orange, espresso and salted variations. Extra credit if you package them in our darling crepe paper treat bags!

Related: Heavenly Homemade Food Gifts

The filling of this chocolate-crust pie is luscious, but not too rich. (Think old-fashioned chocolate pudding.) A bit of sour cream in the whipped topping balances the chocolate perfectly.

Related: Favorite Holiday Pies

Using an easy method from Pete's Chocolate Co. in Detroit, you can make a dazzling array of rich, creamy chocolate truffles. (Note: The yield varies depending if you use bittersweet, milk or white chocolate, so read the recipe carefully before starting. And know that you can double it if desired.)

Related: Delectable Christmas Candies and Treats

We took the red velvet cake that we love and gave it a creamy twist. Don't let the red color fool you: The flavor of this holiday dessert is all chocolate.

Sandbakkels means "sand tarts" because the cookies (which, flipped over, can double as tiny shells to hold cream and fruit) have such a fine, crisp texture. Find them in Shauna Sever's book Midwest Made: Big, Bold Baking from the Heartland.

This pretty cake boasts dark rich layers and silky Swiss meringue buttercream. That frosting is where you get the peppermint flavor, so baker Kristine Moberg of Queen City Bakery says to use a high-quality extract like Nielsen-Massey.

Related: Holiday Peppermint Recipes

A creamy, peppermint-flavor cheesecake layer adds holiday flair to classic chocolate brownies.

Related: Rich, Moist Brownie Recipes

Take the layers in: Cookie-crumb crust. Dark chocolate cheesecake. Vanilla cheesecake speckled with raspberries and orange zest. A heap of fresh fruit. What a stunner!

Chocolate-hazelnut spread (Nutella) gives this fudge a smooth texture and luscious nutty flavor. The recipe comes from Indianapolis blogger Annie Marshall.

Reine Keis of SweetArt Cafe in St. Louis says that the secret to vegan baking is not assuming that one plant-based alternative fits all recipes. In this truly cozy cake, coconut yogurt is her power play.

Related: Ultimate Cake Recipes

These five-ingredient truffles come together in a snap. Blending jam into the chocolate makes for a subtle fruit flavor perfectly balancing the rich, smooth chocolate. 

This tangy, make-ahead tart has a crisp ginger crust. Easily create its eye-catching swirls of cranberry and lemon curd with a toothpick or chopstick.

These cupcake-size treats are a fantastically simple alternative to a full-size cheesecake. You could also garnish them with fresh raspberries or blueberries.

Chocolate, nuts, coconut and more fill our easy-to-make bar cookies. Mixed dried fruit bits and candy-coated milk chocolate pieces are among the layers that make this bar cookie distinctive.

Related: Our Best Bar Cookies

These easy candies look elegant but are simple to make. This holiday dessert recipe comes from the Inn and Spa at Cedar Falls in Logan, Ohio. 

Graham crackers form the base for this bar cookie with layers of marshmallows, brown sugar, almonds and coconut. "They're one of my family's favorites," says Georgine Simmonds of Genesee, Michigan.

Related: Favorite Family Holiday Recipes

A spiced graham cracker crust and bourbon-infused egg nog filling give these simple bars a delicious holiday twist. The recipe comes from Annie Marshall of Indianapolis.

A round cookie cutter with scalloped edges makes a nice shape for these cookies, but bell, tree or star cutters would also be good choices for the holidays.

This rich blend of two favorite holiday flavors—chocolate and mint—might start a new dessert tradition in your house. Can't find the mint-flavored pieces? Use regular chocolate chips and add 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract to the batter.

Dream about all the ingredients you'd like to see in a dessert, and you'll see why we named this Fantasy Chocolate Pie. This holiday dessert recipe includes three kinds of chocolate pieces (milk chocolate, semisweet and semisweet-and-white-chocolate swirled)—plus coconut, pecans and almonds. For extra indulgence, top with whipped cream and chocolate curls.

The recipe for this four-layer cake—with a puddinglike filling, unmistakable poppy seed flavor and soft whipped cream frosting—comes from Wisconsin's White Gull Inn.

These playful candies are sort of a mock turtle-all the texture and flavor minus the homemade caramel or fussy dipping. Sprinkle with Wilton's gold star sprinkles (sold online) or coarse sparkling sugar. For a flavor twist, substitute roasted, salted almonds or even smoked almonds.

These cookies from the Inn at Cedar Falls in Logan, Ohio, make a colorful holiday treat.

Do you have a chocoholic in your family? Give them something to love with this über-rich pie. For pretty chocolate curls, warm a bar of milk chocolate in your pocket or hand, then shave with a sharp vegetable peeler.

Elsie Larson and Emma Chapman of the blog A Beautiful Mess share this sinfully good holiday candy recipe. Adding almond butter makes the candy a bit softer and more flaky than traditional brittle.

A Chicago restaurant used an English tradition as inspiration for this molasses-date holiday dessert with honey-toffee sauce. Buttery toffee originated in England, but a Robinson, Illinois, company named Heath launched an empire when it began making toffee commercially in 1914.

These sweet, nutty and oh-so-buttery bars are a guaranteed showstopper on any cookie tray.

Top these gooey-center, intense chocolate desserts with powdered sugar.

This five-ingredient fudge is simplicity, squared: Just melt, stir, spread, cool and cut. We love seeing festive flecks of orange zest in the fudge, but substituting orange-flavored dried cranberries will have a similar taste.