435 holiday dessert recipes

Frozen cranberry souffle with Italian meringue and whipped cream, garnished with spun sugar cranberries. A showstopping holiday dessert that's made ahead and served frozen.

Homemade hot fudge sauce with unsweetened and semi-sweet chocolate, butter, corn syrup, and vanilla. A thick, glossy ice cream topping ready in 20 minutes.

Pear and cranberry tart with a buttery oat crumble topping. Tart cranberries burst in a sweet corn syrup sauce with tender sliced pears underneath the crisp.

This buttery and moist old fashioned rum cake will for sure be a hit on your dinner table. It's hard to go wrong with rum and pecan.

Litchi five-spice ice cream: a silky custard ice cream perfumed with Chinese five-spice and blended with sweet, floral lychees. An elegant, exotic frozen dessert that's a favorite for Chinese New Year.

Easter lamb cake baked in a two-piece lamb-shaped mold, using classic tender white cake. A traditional European Easter centerpiece that stands upright on the table and frosts into a fluffy white lamb.

Pretzel and peanut butter truffles roll crunchy peanut butter and chopped salted pretzels into bites, freeze them firm, and dip in melted milk chocolate. Three ingredients and no baking required.

Molasses cookies are soft, chewy spice cookies rolled in sugar before baking, with cinnamon, ginger, and cloves balancing rich molasses. Crinkly tops, chewy centers, classic holiday cookie tray staple.

New Year's Eve clock cake: three airy white cake layers stacked with silky chocolate cream filling, wrapped in rich Hungarian chocolate frosting and decorated to look like a clock striking midnight.

Black and white marbled puddings made in the microwave. Vanilla and chocolate buttermilk puddings swirled together in dessert bowls for a striking two-tone dessert. Ready to chill in 30 minutes.

No-bake holiday apricot balls: ground dried apricots and shredded coconut bound with sweetened condensed milk, rolled into bites and coated in chopped nuts. Chewy, tangy-sweet, and ready with no oven.

Traditional baked Christmas pudding with candied fruits, pecans, molasses, and warm spices, served with brandy sauce. A festive holiday dessert with an optional flambé presentation.

Make-ahead bread pudding layered with currants and soaked overnight in vanilla-nutmeg custard, then baked golden and served with a fresh homemade strawberry sauce. A gorgeous holiday dessert.

This winning decorated cookie charmed us with its sophisticated look and pleasing chocolate-pepperminty flavor. It's from Deb Bonfiglio of River Hills.

Chocolate and cherries - always a great combo - are enhanced in this winning shaped-cookie recipe by a coating of cocoa and powdered sugar. It was submitted by Lois A. Hernandez of West Allis.

Macaroon meets chocolate chip cookie in this co-winner in the drop cookie category, with a twist of cinnamon, nutmeg and mint; it's from Jessica Wall-Valadez of Milwaukee.