Meatless Monday Challenge

14+ Mouthwatering Christmas Desserts

on December 5, 2023
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This list of Christmas desserts have become tradition year after year in my house around the Holidays!
Baking up Christmas desserts.

Looking for a festive and fun treat to bring the holly jolly to your Holiday season? This list of 14+ mouthwatering Christmas desserts has it all!

From cookies to tarts to drinks, these are some of my favorite confections that I look forward to making every year for my annual Holiday baking binge!

Green Tip: When sourcing sustainable ingredients for baking, look for trusted labels like Regenerative Organic Certified, USDA Organic, Non-GMO Project Certified, and Certified Naturally Grown.

As an environmental scientist who likes to indulge in sweet treats and comfort foods, I believe making small changes can make a bigger impact over time.

Christmas Desserts


Bakes

1. Chewy M&M Christmas Cookies

Christmas themed plate with green and red M&M Christmas cookies on it.
Christmas M&M Cookies are festive, chewy treats adorned with colorful M&M candies, embodying the spirit of the holiday season in each delightful bite.
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Christmas cookie cake surrounded by gold reindeer and red ornaments
This Christmas Cookie Cake is the cutest way to celebrate the Holiday season with dessert, with a super approachable recipe that anyone can make!
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3. Chocolate Peppermint Christmas Tree Cookies

Chocolate Peppermint Christmas Tree Cookies
These Chocolate Peppermint Christmas Tree Cookies are the easiest way to bring the look, taste, and smell of the Holidays into your home. They're crunchy on the edges, chewy in the center, full of chocolate and peppermint flavor, and fun to decorate!
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4. Candy Cane Shortbread Cookies

green and red plaid plate with 7 candy cane shortbread cookies and surrounded by candy canes and eucalyptus
These Candy Cane Shortbread Cookies are comprised of a buttery, melt-in-your-mouth cookie base with real crushed candy cane inside and on top for just the right amount of peppermint flavor and crunch.
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5. Cozy Baileys Hot Chocolate Tart

Baileys Hot Chocolate Tart with Christmas candles and tree decorations
This Baileys Hot Chocolate Tart has a rich, smooth, chocolate-and-Baileys-forward filling with a buttery, flaky crust that will make being home for the Holidays feel (and taste) extra special this year.
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Drinks

6. The BEST Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix

Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix with Chocolate Chips
This hot chocolate mix with chocolate chips is the best mixture to have on hand for the richest, most velvety, and chocolatey sip.
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7. Spiked Baileys Hot Chocolate for Two

Two glass mugs of Baileys Hot Chocolate topped with Whipped Cream and chocolate curls
This Spiked Baileys Hot Chocolate recipe makes just enough creamy, cozy, warming hot chocolate for two. From scratch or with mix, on the stovetop or in the microwave!
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8. Baileys Hot Chocolate Bombs

6 Baileys Hot Chocolate Bombs on a silver cooling rack
These Baileys Hot Chocolate Bombs are interactive, fun, and outrageously delicious. The best way to enjoy your boozy hot chocolate!
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9. Festive Christmas Hot Cocoa Bombs

Christmas Hot Cocoa Bombs
These Festive Christmas Hot Cocoa Bombs are the most fun and decadent way to warm up this season. Plus, they make for the best homemade gifts!
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10. Gin and Cranberry Christmas Cocktail

cranberry gin fizz surrounded by christmas decor
This Gin and Cranberry Christmas Cocktail is festive in both appearance and flavor, making it the most refreshing way to cheers to the Holiday season.
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11. Decadent Peppermint Hot Chocolate for Two

Peppermint Hot Chocolate with a candy cane stirrer
This Peppermint Hot Chocolate combines the rich creaminess of hot chocolate with the refreshing zing of peppermint flavor.
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12. Cheery Peppermint Mocha Martini

recipe card image for cheery peppermint mocha martini
This Cheery Peppermint Mocha Martini is simultaneously rich and decadent, and minty fresh. The best way to ring in the Holidays!
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13. Decadent White Chocolate Martini

gold trimmed tray filled with pine cones and a white chocolate martini
This White Chocolate Martini is creamy, smooth, sweet, and boozy. The absolute best decadent dessert cocktail!
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14. Vibrant Leftover Cranberry Sauce Cosmo

close up of leftover cranberry cosmo
With sweetness from the cranberry sauce, citrus from the triple sec and lime juice, and a generous amount of vodka, this Leftover Cranberry Sauce Cosmo is sure to bring the holly jolly this Holiday season.
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I hope this list of Christmas Desserts inspires you to spread Holiday cheer in the kitchen! And if you’re still not sure where to start, I’ve included these festive, chewy treats adorned with colorful M&M candies, embodying the spirit of the holiday season in each delightful bite.

Christmas themed plate with green and red M&M Christmas cookies on it.

M&M Christmas Cookies

5 from 1 vote
Marley Goldin
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A compilation of all of my favorite mouthwatering Christmas desserts to bring you a taste of the Holiday season, including these Christmas M&M Cookies.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 12 cookies

Ingredients
 
 

  • ½ cup softened unsalted butter (½ cup butter = 1 stick)
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
  • ¼ teaspoon table salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup M&M's (green and red only)
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Instructions
 

  • Preheat your oven to 350°F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or a reusable baking mat. If need be, sort through your M&M's, separating out 1 cup of red and green M&M's
  • To a large mixing bowl, add softened butter and brown sugar. Use a hand mixer on high to cream together until light and smooth (about 2-3 minutes).
    Mixing bowl with light brown sugar and unsalted butter creamed together.
  • Add the egg and vanilla extract and use your hand mixer on low to combine.
    Creamed butter and light brown sugar, plus eggs and vanilla extract mixed together in a mixing bowl.
  • Add the flour, salt, and baking soda and mix to combine, careful not to overbeat. Use a spatula to scrape any flour off the sides of the bowl and integrate it into your dough.
    Light brown sugar based Christmas cookie dough in a bowl.
  • Add the M&M's to your dough and use a rubber spatula to fold to combine. I like to keep a small handful of each out to place on top of the cookie dough once it's formed into cookies.
    Christmas cookie dough in a mixing bowl with red and green M&M's.
  • Use a large cookie scoop or 2 heaping tablespoons of dough to form your cookies, adding them to the prepped baking sheets. Leave at least an inch of space in between each cookie for minor spreading. Add the conserved M&M's on top.
    Lined baking sheet with six balls of M&M cookie dough on it.
  • Bake for 10-12 minutes on the top rack. It's okay if they are slightly underdone. Allow them to cool on the baking sheet so they continue to bake as they cool. If you want perfectly round cookies, use a round cookie cutter, scooting it around the cookie while they are still hot. Enjoy!
    Still hot, fresh out of the oven Christmas cookies lined up on a baking sheet.

Pro Tips

  • You can freeze excess cookie dough before baking it to give you fresh baked cookies every time when the craving hits! Just bake them as normal straight out of the freezer.
  • Cookie monsters are always happy at my house with this delicious selection of my best cookie recipes to choose from! Nom nom nom!

Share This Recipe

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Diet Vegetarian
Keyword 30 Minutes or Less, Christmas Cookies, Cookies, One-Bowl
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