10 greatest Christmas dessert recipes of all time

Sugar, spice and everything nice. The holidays are a time to indulge in decadent desserts and classic treats. Here are 10 Christmas dessert recipes that truly capture the warmth of the festive season.

[Photo Credit: Jenifoto]

Simple sugar cookies are a favourite Christmas cookie recipe and for good reason. Not only are they easy to make, but sugar cookies are also a blank canvas that can be enjoyed plain, decorated with colourful icing, or enhanced with nuts, chocolate chips or dried fruit.

Stollen (or Christstollen) is a fruit-studded yeast bread traditionally enjoyed in Germany during the Yuletide season. Authentic German Christmas Stollen is baked with dried fruits, candied citrus peels, nuts, and festive spices. The loaf is then coated with butter, dusted with powdered sugar, and set aside to age for about a week before being served.

Don’t be fooled by the name, mince pies are strictly sweet in flavour. Christmas mince pies are tart-sized pastry shells stuffed with a fruity mincemeat filling. Purchase pre-made mincemeat in the grocery store or mix it up at home. Tuck into mince pies on their own or pair them with a generous dollop of brandy butter.

Whether you want them sweet or savoury, plain or frosted, there’s no doubt shortbread cookies are one of the best Christmas cookie recipes and are perfect for festive gift-giving. Jazz up plain shortbread dough with cheddar and chive or try fragrant dried lavender with white chocolate chunks.

Chocolate yule log cake is an impressive after-dinner dessert that looks just as good as it tastes. This log-shaped cake is rolled with buttercream or chocolate ganache filling, then finished with a layer of frosting or icing sugar and decorated with sprigs of holly.

Gingerbread cookies are a family-friendly Christmas cookie recipe to make with the kids. The simple gingerbread dough includes a sweet-and-spicy mix of molasses, ground ginger, coriander and caraway. For some added whimsy, cut your cookies into fanciful shapes or decorate them like charming gingerbread boys and girls.

Inspired by timeless holiday flavours and spices, bite-sized Christmas cupcakes are a fun option for holiday parties. Like a traditional fruitcake, these moist Christmas cupcakes topped with a marzipan icing are chock-full of nuts and rum-soaked fruit.

An irresistible treat to enjoy on Christmas morning, cinnamon rolls are a gooey Christmas treat. The sweet-smelling buns are best when frosted with homemade cream cheese icing.

Peppermint and white chocolate are a classic flavour combination and a great pairing for chewy fudge. Whip up a batch of minty fresh peppermint fudge with high-quality white chocolate and crushed candy canes.

Dense and gooey sticky toffee pudding is a beloved Christmas dessert recipe from the UK. Served warm, this sweet pudding is made with chopped dates and spices and topped with a drizzle of caramel sauce. Take it up a notch by steaming your pudding instead of baking to create an incredibly rich and moist Christmas dessert.