Holiday Desserts To Make At Home

Everyone gets stressed out when they have to make a holiday meal, so we like to use simple recipes when we can. When you are having a holiday party, choose a quick baking project to give yourself a break. You can still surprise your guests with the look and taste of your food, though. There's a delicious air-fried Basque cheesecake among these simple holiday treats, and there are also ice cream bonbons. These more than a dozen holiday treat ideas can be made in less than 30 minutes and would look great on any holiday table.

4 Holiday Desserts To Make At Home

1. Cardamom Thumbprints

Adding cardamom to these crunchy cookies makes them taste slightly spicy. You can use any kind of jam, melted chocolate with chopped nuts, or nut butter to fill the thumb print.

Ingredients

• 1 cup almond flour that is fine
• 1 cup flour for everything
• Half a teaspoon of ground cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 big egg
• One teaspoon of real vanilla extract
• 1 (10-ounce) jar of strawberry, apricot, or raspberry jam without seeds

Read also: Slow-Cooker Baby Back Ribs: A Step-by-Step Guide

Directions

Step 1

Warm the oven up to 350°F. Put parchment paper on two baking sheets. Mix the flours, cardamom, and salt together in a small bowl. The butter and sugar should be mixed in a medium bowl with an electric mixer set to medium speed. Beat for about 3 minutes, or until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix well. Add the dry ingredients while beating on low speed. To make a ball, gather the dough and knead it a few times.

Step 2

You can use a small ice cream scoop or a tablespoon to divide the dough into 36 balls. Line up the balls on the baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch of space between each one. Make a hole in the middle of each ball with the back of a teaspoon. For 10 minutes, or until they are just barely hard, bake the cookies. Take the baking sheets out of the oven and press the holes again. Put the cookies back in the oven and bake for another 7 to 8 minutes, until they are dry but not hard and look a little golden. Place the cookies on racks to cool all the way through. Put jam in the thumbprints and serve.

2. Chocolate Pretzel Crinkle Cookies

• The pretzels give these gluten-free cookies a nice salty pop, and the chocolate-chewy middle is just perfect.
• 8 ounces of gluten-free pretzels from Glutenino (about 5 1/3 cups)
• Dutch-process cocoa powder, 3/4 cup (about 2 1/2 ounces) without sugar (see Note)
• 1 tablespoon of baking powder
• 1 and a half cups of sugar
• 3/4 cup of canola oil
• 4 big eggs
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 cup of sugar powder

Directions

Step 1

Warm the oven up to 350°F. Put the pretzels in the food processor bowl and pulse for about 1 minute and 30 seconds, or until the pretzels are very much ground up. (You need about 2 cups of ground pretzels.)

Step 2

A medium bowl holds the ground pretzels, cocoa, and baking powder. These are mixed together using a whisk. An electric hand mixer on high speed was used to mix the powdered sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a big bowl. This took about 30 seconds. Add the ground pretzel mix and mix until the dough comes together. Place in the fridge for about two hours, or until firm. Cover with plastic wrap. 

Read also: How to Make a Moist Lemon Olive Oil Cake

3. Chocolate-Peppermint Brownies

These rich peppermint brownies toppped with crushed candy canes are from London's cult-favorite bakery, Violet. If you can't find candy canes, use striped peppermint candies.

Ingredients

• 2. Two sticks of plain butter, cut up; plus more to grease
• Cut up 1 pound of bittersweet chocolate.
• 2 teaspoons of pure peppermint oil
• 4 big eggs
• 1 3/4 cups of light brown sugar packed
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt
• 4 broken candy canes (about 1/3 cup)

Directions

Step 1

Warm the oven up to 350°. Spread butter on a 9-by-13-inch baking pan and line it with parchment paper. Leave two inches of extra paper on each long side.

Step 2

Put two-thirds of the chopped chocolate and two sticks of butter in a heat-safe bowl. Over a pot of boiling water, put the bowl and stir the chocolate until it melts. Move the chocolate to a different bowl and let it cool down a bit. Add the peppermint flavor and the rest of the chopped chocolate to the heatproof bowl. Melt the chocolate over the boiling water, then take the bowl off the heat and let it cool a bit.

Step 3

Whisk the eggs and brown sugar together in a medium-sized bowl. Add the chocolate-butter mixture and mix it in with a whisk until the mixture is shiny and thick. Add the salt and flour to the bowl and stir just until the flour is mixed in. Spread the cookie batter out in the baking pan that has been prepared. Add the peppermint chocolate to the brownie batter and use a table knife to mix it in.

4. Dark Chocolate Bark with Walnuts and Dried Cherries

Bobbi Brown, the beauty expert, says that a small piece of dark chocolate is the best treat. Dark chocolate is not only full of vitamins, but it also makes you feel better on its own. Nuts (which are a great source of omega-3 fatty acids) and dried cherries (which are high in fiber and minerals) give this recipe from F&W an extra boost.Plus: More dessert recipes and ideas

Ingredients

• 6 ounces of walnut halves, cut in half
• 9 ounces of chopped bittersweet chocolate
• 1 cup of chopped dried sour cherries (4 ounces)
• 2 cups very small pieces of candied ginger

Directions

Step 1

Warm the oven up to 350°. Place the walnuts on a baking sheet and toast them for 8 minutes, or until they are golden and smell good. Once it's cool, chop it up pretty big.

Step 2

Put wax or parchment paper on the bottom of a baking sheet. To melt two-thirds of the chocolate, heat it in a glass bowl in 30-second bursts at high power in the microwave. Mix until it's smooth. Mix in the rest of the chocolate until it melts. Add the walnuts, cherries, and ginger crystals and mix until everything is well covered. Spread the dough out into a 12-by-8-inch square on the baking sheet that has been prepped. Put it in the fridge for 10 minutes, or until it's hard enough to cut.

Step 3

Separate the bark into 48 pieces, making 6 rows of 8 pieces each. Place the pieces on a plate. You can serve it cold or room temperature.

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