17 Adorable Winter Desserts That Are Too Cute to Resist (2024)

Meringue Snowmen

These jolly snowmen look like they could be made of snow instead of egg whites and sugar. Because meringue is easy to pipe, you can easily stack up a crowd of snowmen. Decorate them with melted chocolate arms, buttons, and faces, and use an orange sprinkle for a carrot nose.

Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls

For a cute dessert that's also fit for a fancy brunch, look no further than these gingerbread cinnamon rolls. It's got the warm ginger-molasses notes from the cutout cookies you love, but rolled up into our famous cinnamon roll recipe featuring a secret ingredient (mashed potatoes!). The main recipe tells you how to roll the dough the traditional way, so watch the video or scroll down to the star-shape directions to accomplish this picture-perfect display.

Buy It: 10-Inch Rolling Pin Beech Wood ($9, Target)

Polar Bear Donuts

Here's an easy winter dessert that the kids will enjoy making, too. Winter's mascot, the polar bear, gets its white fur from frosting and shredded coconut. Just stack store-bought cake donuts (or make your own), marshmallows, and mini powdered donuts.

Pinecone Cakes

These winter dessert cakes look elegant but they're easier to make than you think. To get the signature pinecone shape, bake your favorite cake recipe in mini egg cup pans. (The cakes will come out looking like ovals.) Cover a layer of cream cheese frosting with sliced almonds to make each cake look like a newly fallen pinecone.

Peppermint Penguins

These cute desserts taste as good as they look! Even better, you only have to mix up one batch of peppermint-flavored dough to create an entire flock of penguins. A few dabs of black and orange food coloring will give you the colors you need for their feathers, beaks, and feet.

Buy It: Wilton Gel Icing Colors ($16, Michaels)

Chocolaty Melting Snowmen

Watch out, Frosty is melting on top of these cute winter desserts. A halved marshmallow covered with melted vanilla candy coating makes it look like a snowman is melting and all that is left is its face and hat (made with sprinkles and peanut butter cups).

Hot Chocolate Cookie Cups

Try these adorable hot chocolate cookie cups instead of a classic cup of hot cocoa (they're even sweeter!). The trick to making a cup-shape cookie is to place the dough in a muffin tin, press down the centers with a measuring spoon, and bake. Fill them with decadent chocolate ganache for the "cocoa," and top with whipped cream and mini marshmallows for a winter dessert.

Buy It: Wilton Ultra Bake Professional 24 Cup Nonstick Mini Muffin Pan ($13, Target)

Marshmallow Snowmen

You don't have to wait for the weather to cooperate to build a snowman. Decorate a stack of marshmallows to your heart's content. We used pretzel sticks, melted chocolate, and mini orange candies to create these edible snowmen, but any sprinkles or candies you have on hand will work. (They're a good use for any extra Christmas cookie decorations.)

Test Kitchen Tip: Use kitchen scissors to cut and fuse the marshmallows together on its sticky side.

Cardinal Cake Pop

You'll never catch us turning down a cake pop, especially when they're as adorable as these. Instead of circles, form your winter desserts into crescents to look like cardinals, then decorate with red candy coating and sprinkles. To give your cardinals a place to land, make "snow drifts" out of white almond bark and shredded coconut.

Frozen Snowman Banana Pops

If your home is cozy enough to enjoy a frozen treat, reach for these cute desserts! Each snowman banana pop starts with three banana slices, making this dessert a little healthier than your average Christmas cookie. After coating the banana slices with melted white baking chocolate, dress your snowmen with sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, fruit leather, and mini peanut butter cups.