The most iconic holiday desserts in America

What is it: Simple, buttery and infinitely customizable, sugar cookies are a standard of the holiday treat tray. They’re also a beloved holiday activity featuring decorative accents like frosting, sprinkles, edible glitter and pearls.

Why we love it: Roll out some dough, use those cute holiday cookie-cutter shapes you store away all year, and you instantly feel like a star baker. 

Standout version: Super-thin Moravian cookies—a regional holiday specialty in North Carolina—are elegant in their simplicity, offering a restrained yet tasty sugar cookie option.

What is it: Gingerbread is the scent of the season. These cookies are molasses-rich, warmly spiced and ideal for shaping into stars, trees and gingerbread men and ladies. They’re a chewy treat yet sturdy enough to take part in house-building and holiday scenes. 

Why we love it: They make the whole house smell like cheer, and there’s something naughty about biting the foot off a gingerbread man.

Standout version: Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville hosts a gingerbread house competition each year, and guests of the resort are treated to delectable gingerbread cookies during their stay.

What is it: Pumpkin pie may be a Thanksgiving classic, but it has staying power that forms a bridge between the two major holidays. Silky, spiced and cradled in a flaky crust, it’s the comfort food of desserts. Forget pumpkin spice lattes, this is the OG of the seasonal flavor.

Why we love it: Sure, it sounds cliché, but you just can’t beat that creamy pumpkin spice sensation.

Standout version: New York’s Magnolia Bakery makes a pie that’s rich and velvety with a touch of maple syrup.

What is it: Sticky, sweet and gloriously rich, pecan pie has a heft that’s built for the holidays. It’s a Southern staple—especially with a bit of bourbon and/or chocolate—but its appeal transcends regions.

Why we love it: This pie is pure indulgence, both salty and sweet, and it goes great with vanilla ice cream.

Standout version: Camellia Grill in New Orleans makes a standout pecan pie even better by warming it up on the diner’s flat-top grill.

What is it: Hot chocolate captures the holidays in a mug. Warm and creamy, it can be quick (think Swiss Miss) or indulgent (rich, dark chocolate melted with warm milk), but always comforting. 

Why we love it: It can be an afternoon beverage or a dessert, depending on how you dress it up. Pile it with whipped cream or add a little booze and you’ve got an instant pick-me-up.

Standout version: At the Four Seasons in Vail, the "Haute Chocolate" après-ski experience features Valrhona chocolate and a homemade marshmallow, served tableside from a French chocolate pot.

What is it: With two layers of chocolate, a shower of crushed peppermint, and enough crunch to wake Santa, peppermint bark is modern holiday minimalism at its best. It’s the dessert you can gift, snack on and pretend to make from scratch.

Why we love it: Peppermint bark combines two holiday favorites, candy canes and chocolate, into one delicious dessert.

Standout version: Williams Sonoma’s Peppermint Bark is the cult classic that started the craze.

What is it: Also known as Russian tea cakes or Mexican wedding cookies, snowballs are buttery little clouds that melt the moment they hit your tongue. Rolled twice in powdered sugar, they’re as messy as they are magnificent.

Why we love it: These cookies look like winter, and the sugary “snow” brings smiles to holiday tables. 

Standout version: Wedding cookies are one of the most popular items at the iconic Mike’s Pastry in Boston.

What is it: While its origins are unclear, red velvet cake has been a dessert staple across the South for generations. With its striking maroon hue,  velvety crumb and cream cheese frosting, it’s now a holiday headliner. 

Why we love it: The color and the tang are as extra as the holidays, and scream “celebration.”

Standout version: The Waldorf Astoria is said to have introduced and popularized the cake in the 1920s, and still serves it today.

What is it: Part cake, part work of art, the Yule Log (or Bûche de Noël) is a showstopper representing the burning log that celebrates the winter solstice. 

Why we love it: Rolled sponge cake layered with buttercream and made to look like a log makes for a dramatic and delicious dessert centerpiece.

Standout version: Bien Cuit bakery in New York has offered annual twists on the Bûche de Noël, like Tropical White Chocolate and Pineapple Lemongrass.

What is it: Love it or joke about it, fruitcake endures. Dense, boozy and dotted with jewel-like fruit, it’s the most controversial dessert on the table, but one with centuries of staying power.

Why we love it: Fruitcake is both punchline and tradition, and you can either roll with its deliciousness or see if it can survive until next year. 

Standout version: Fruitcakes from Collin Street Bakery in Texas have been mail-order royalty since 1896.