Have you ever been indecisive about what dessert recipes to bake this year? Struggling with what to whip up before attending a Christmas party? From sugary, sweet cookies to rich, radiant cakes, these desserts will surely add some cheer to any festive occasion this season.

1. Candy Cane Brownie Cake Pops (By Homemade Heather)

With just four ingredients, these balls of cooked box brownies, coated with peppermint candy melts and crushed candy canes, make one of the easiest Christmas desserts that nobody can refuse. 

Steps on how to make them:

1. Bake the brownie mix according to how the box says (you can use any brownie mix).
2. Once the brownies have cooled off, take them out of the pan and combine them together, then roll them into balls.
3. Melt the candy melts and drop in 1-2 tbsp of vegetable oil.
4. Dip the balls into the candy melts, then coat them fully with the crushed candy cane mixture.

2. No Bake Gingerbread Pie (By Homemade In The Kitchen)

If you’re invited to a last-minute Christmas party, and you’re clueless as to what you should bring, this quick recipe might be the one for you. It uses 2 cups of crushed biscoff/speculoos cookies, 6 tablespoons of butter, 1 ¼ heavy whipping cream, 8 oz of cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, ¼ cup molasses, and spices of your choice. 

Steps on how to make them:

1. In a bowl, combine the crushed cookies and the butter. Then pat this mixture into a 9-inch pan or pie plate. Let this chill for at least 30 minutes before you start the next steps.
2. In a mixing bowl, (preferably an electric mixer with the whisk attachment), beat the heavy whipping cream until it starts to thicken just a bit.
3. As your mixer is on, slowly add in ¼ cup powdered sugar and ½ tsp  vanilla extract until stiff peaks form – this will take about 3 minutes. Once this is done, transfer your mixture into a different bowl and then immediately into your refrigerator. 
4. Using the same mixing bowl,, beat together the cream cheese and the rest of the powdered sugar until you have a smooth mixture.
5. Now, you can put in your molasses, and the rest of the vanilla extract.
6. Take half of the whipped cream mixture and fold it into your mixing bowl and mix thoroughly.
7. Put your mixture on top of the cookie crust that you made, then top with the leftover whipped cream. Before serving, make sure you refrigerate your pie 4-24 hours before you serve it. 

3. Eggnog Cupcakes (By Barley and Sage)

This milky, warm dessert is full of your favorite eggnog drink flavor, while being fluffy and moist. With light creamy frosting, they make great sweets to have. These cupcakes are a little bit different because the special ingredient that they use is cake flour instead of all purpose flour like most recipes. This recipe uses ½ cup unsalted butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, 2 large eggs, 1 tbsp vanilla extract, 1 ½ cups cake flour (if you don’t have any, you can use AP flour as a substitute), 1 ½ tsp baking powder, ½ cup eggnog, ¼ tsp salt, and any warm spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, etc. If you want to make a cupcake soak, you can use 2 tbsp of eggnog. For the eggnog buttercream, you’ll use 1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature), 3 ½ cups powdered sugar, and ¼ cup eggnog.

               Here are the steps on how to make them: 

1. Preheat your oven to 350℉ and line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake liners. 
2. Mix your cake flour/AP flour, baking powder, any spices, and salt together in a large bowl, then set aside.
3. In another bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract together until smooth.
4. With the flour from before, mix half of it into the second mixture until smooth, and then mix the remaining half in. 
5. Once this mixture is fully incorporated, mix in your eggnog. 
6. Pour your mixture into each cupcake liner, each one of these liners should be halfway filled up. Bake these cupcakes for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Once your cupcakes are done, let them cool on a cooling rack until they’re warm (or cold if you don’t want the cupcake soak). 
8. For the optional cupcake soak, in a small bowl, pour in your 2 tbsp of eggnog, and brush it onto your cupcakes.

For the frosting:

1. In a small bowl, using an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until light and fluffy.
2. Add in your powdered sugar ¼ cup at a time and mix until fully smooth.
3. Slowly add in the eggnog, then beat on high speed until the mixture is extremely smooth. 
4. Now, you can frost your cupcakes anyway you like, and sprinkle some spices on top for extra flavor!

4. Peppermint Bark (By The Pioneer Woman)

If you’re in a time crunch, or you aren’t the best baker, or you just don’t feel like baking anything for Christmas, but you still want to have the festive cheer, this might just be the perfect, crunchy, and chocolatey recipe for you. With just three simple ingredients being 16 oz chopped white chocolate, 4 drops peppermint oil (not essential oil), and ¾ cup peppermint candies (or even crushed candy canes), this recipe will only take 15 minutes to make, and 1-2 hours to let it sit. 

  Steps on how to make them:

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

1. Place your white chocolate in a bowl, then set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering (low heat). Let your chocolate melt while stirring it slowly until a few lumps remain (takes about 3 minutes). Now you can remove the chocolate from the heat and finish mixing in all the lumps till smooth. 
2. Stir in your peppermint oil. 
3. Pour in your white chocolate and peppermint oil mixture onto the lined baking sheet and smooth it with a spatula. Using your peppermint candies/crushed candy canes, sprinkle them over the top layer of chocolate. Let sit at room temperature, or in the fridge for about 1-2 hours. 
4. Once the bark is hard, break into pieces into whatever size you’d like.

5. Hot Cocoa Cookies (By Love From The Oven)

Unlike other hot cocoa cookie recipes, this fudgy recipe uses real hot cocoa instead of just cocoa powder. The ingredients are: 1 cup softened butter, 1 cup sugar, ⅔ cup brown sugar, 2 large eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 3 ¼ cup all purpose flour, 4 packages/ ¾ cup hot cocoa mix, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 cup chocolate chips, and 1 cup Mallow Bits. 

The steps to making them:

1. Line 1-2 baking sheets with parchment paper. 
2. Beat the butter and sugars together with an electric mixer until smooth and light. Add in the vanilla extract as well as the eggs. 
3. In a separate medium bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. Beat this mixture into the butter mixture until fully blended. 
4. Stir in the chocolate chips and Mallow Bits, then cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to up to an hour. 
5. When you’re ready to bake these, preheat the oven to 350℉ and place tablespoons of dough with two inches of space in between on the pan. Bake edges are brown, around 9-11 minutes. Then let them cool for 5 minutes.

6. Swirled Candy Cane Cupcakes (By Betty Crocker)

With bright red and white swirls and an incredibly classic pepperminty flavor, this recipe only takes 25 minutes to make, and up to 20 minutes to bake. This recipe uses 1 box Betty Crocker Super Moist White Cake Mix (uses water, vegetable oil, and egg whites), 1 tsp peppermint extract, 1 tsp red paste food coloring, 2 tubs whipped fluffy white frosting, and 1 cup crushed hard peppermint candy (near 30). 

Steps for making these:

1. Preheat oven to 350℉ and place muffin liners in every cup for the cupcake tray used. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix with the water, vegetable oil, egg whites, and peppermint extract. Mix together on medium speed for 2 minutes. 
3. Divide the batter in even halves. For the first one, drop in as much food coloring as you want for your desired red color. 
4. For every muffin liner, place 2 tbsp red batter, then add 2 tbsp white batter on top. Using a knife, swirl together these two batters to create a marble look.
5. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until fully cooked. Let cool for 10 minutes before putting them on a cooling rack for 30 minutes.
6. Now you may top with the frosting and crushed peppermint candies. 

7. Sugar Cookie Fudge (By Crayons+Cravings)

Take pleasure in the sweet flavor of sugar cookies, while not having to even turn the oven on. This cookie fudge recipe only uses 8 ingredients: 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk, 2 ½  cup white chocolate chips, 1 ¼  cup sugar cookie mix, 2 tbsp unsalted butter, ¼ tsp salt, 2 tbsp butter, and sprinkles.

Steps on how to make them:

1. Line a baking dish/sheet with parchment paper and set aside. 
2. Add sweetened condensed milk to a pot over medium heat while stirring occasionally. Once the milk is hot, stir in the sugar cookie mix, white chocolate chips, and butter. Continue mixing until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined, then remove from heat.
3. Stir in as many Christmas sprinkles as you desire. 
4. Pour the fudge mixture into the baking dish/sheet and add as many more sprinkles as you want. 
5. Allow to set overnight by placing in your refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight. 
6. Now serve them by slicing them into small cubes.

8. Bûche de Noël, also known as “Yule Log Cake” (By Delish)

This creamy, classic Christmas delight has been around since 1870. A whipped cream-filled rolled chocolate sponge cake that is a must-have for the Christmas holiday.

Here are the ingredients listed: 6 large eggs (separated), ½ cup AP flour, ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, ¾ cup granulated sugar (divided), ¼ tsp salt, and a few spoons of powdered sugar for sprinkling for the cake. For the filling, you’ll need 1 ¼ cup heavy cream, ¼ cup powdered sugar, 2 tsp gelatin (not required), 1 tsp vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. For the frosting, you’ll need: ½ cup butter, 1 ½ cup powdered sugar, 5 tbsp cocoa powder, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 3 tbsp heavy cream, and whatever spices you’d like for garnishing. 

Steps on how to make this cake: 

1. Preheat oven to 350℉ and line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper
2. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, flour, and salt.
3. In a separate large bowl, beat together the egg yolks. Steadily, add in ½ cup sugar until fully incorporated, then combine with the flour mixture. 
4. In another bowl beat the egg whites together until a soft peak forms. Add in the remaining sugar slowly until stiff peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the batter.
5. Pour batter into the jelly roll pan evenly and bake the top until it bounces back when pressed, (about 12 minutes). 
6. Flip your cake, while still warm, onto a kitchen towel with powdered sugar sprinkled. Slowly take off the parchment paper. Use the towel to roll the cake into a log. 
7. For the filling, If you have gelatin on hand, place 2 tbsp water in a microwave safe bowl and pour the gelatin in evenly and let this sit for 5-10 minutes before microwaving for 10 seconds.To make the rest of the filling, beat together all of the ingredients until medium peaks form. For the gelatin, strain the water out and pour it into the mixture. Refrigerate until you’re ready to use.
8. After the cake has cooled, unroll the cake and spread the filling. Tightly, roll the cake back into a log using the towel. Place onto a baking sheet and refrigerate for 1 hour. 
9. To make the frosting, beat the butter till smooth. Then add the powdered sugar and cocoa powder until smooth. Once it’s smooth, add in the vanilla extract, heavy cream, and salt. 
10. Once it’s ready to serve, add on the frosting and decorate with things such as powdered sugar, rosemary with cranberries to appear as mistletoes, and whatever else you’d like!

9. Sugar Cookie Bars (By CountryLiving)

These rich bars of joy are simple to make and popular around the holidays. The ingredients for the cookies are 2 ½ cup all purpose flour, 1 tsp cornstarch, ½ tsp baking powder, ½ tsp salt, ¾ cup unsalted softened butter, 1 ½ cups granulated sugar, 2 large eggs, and 1 tsp vanilla extract. For the buttercream, you’ll need ½ cup unsalted butter, 1 tbsp whole milk, 1 tsp peppermint/vanilla extract, and 2 cups powdered sugar.  

Steps on how to make these sugary delights:

1. Preheat oven to 350℉ and line a baking pan with parchment paper. 
2. Whisk together the flour, salt, cornstarch and baking powder in a bowl. 
3. With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together for 1-2 minutes, or until fluffy. Add in the eggs and vanilla while slowly mixing, and then add in the flour mixture.
4. Pour the mixture into the baking pan and spread until even. Bake until the edges are golden/brown which takes around 25-30 minutes. Cool while still in the pan for about 15 minutes, then transfer onto a wire rack by using the parchment paper to lift it out of the pan, and let it cool completely. 
5. To make the buttercream, beat the butter on medium speed for 1-2 minutes. Beat in the remaining ingredients. Now spread this mixture evenly over the cookie bars and cut into squares.