Easy Christmas Dessert Recipes That Your Family Will Love This Holiday Season

Children love the festive spirit of Christmas - the singing of carols, the mystery of opening the presents from Santa Claus, and the lovely treats that the adults in the family take many pains to prepare. As they soak in the festivities, it is a good idea to involve the little ones in some of the 'Christmassy' activities such as cleaning up the house, decorating the tree, putting up buntings and streamers around the home, and of course, helping to make some of the baked goodies.

So, here's our list of five super-easy Christmas dessert recipes for kids. We assure you that it will be a happy riot in the kitchen!

Eggless Christmas pudding

While we enjoy gorging on plum and fruit cakes during Christmas, the steamed pudding has its own charm. Served with some custard, this eggless and non-alcoholic version is wonderful after a hearty Christmas lunch.

Ingredients 

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup muscovado /dark brown sugar
• 2 tbsp curd
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup grape Juice
• 1/4 cup black raisins
• 1/4 cup chopped dates
• 1/4 cup chopped dried prunes
• 1/4 cup tutti-frutti
• 2 pinches cinnamon powder
• A pinch of clove powder
• 1/2 grated apple
• Zest of 1 orange
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp honey
• A pinch of salt

How to make

1. Soak the raisins, dates, and prunes in grape juice for 24 hours in the refrigerator.
2. Grease and line a pudding mould or a deep bowl with parchment paper.
3. Powder the muscovado/dark brown sugar in the blender.
4. Beat the butter and sugar till creamy. Add the curd and mix well.
5. Now incorporate the steeped dried fruits with the grape juice, tutti-frutti, cinnamon powder, clove powder, grated apple, honey, sugar, lemon juice, orange, and lemon zest into the mix. Stir in bread crumbs.
6. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into the wet mixture. Mix well.
7. Press it into the mould and steam it for three hours on low-medium heat.
8. If you decide to make it ahead, steam again for an hour on Christmas day. De-mould and serve it with some custard.

Holiday Biscotti

Biscottis are perfect make-ahead Christmas treats. Make a large batch for a festive tea or coffee-time accompaniment over the holiday season.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup chopped pistachios
• 1 cup tutti-frutti
• 1 tbsp fennel seeds
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• Zest of 1 orange
• 1 tsp baking powder
• A pinch of salt

How to make

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a large baking tray.
2. Beat butter and sugar till creamy. Add one egg at a time and beat again.
3. Mix in orange zest, vanilla, and fennel seeds.
4. Sift in flour, baking powder, and salt.
5. Throw in the cranberries, pistachio, and tutti-frutti, and mix well.
6. Transfer the sticky dough to a well-floured work surface.
7. Gather it together and form two logs. Place them on the tray next to each other keeping enough space to let them flatten out while baking
8. Bake for 30 minutes. Let them cool for around 8-10 minutes.
9. Now take a sharp knife and cut diagonally into inch slices and bake them again for 15 minutes.
10. Place the biscottis on a cooling rack. Store in airtight containers.

Assorted chocolate kulkuls

Kulkuls are part of the traditional Indian Christmas platter that is distributed to family and friends. We give it a twist by dunking in luscious melted chocolate

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• A pinch of salt
• Oil to deep fry

For the sugar glaze:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water

For the chocolate cover:

• 1/2 cup white chocolate
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate

How to make

1. Sift the flour, salt, and powdered sugar into a bowl. Melt the butter and it into the flour. Rub the butter and flour between your fingers to form a crumbly mix.
2. Add very little water and knead the mix into a firm dough. Let it rest for 30 minutes.
3. Take a small cherry-sized ball of dough and flatten it out on the spikes of an unused comb or fork. And roll it into curls pressing the edges.
4. Deep fry in batches till golden brown
5. Make a glaze by boiling sugar and water till one-string consistency.
6. Throw in the fried kulkuls and glaze well. Cool completely. At this point traditional kulkuls are ready.
7. To make chocolate kulkuls, line a tray with parchment paper.
8. Melt white chocolate on top of a double boiler. Dip one end of the kulkul into the melted chocolate and shake off the excess. Place on the parchment paper.
9. Repeat with milk chocolate. Decorate to make it more festive.

Santa hat cupcakes

Santa Hat cupcakes have one of the easiest Christmas-themed cupcake frostings. Use good quality gel-based food color and it will look and taste luscious.

Ingredients 

For the eggless red velvet cupcake:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 4 drops of red gel-based food coloring
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• A pinch of salt

For the red buttercream frosting:

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp milk
• 4-5 drops of gel-based red food coloring

How to make

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a muffin tray with cupcake moulds/liners of your choice
2. Whisk the buttermilk, vinegar, oil, vanilla, and food coloring. Sift in the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.
3. Scoop the batter into the cupcake moulds. Bake for 20-25 minutes depending on the size of the moulds.
4. While the cupcakes cool down, prepare the frosting by whisking together the butter and powdered sugar till creamy. Add in the vanilla and milk. Whisk again.
5. Take 1/4th of the icing and put it in a piping bag with a star tip, or a tip of your choice. This will be used for the white parts of the hat.
6. Add the red food coloring to the remaining of frosting and put it all into a large piping bag. You do not need a decorative tip for this.
7. Let the red frosting sit in the refrigerator for a while for the red color to deepen.
8. Snip the end of the red piping bag and swirl around the cooled cupcakes to form a hat
9. Take the white frosting and add a blob on the tip of the cupcake and the edges.
10. Let them set in the refrigerator for a bit before serving.

Puffed rice reindeer treats

Involve your kids while making these cute treats. Adding marshmallows keeps the treats chewable, yet crunchy.

Ingredients 

• 2 cups puffed rice or rice crispies
• 2 cups marshmallows
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 6-8 candy eyes
• A few chocolate gem candies
• cup milk chocolate
• A small piece of white chocolate
• A few lollipop sticks

How to make

1. Grease a square-shaped baking tray or dish.
2. Melt the butter on low flame. Add marshmallows and let them melt completely.
3. Turn off the flame and add puffed rice or rice crispies cereal into it and mix well
4. Immediately transfer the mixture to the square tray and press well using a greased spoon.
5. Use a sharp knife and cut into squares.
6. Melt milk chocolate carefully in the microwave or double boiler and put it into a small plastic piping bag. Follow the same process with the white chocolate. Snip a small hole at the end of both bags.
7. Put a little white chocolate on the end of the lollipop stick. Carefully push it into a puffed rice square while still a little warm. Similarly, prepare the other squares.
8. Using the white chocolate as glue, stick on the candy eyes and gems making sure you have a few red-nosed ones to indicate they are Rudolph - Santa's favorite reindeer.
9. Pipe the antlers using melted milk chocolate.
10. Let the chocolate harden completely before packing it away in airtight containers.