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There are lots of good reasons to spend a little time ahead of the holidays to make and store a stash of Christmas desserts and treats. For one, you’ll be able to spend more holiday time enjoying your family and less time stuck in the kitchen. And for another, you’ll have plenty of homemade treats to give away as gifts from your kitchen. Here are 16 top-rated Christmas desserts you can make ahead of time, complete with tips for freezing or storing in the fridge.
Aunt Teen’s Creamy Chocolate Fudge
Homemade fudge just might be the perfect make-ahead dessert, no matter the season. Rich, smooth, and creamy, it can be tightly wrapped and kept in the freezer for a few months. Reviwer HSMOM26 says, “The secret is to use a candy thermometer to be sure the fudge reaches the soft ball stage (234 degrees F).”
Sweet Potato Pie
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This top-rated recipe calls for using freshly cooked sweet potatoes, which you’ll have time to do since you’re not in a time crunch. (OK, you can substitute canned sweet potatoes if you need to.) Once the pie has been baked and cooled, wrap it in several layers of plastic wrap and a layer of foil, and then freeze it for up to one month. Thaw it in the fridge overnight and serve at room temperature, or warm it in a 350 degrees F oven for a few minutes. Top it off with freshly whipped cream before serving.
Best Soft Christmas Cookies
ALLRECIPES / BAHAREH NAITI
No Christmas would be complete without soft, tender, and adorably decorated sugar cookies. Several Allrecipes members, including TARA1972, say the cookies are even better made with butter instead of margarine, only 3 cups of flour, and baked at 350 degrees F until just set in the center. Learn the best tips and tricks for freezing cookies and cookie dough, like rolling the dough into logs and freezing for up to three months before baking.
Best Toffee Ever
When stored in an airtight container at room temperature, homemade toffee can be kept for up to two weeks. If your kitchen runs warm, pop it in the fridge to keep it a little while longer. Making toffee can be a bit tricky, so Megan Orsini always tests her candy thermometer in boiling water (212 degrees F) to make sure it is accurate.
Milk Chocolate Peppermint Bark
ALLRECIPES / QI AI
This recipe will keep for several weeks before the holidays if you wrap it and store it in the fridge. To prevent your chocolate from seizing up, use oil-based peppermint flavoring, suggests Allrecipes member Susan V. (Water and melted chocolate don’t mix.) And, don’t forget to finely crush some candy canes for a festive (and tasty) topping.
Favorite Old-Fashioned Gingerbread
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Gingerbread is always a super popular recipe during the holidays. Allrecipes member dee dee likes to make her gingerbread with unsulphured molasses (the sweetest flavor) and avoids blackstrap molasses (a stronger flavor). Bake it, cool it, and freeze it whole, then let it defrost at room temperature for a few hours before slicing and serving. If you’re feeling extra decadent, top each slice with whipped cream or a drizzle of caramel sauce.
White Fruitcake
Whether you love it or hate it, there is nothing more quintessential at Christmas than fruitcake. Packed with dried fruit soaked in orange juice, this alcohol-free cake can be baked, cooled, and frozen for up to a year. Simply defrost it on the counter overnight, slice, and serve. Allrecipes member Wanderer cools their fruitcake in the tin to retain as much moisture as possible before wrapping and storing.
Mom’s Best Peanut Brittle
The Comfort of Cooking
Wrapped tightly and stored at room temperature, homemade peanut brittle will stay fresh for up to 2 months. Allrecipes member ANTILOPE notes that if you use roasted peanuts instead of raw, be careful not to heat the mixture past 300 degrees F. Otherwise, the peanuts will taste burnt.
Eggnog Crème Brûlée
Eggnog crème brûlée can be prepared up to three days ahead of time, to save you time and effort when you’re making a special holiday dinner. Remove them from the fridge about an hour before serving to take off the chill, then finish them with a heavy sprinkling of fine, white sugar and set them under the broiler until a golden crust forms. If you’re going for more grown-up flavors, try swapping out the vanilla extract with rum, like one reviewer mentioned.
White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
Cheesecakes keep great in the freezer and defrost easily overnight in the fridge. But hold off on decorations until right before serving, so they don’t get smudged. To save time and money during the busy holiday season, Allrecipes member CLEMSONMAV uses seedless raspberry jam for this recipe instead of cooking fresh raspberries on the stove.
Cranberry Bars
Allrecipes member Jeanette says the trick to getting bars out of the pan is to “let them cool for at least an hour.” Once they are cooled, you can put them in an airtight container and keep the bars refrigerated for several days, or pop them in the deep freeze for several months. Simply bring them to room temperature about 30 minutes before serving, and they are ready to go!
Eggnog Cheesecake
Allrecipes/Preethi Venkatram
This unfussy cheesecake can be frozen until the day you’re ready to eat it. Top it with whipped cream, candy canes, strawberries, or anything that dresses it up for the holidays.
Cake Balls
To keep cake balls moist, wrap them individually in plastic and then in a layer of aluminum foil before storing them in a sealed container for up to a month in the freezer. The container will safeguard them from other foods in the freezer that might crush them. If you take your cake ball game seriously, vacuum seal them and you can keep the batch frozen for several months.
Russian Tea Cakes
Russian tea cakes also freeze well. As with cake balls, you’ll want to freeze them in a sealed container. Separate them with wax paper to keep them from clumping together.
Gingerbread Cheesecake
“This gingerbread cheesecake is perfect for Christmas dessert!” says Allrecipes member Kim. “The cinnamon whipped cream is optional but it really adds a nice touch. Garnish with festive ginger cookies for extra wow factor.”
Easy No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
“My husband is the chocolate fan in this house, and all I could hear when he bit into the cookie was y-u-m-m-m-m-m!” says reviewer lutzflcat. “Hard to believe you can get this kind of chocolate flavor with just cocoa powder. And so easy to make, as well. This one’s a keeper.”