435 holiday dessert recipes

Pumpkin nut cake (a.k.a. pumpkin dump cake) layered with spiced pumpkin custard, dry yellow cake mix, chopped nuts and melted butter on top. Bakes into a gooey-bottom, crisp-top fall classic.

White Christmas pie with coconut, a chiffon-style holiday dessert with vanilla-almond custard, folded whipped cream and egg whites, set in a baked crust. Topped with candied cherries.

Almost instant chocolate mousse from a Jewish Holiday cookbook.

Layered chocolate pound cake soaked in kirsch, topped with sour cherries, rich homemade chocolate custard, and clouds of whipped cream. A showpiece trifle for 18.

Crisp hazelnut meringues made with just three ingredients and slow-baked for three hours until dry and shatteringly light. A gluten-free cookie with toasty nut flavor in every bite.

Molded cheese treats made by melting cheddar in the microwave and setting it in candy molds or lollipops. A one-ingredient party trick for kids' lunchboxes and holiday platters.

Rugelach roll flaky cream cheese dough around apricot preserves, cinnamon-brown-sugar, walnuts, and raisins into bite-sized crescents. A classic Jewish bakery cookie for Hanukkah and Christmas alike.

A lattice-topped mincemeat tart for Christmas: spiced fruit mincemeat baked in a crisp butter-and-lard shortcrust under a delicate woven lattice, dusted with icing sugar. One big tart instead of fiddly individual pies.

Eggnog Cheesecake with Cinnamon Graham Cracker Crust recipe

A buttery ginger pound cake baked in a ring mold, splashed with rum, and crowned with a garland of poached pears, candied orange peel, and grapes glazed in apple jelly. A showpiece holiday dessert.

Impossible pumpkin pie that makes its own crust as it bakes, using Bisquick, pumpkin and evaporated milk. No-rolling, no-fail Thanksgiving dessert blended in 1 minute.

Eggnog bread pudding baked in a water bath with cinnamon-raisin bread, brandy, nutmeg, and half-and-half, served with a cranberry-maple bourbon sauce. A festive holiday dessert.

Fruit solitaire tarts with orange-scented butter pastry shaped like playing card suits, filled with cherry and blueberry pie filling. A festive New Year's Eve dessert.

A rustic apple tart where pieces of buttery shortcrust are patched together top and bottom, layered with apricot jam and clove-spiced apples. A forgiving, no-fuss bake for anyone shy of rolling perfect pastry.

Lemon oatmeal cookies bright with lemon juice, zest, and extract, made lighter with oil and egg whites and given extra crunch from crisp rice cereal. A crisp, citrusy twist on the classic oatmeal cookie.

Halloween fig spooks cupcakes built from cake mix studded with chopped figs, topped with a whole dried fig and draped in white buttercream icing for little ghost-shaped treats.