The holidays are filled with sweet memories, gatherings, gifts, and of course, sweet Christmas treats. There are countless occasions when you’ll need to prepare something sweet for the holidays, and we’ve got you covered for all of them. Make these easy recipes for kids to decorate on a cold Sunday afternoon. Prepare a batch of sweets as gifts for neighbors, teachers, and holiday guests. Need host gifts or homemade party favors? Look no further than our favorite Christmas treat recipes.
With delicious ideas for chocolate lovers, peppermint fanatics, salty-sweet cravers, and everyone in between, our Christmas confection ideas are the best. If you’re looking for a simple dessert that the kids can help out with, we’ve got plenty of crafty ideas that your little elves will love. From cookies to bars and trifles to truffles, these are the best Christmas recipes to make your holiday the sweetest yet.
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
These rich and fudgy cookies are an oldie but a goodie. Change up their flavor by adding a dash of peppermint or almond extract.
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
Inspired by the beloved cake, these red velvet brownies are dense, fudgy, and topped with a tangy cream cheese frosting for an eye-catching dessert that will shake up your usual baking routine.
Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Missie Neville Crawford
Old-fashioned divinity is nostalgic for many Southerners whose grandmothers made it for the holidays. It’s one of those desserts that you need a dry day for though, y’all!
Southern Living
We love when Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes start showing up on store shelves, so we challenged Senior Producer Ivy Odom to make them herself at home.
Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Torie Cox
Share the flavors of Southern favorite ambrosia in a beautiful new way with this colorful Christmas bark that makes a perfect gift for neighbors and friends.
Jessica Furniss
Forget the fuss of layer cakes and perfectly frosted cookies. These cake balls are a cinch to make and are packed with rich chocolate and peppermint flavor.
Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Torie Cox
This festive new take on classic slice-and-bake cookies has color and welcome tartness from cranberries. You can add coconut for extra sweetness if you’re a fan.
Greg Dupree; Prop Stylist: Ginny Branch; Food Stylist: Emily Neighbors Hall
Using vanilla bean paste in the cookie dough adds so much more flavor than extract can. You don’t need any fancy piping tips or decorating skills to achieve these gorgeous results.
Micah A. Leal
These precious little muffins are the perfect start to Christmas morning or snack with an afternoon cup of tea.
Emily Laurae
A box of cake mix is one of our favorite store-bought shortcuts to delicious holiday desserts. They’re perfectly chewy and soft.
Victor Protasio; Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer; Prop Stylist: Christina Brockman
These ugly sweater-inspired bars will be the cutest offering at the Christmas potluck. Plus, you’ll have extra buttercream to use for another baking project.
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
We love using these pretty Sugared Cranberries to top holiday cakes and pies, but they make a cute snack for your candy bowls during holiday parties.
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
These old-school cookies will bring you right back to Grandma’s table at Christmas.
Greg Dupree; Prop Stylist: Ginny Branch; Food Stylist: Emily Neighbors Hall
These chocolate cookies are the perfect mix of crisp on the outside and gooey on the inside.
Victor Protasio; Food Stylist: Rishon Hanners; Prop Stylist: Christina Daley
This cute candy bark just might replace peppermint as your favorite flavor. Don’t skip the sprinkle of flaky salt on top—it takes all the flavors up a notch.
Greg Dupree; Prop Stylist: Ginny Branch; Food Stylist: Emily Neighbors Hall
How sweet are these cutout cookies, y’all? They will show all your friends and family how much you love them!
Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Missie Neville Crawford
This recipe for Candied Peanuts will be your secret weapon this holiday season. Keep a batch on hand to toss in the candy bowl for drop-by guests, use them to top a Bundt or layer cake, or throw them into a salad for a welcome crunch.
Greg Dupree; Prop Stylist: Ginny Branch; Food Stylist: Emily Neighbors Hall
If you want perfect circles for your cookie wreaths, use this amazing Test Kitchen hack: Print out a page of 2 1/4 -inch circles and place it under the parchment on your cookie sheet to use as a guide while piping.
Photographer: Antonis Achilleos; Prop Stylist: Christine Kelly; Food Stylist: Ali Ramee
Talk about a treat! No one wants to deal with kids coming off the sugar crash of a breakfast made of candy from their stockings. Provide them something filling but oh-so-festive with these Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls.
Victor Protasio; Food Styling: Ruth Blackburn; Prop Styling: Missie Neville Crawford
You don’t have to turn the oven on for this no-bake treat that starts with a sleeve of Saltines.
Victor Protasio; Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Stylist: Shell Royster
These precious little Bundt cakes are an easy shortcut to getting caramel flavor without finicky frosting or layers.
Greg Dupree; Prop Stylist: Ginny Branch; Food Stylist: Emily Neighbors Hall
Our Test Kitchen described these cookies as a mix between a sugar cookie and a fudgy brownie, and that’s all the endorsement we need to make a batch this season.
Courtney West
We topped our Red Velvet Cake Balls with a coating of white candy melts and red and white sprinkles and sanding sugars, but you can add food coloring to the melted candy or swap the sprinkles colors to get even more festive.
Greg Dupree; Prop Stylist: Ginny Branch; Food Stylist: Emily Neighbors Hall
We used lemon curd and strawberry jam to fill these colorful cookies, but you can swap for your favorite jam flavor of course.
Greg Dupree; Prop Stylist: Ginny Branch; Food Stylist: Emily Neighbors Hall
Break out Grandma’s old cookie press for these nostalgic little treats that don’t require any decorating skills.
Stacy K. Allen; Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer; Prop Stylist: Christine Keely
It’s not a party in the Bluegrass State without a batch of bourbon balls. You need just a handful of ingredients to make two dozen.
Greg Dupree; Prop Stylist: Ginny Branch; Food Stylist: Emily Neighbors Hall
These beauties aren’t your typical sugar cookies! It does take a careful hand to decorate them as pictured, but you can leave a few aside for the kids to go wild decorating.
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
This no-bake treat requires just five ingredients. Package it in a precious cookie tin or clear cellophane bags with a bow, and you’ve got the sweetest “happy” to gift those around you.
Greg DuPree; Food Stylist: Ali Ramee; Prop Stylist: Hannah Greenwood
If you’re looking for something traditional for your Christmas cookie tin, gingerbread cookies are always a good idea. Don’t skip the chill times for the dough, y’all!
Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Missie Neville Crawford
No, these aren’t the Butterfingers you’ll find in your Halloween candy bowl. These homemade butter (hence the name) cookies come together with a few ingredients that are probably already in your kitchen.
Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Missie Neville Crawford
The shape of these turtle cookies from Chef Rob McDaniel is almost as cute as they are delicious. They’re a perfect baking project for the kids to help out with when they’re out of school.
Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Missie Neville Crawford
Since we’re guessing you already have butter, milk, and salt on hand, all you need to buy to make a batch of these delightful candies is caramel candies, pecans, and chocolate melting wafers. Done, done, and done!
Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke
“These White Christmas Pavlovas turned out so beautifully, especially for how easy they were to prepare. My friends loved them, and everyone asked for the recipe after the party,” says Digital Editor Mary Shannon Hodes. “I can’t wait to switch up the toppings and impress another group of friends or family with these vanilla pavlovas.”
Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Missie Neville Crawford
The reviews for these four-ingredient cookies do all the talking. “Everyone loved these,” wrote one reader. “These are my new favourites this season. Delicious! Easy to make,” said another.
Photographer: Isaac Nunn, Prop Stylist: Julia Bayless, Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn
It’s hard to beat classic chocolate fudge, but this recipe makes the case for taking a detour this holiday season.
Greg Dupree; Prop Stylist: Ginny Branch; Food Stylist: Emily Neighbors Hall
We used royal blue food coloring gel to achieve this look, but you can let the kids pick their favorite color to set out for Santa.
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
These simple, elegant pecan snowball cookies are a sweet addition to any holiday cookie spread.
Molly Bolton
Elevate your typical chocolate chip cookies with this simple yet impactful recipe. Browning the butter makes these classics nuttier and richer for a holiday crowd pleaser.
Caitlin Bensel, Food Stylist: Torie Cox
These soft, chewy sugar cookies made into frosting-topped bars are super customizable and perfect for holiday parties.
Molly Bolton
Two of the South’s favorite sweets—pecan pie and brownies—collide to make one decadent bar. The rich dark chocolate brownies with the nutty pecan pie topping make for a delicious treat all will enjoy.
Hannah Zimmerman / Southern Living
These easy peanut butter cookies take less than 20 minutes to put together and 15 minutes to bake, so you can have homemade peanut butter cookies in an easy 35 minutes. They’re perfect for a quick dessert this holiday!
Hannah Zimmerman
Make one of the best holiday desserts even more shareable with these pecan pie bars. All of the flavor you love without all the hassle.
Photography: Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Torie Cox
Similar to a classic whoopie pie, these pumpkin ones are made with light brown sugar, pumpkin spice, and pumpkin puree to pack in the flavors of the season.
Greg DuPree, Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn, Prop Stylist: Christine Keely
These chewy, crisp molasses cookies will be the hit of the dessert spread this holiday. Your house will smell deliciously spicy after baking these treats.
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
These bite-sized pecan treats are a decadent cross between a shortbread cookie and pecan pie. Bake these pecan tassies for a treat that’s as simple as a cookie and as decadent as a pie.
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
Topped with candied pumpkin seeds, these sweet, spiced pumpkin bars are the indulgent handheld treat that’s irresistibly easy to eat.
Alison Miksch; Food Stylist: Karen Rankin; Prop Stylist: Josh Hoggle
Fudgy, dense, and decadent, these brownies have a hint of mocha that increases the depth of chocolate flavor. Then, they’re topped with a layer of creamy peppermint-flavored chocolate ganache. And if that wasn’t enough peppermint, the ganache has a layer of crunchy crushed peppermint candies.
Courtney West
A crisp graham cracker crust is topped with pecans, chocolate morsels, and flaked coconut, and then sweetened condensed milk is poured right over, binding the ingredients into caramelized, uniform bars as they bake in the oven.
Hector Manuel Sanchez; Prop Styling: Karin Olsen; Food Styling: Kellie Gerber Kelley
This recipe makes about two dozen bourbon balls, so you’ll have plenty to send home with guests after the party.
Emily Laurae
Get nostalgic this Christmas with one of our favorite vintage recipes.
Southern Living
These adorable treats are the perfect afternoon activity for your little ones.
Iain Bagwell
The creamy mint icing on these Christmas-y blondies will steal the holiday show.
Iain Bagwell
If you’re in a pinch this holiday season, no-bake is the way to go.
Iain Bagwell
These French butter cookies are elegant for dinner parties.
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
This five-ingredient toffee recipe starts with a sleeve of Saltines.
Hector Manuel Sanchez
These cookies were sent in by Ms. Alice Rhodes from Harrisonburg, Virginia, and published in our November 1992 issue. They’re bursting with every flavor you love about the holidays.
HECTOR MANUEL SANCHEZ
These mini cakes are absolutely decadent for the holidays.
Southern Living
Brighten up your holiday dessert table with a touch of lemon.
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
Reader Lela H. Coggins from Brevard, North Carolina, sent us this recipe, which was published in our December 1993 issue. This six-ingredient stunner still holds up today.
Iain Bagwell
This trifle might look impressive on the dessert table, but it’s extremely easy to put together.
Hector Sanchez
These cookies are a more portable way to enjoy our most popular recipe of all tlime—the Hummingbird Cake.
Southern Living
This classic holiday dessert lives up to its divine name.
Jennifer Davick
With just seven ingredients and 15 minutes of hands-on time, you can serve these delightful bits of pecan pie.
Photo: Hector Sanchez
Delight chocolate lovers with mini desserts that are easier to serve than slicing cake.
Hector Manuel Sanchez
We think Santa would eat every last one of these crackle cookies on Christmas Eve.
Photo: Hector Sanchez
Let the kids get creative decorating half of these cookies, and decorate the other half for your own dinner guests.