These best Christmas desserts are our fave finishes to that spectacular holiday meal. Although it may pose the most difficult decision of the day–eggnog pie or gingerbread cheesecake? (Go on, have both. It’s Christmas.)
Christmas Tree of Cookies : Katie Hammond 1/11 Holiday diet tactic #142: This stunning cookie tree. Because it sorta makes it harder to demolish a half batch of cookies when doing so would demolish the Christmas tree. Recipe Brown Betty Bakery Coconut Cake : Alison Conklin 2/11 Dubbed Company's Comin' Coconut Cake, this beauty of a pound cake will have you dreaming up excuses to bake dessert. Even if for no other reason than you want it. Recipe Eggnog Pie : Steve Painter 3/11 Essentially a slightly tipsy cheesecake, this bourbon-enhanced eggnog pie is something we're classifying as "holiday desserts for parties where people like to party." Recipe Chocolate Tart with Pine Nuts : Christopher Hirsheimer 4/11 We don't know Italian, but we're pretty certain this tart, with its molten filling and brownie crust, translates to "Damn good!" Recipe Vanilla Angel Food Cake : HarperCollins 5/11 All the delicate loveliness of classic angel food cake but made even better with the addition of pure vanilla and a blizzard of confectioners' sugar. Recipe Portuguese Orange Olive Oil Cake : Nuno Correia 6/11 This classic Portuguese dessert with its tender crumb and citrus smack tastes as stunning as it looks. Swear. Recipe Viennese Crescent Cookies : larryratt / 123RF Stock Photo 7/11 A holiday cookie if we ever saw one! So buttery, so nutty, so delicate, so mind-bendingly charming, these traditional Viennese cookies rival the city's fancier pastries as our fave. Recipe Gingerbread Cheesecake : Sang An 8/11 This gingerbread cheesecake tastes like the classic Christmas spices of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and clove in each and every bite of this simple yet stunning dessert. Recipe Salted Caramel Tart : Leigh Beisch 9/11 A ridiculously creamy--and relatively simple--homemade caramel filling graces this properly flaky pastry. Salted butter--lots of it--lends this dessert just the right amount of decadence. Recipe German Chocolate Cake : Carl Tremblay 10/11 Dark chocolate cake stacked high and smothered with gooey caramel and coconut and pecans. Don't mind if we do. Recipe Glazed Pumpkin Pound Cake : Alexandra Grablewski 11/11 If you've been thinking maybe you're done with pumpkin everything, wait'll you experience this aromatic pound cake that boasts the perfect balance of sweet and spice. Recipe © 2020 Leite's Culinaria. All rights reserved. All materials used with permission.