My 36 classic Christmas desserts are the old fashioned pies, fluffs, puddings and bars my Grandma would recognize, from brown sugar pecan pie to cranberry fluff and many other traditional desserts.
I picked easy ones, and many chill overnight or freeze, so you can make them ahead and keep your oven free on Christmas Day. Now is the time to plan the dessert table, before the holiday baking rush.
Grandma's Classic Christmas Dessert Recipes
These classic Christmas dessert recipes cover the whole holiday table, from Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner to church potlucks and cookie exchanges. The bars and 9x13 desserts near the end are easy to cut for a crowd.
My grandma always stuck to the old-fashioned Christmas classics, and our family still makes those same recipes decades later, like our Christmas spritz cookies. A bowl of something fluffy and pink was never far behind.
For more holiday baking, you'll also love my easy traditional Christmas cakes, old fashioned Christmas cookies and old-fashioned Christmas candy.
Classic Christmas Pies
Let it cool the full 3 hours so the brown sugar filling slices clean.
Press plastic wrap right onto the filling while it chills so it doesn't form a skin. Plan on several hours in the fridge.
It needs to cool at least 2 hours before slicing. You can bake it ahead and freeze it for up to 3 months.
Cover the crust edge with foil, then take it off for the last 15 minutes so the edges don't get too brown.
This one chills for 8 hours, so make it the day before. It keeps, covered in the fridge, for up to 3 days.
Let the melted butter cool 5 to 10 minutes before you whisk it into the eggs, or the eggs can scramble.
Easy No-Bake Christmas Desserts, Fluffs and Trifles
It chills for 8 hours, so stir it together the night before.
Make the jelly layers the day before. Several readers found the jelly took longer to set than written, so give yourself extra time.
Let the cream cheese come all the way to room temperature, or it leaves little lumps in the filling.
Sprinkle the crushed peppermint candy on right before serving so it stays crunchy.
Let each layer get mostly set, not fully firm, before pouring the next. Plan on about 6 hours start to finish.
Old Fashioned Christmas Puddings and Warm Desserts
Let the bread soak in the warm milk for 10 minutes before adding the eggs, so it drinks up most of the liquid.
Chill the cooked rice overnight, then stir it well to loosen it before you fold in the whipped cream.
This one is made well ahead, at least 4 weeks before Christmas. Steam it again for 1 ½ to 2 hours before serving.
Frozen persimmon pulp from a farmers market or country store saves you all the work of pulping the fruit.
Poke holes all over the warm cake, about 1 inch apart, so the sauce soaks in. You can make it up to 2 days ahead and rewarm it in a 300°F oven.
It's ready in about 10 to 12 minutes. Keep your face and hands back when you light the brandy, and keep a fire blanket or extinguisher close by.
Use canned whole berry cranberry sauce, not fresh cranberries. Its sweetness balances the buttery oat topping.
You'll need an æbleskiver pan. Start at medium low heat and turn each one with a skewer as it browns.
Classic Christmas Dessert Bars, Cheesecakes and Pastries
No water bath needed. Take it out at 45 to 50 minutes, while the center still jiggles a little.
Let the bars cool completely before slicing so the pecan filling sets.
Line the pan with parchment paper, not wax paper, or the bars will stick.
If they're too gooey to cut, chill them for a few hours first.
Poke the holes with a fork, not a spoon handle, so a layer of pudding stays on top under the whipped topping.
Leave parchment hanging over two sides of the pan so you can lift the whole slab out to cut it.
Cut the squares before you drizzle on the chocolate for clean edges.
Start the dough a day ahead. It chills 6 to 48 hours before you roll and fold it.
Press plastic wrap right onto the pastry cream while it cools so it doesn't form a skin.
Classic Christmas Dessert FAQs
What are the most classic Christmas desserts?
Pecan pie, pumpkin pie, Christmas pudding, trifle and creamy fluff salads show up on Christmas tables year after year. Add a plate of cookies and you've got the spread most of us grew up with. My retro holiday dessert recipes have more from the 1950s to 70s.
Which Christmas desserts can I make ahead?
Lots of them. The figgy pudding is made at least 4 weeks ahead, the chocolate pie and cranberry millionaire salad chill overnight, and the chocolate pecan pie freezes for up to 3 months.
What's the best Christmas dessert for a crowd?
Anything baked in a 9x13 pan. The pecan pie bars, magic bars, cranberry bliss bars, peppermint poke cake and Christmas ribbon salad all cut into plenty of squares for a potluck.
More Easy Christmas Recipes
- Old Fashioned Butter Cookies for Christmas
- Old Fashioned Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Grandma's Classic Peanut Butter Blossoms
- Grandma's Old Fashioned Gingerbread Loaf
- Old Fashioned Monkey Bread
- 30 Old-Fashioned Christmas Dinner Recipes
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