6 Christmas dessert recipes you NEED to know about

After some festive bake ideas for the Christmas period? Browse through our selection of Xmas dessert recipes, from gingerbread cupcakes to Christmas tree brownie pops. And remember to save us a serving, will you?

Cinnamon Banana Loaf

Step by step:

Step 1: Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line the base and sides of a loaf tin with baking parchment or butter.

Step 2: Cream the Müller Butter (which is made in Britain from milk produced by British Farmers) and sugar, until light and fluffy.

Step 3: Slowly add the eggs with a little flour. Fold in the remaining flour, baking powder and bananas. Then, add in a little bit of cinnamon.

Step 4: Pour into the tin and bake for about 30 mins until a skewer comes out clean.

Step 5: Cool in the tin for 10 mins, then remove to a wire rack. Decorate with chopped hazelnuts or banana chips, then tuck in and enjoy with a glass of Müller Milk.

Gingerbread Men Cupcakes

These super cute Dr. Oetker Gingerbread Men Cupcakes will be loved by both children and adults alike! Just look at how cute they are! 😍

Ingredients for 10 cupcakes:

Ingredients for the gingerbread men:

Step by step:

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 170°C (150°C fan assisted oven, 325°F, gas 3). Line 10 muffin or cupcake tins with the muffin cases. Put the butter in a saucepan with the sugar and syrup and place over a very low heat, stirring occasionally, until melted. Remove from the heat, stir in the milk and leave to cool for 10 minutes.

Step 2: Preheat the oven to 170°C (150°C fan assisted oven, 325°F, gas 3). Line 10 muffin or cupcake tins with the muffin cases. Put the butter in a saucepan with the sugar and syrup and place over a very low heat, stirring occasionally, until melted. Remove from the heat, stir in the milk and leave to cool for 10 minutes.

Step 3: Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the egg and gradually pour in the melted mixture, carefully mixing together to make a smooth, thick batter.

Step 4: Divide the mixture equally between the cases (they should be about ⅔ full) and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes until risen and just firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Step 5: To make your own mini gingerbread men, sieve the flour into a bowl with the Dr. Oetker bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger and ground mixed spice. Rub in the butter and stir in the soft dark brown sugar. Make a well in the centre and add the golden syrup, the egg yolk and the milk. Mix well and bring the ingredients together with your hands to make a firm dough.

Step 6: Lightly dust the work surface with flour and roll out the dough to the thickness of a £1 coin. Cut out mini gingerbread men using a mini gingerbread man cutter, re-rolling the trimmings as necessary. Arrange on lined baking trays spaced a little apart. Chill for 30 minutes. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan assisted oven, 375°F, gas 5) and bake for 10 minutes until lightly golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Step 7: To decorate, mix 15g (1/2 oz) icing sugar with a few drops of warm water to make a smooth, pipeable icing. Spoon into a small uncut piping bag. Snip away a tiny piece from the end of the bag and pipe 3 buttons on each figure. For the coloured icings, mix 15g (1/2 oz) icing sugar with 12 drops Dr. Oetker Extra Strong Red Gel Food Colour, and another 15g (1/2 oz) icing sugar with Dr. Oetker Extra Strong Black Gel Food Colour. Add a couple of drops of water to each and mix well to make, smooth pipeable icings. Use to pipe eyes, mouths and bow ties. Leave for a few minute to allow the icing to set.

Step 8: To decorate your cupcakes, spoon the gingerbread icing into a piping bag fitted with a large closed star nozzle, and pipe a generous swirl on top of each cake. Decorate with a mini gingerbread man. Your cute cakes are now ready to serve and enjoy

Christmas Tree Brownie Pops

Get into the festive spirit with these Christmas tree brownie pops, which are just too cute for us to handle. You'll love decorating these delicious treats almost as much as you'll enjoy eating them! 🎄

Ingredients for the brownies (makes 8 portions):

Ingredients to decorate:

Step by step:

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 170 C (150 C fan oven, 325 F, gas 3). Grease and line a 20cm (8 inch) square cake tin. Break up the dark chocolate and place in a heatproof bowl with the butter. Place over a saucepan of barely simmering water until melted. Remove from the water and stir in the sugar. Leave to cool for 10 minutes.

Step 2: Whisk in the eggs to make a thick and glossy mixture. Sift the flour and baking powder on top and carefully mix together.

Step 3: Spoon into the prepared tin and smooth the top. Bake in the oven for 22-24 minutes until risen and lightly crusty on top. Leave to cool completely in the tin (the cake will sink slightly) then remove and wrap in baking parchment and foil. Store for 24 hours to allow flavour and texture to develop.

Step 4: The next day, unwrap the brownie and cut in half using a sharp knife. Separate each brownie half. Working on one half at a time, starting from a corner, cut diagonally, up and down, across the cake, to make 4 long sided triangles, each with a bottom edge of approx. 6.5cm (2 ½ inch) wide.

Step 5: Repeat with the other half of the brownie slab. Keep the leftovers for cake pops or truffles, or cut up into small pieces and serve as brownie “bites”.

Step 6: To decorate, lay 8 chocolate stars on a sheet of baking parchment. Shake the can of shimmer spray as directed and then lightly spray the stars all over, and let them dry. Spray again in a fine layer, and leave them to dry. Continue building up the layers of Gold Spray until they are well covered. Leave them to dry completely.

Step 7: Meanwhile, put the butter in a large bowl and beat until smooth. Gradually sieve and mix in the icing sugar to make a smooth, creamy icing. Squeeze in approx. 30 drops Dr. Oetker Green Food Colour Gel and mix to make a bright green shade. Add the peppermint extract to taste.

Step 8: Transfer the icing to a small piping bag fitted with a 1/2cm (1/4inch) wide plain nozzle and zig-zag pipe across the top of each brownie. Decorate with chocolate beans and top each with a gold chocolate star. Carefully push a lolly stick into the bottom of each to resemble the trunk. Your festive pops are now ready to serve and enjoy!

Home Made Christmas Biscuits

Ingredients:

Step by step:

Step 2: Rub the Müller Butter into the flour until it's the same texture as breadcrumbs

Step 3: Stir in the spices, egg, caster sugar and honey. Stir until a soft dough forms.

Step 4: Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for 30 mins.

Step 5: Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured worktop, then cut the dough into your preferred shapes using Christmas cookie cutters.

Step 6: Put them baking trap and bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes. Leave to cool and then enjoy with a mulled wine or a glass of Müller Milk.

Mince Pie Brownies

We adore these soft, gooey, crumbly, spicy, mince pie chocolate brownies that are actually pretty easy to create. BRB while we eat all 16 portions! 😋

Ingredients for the brownies (16 Portions):

Ingredients for the crumble:

Step by step:

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas Mark 4. Grease and line a 10 inch/25cm square cake tin with baking parchment.

Step 2: Place the chocolate and butter in a small bowl set over a pan of just simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Stir occasionally until melted. Remove the bowl from the pan and set aside to cool.

Step 3: Meanwhile, make the crumble topping. Place all of the ingredients in a small bowl and use your fingers to mix together until you have a breadcrumb-like consistency. Refrigerate until needed.

Step 4: Place the eggs and sugar in a large bowl and use electric beaters to whisk until pale, frothy and thick - about 4 mins.

Step 5: With the beaters still running, slowly pour in the chocolate mixture. Sift in the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder with a pinch of salt, folding until everything has combined. Finally, carefully mix in the mincemeat and orange zest.

Step 6: Tip into the prepared tin and sprinkle over the crumble topping. Bake for 50 mins - 1 hour until the crumble topping is golden and the brownies are still gooey in the middle. Allow to cool in the tin then cut into 16 pieces.

Mincemeat Tart With Cashew Brandy Cream

BOSH! has teamed up with Tesco to create a series of plant-based Christmas recipes for Tesco Vegmas – a vegan Christmas feast. One of the recipes is this delicious mincemeat tart with cashew brandy cream - perfect if you want to combine alcohol into your festive dessert!

Tesco Vegmas was hosted by BOSH! alongside Derek Sarno, Head of Plant-Based Innovation at Tesco.

Ingredients for the mincemeat:

Ingredients for the pastry:

Ingredients for the cashew cream:

Tools:

Step by step:

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 180°C. First make the mincemeat. Peel and roughly chop the apples into slices. Combine the sugar and cider in a large saucepan, place over a medium heat and bring to the boil.

Step 2: Add all the other ingredients, apart from the whiskey to the pan, stir well until thoroughly mixed. Cook over a medium heat, stirring regularly for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the whiskey, stirring to incorporate. If not using immediately place in to sterilised jars and seal.

Step 3: To make the pastry combine the flour, ground almonds, sugar and orange zest in a bowl. Mix well. Drizzle over the olive oil and apple cider vinegar. Add the iced water, depending on how moist the pastry is add 1-2 tbsp. Mix gently until the pastry comes together. Wrap tightly in cling film and allow to rest in the fridge for 1 hour.

Step 4: Dust a clean work surface with flour and roll out the pastry to approx. ½ cm thickness. Carefully place into the greased tart shell. Reserve any excess pastry and cut out star shapes which will be used to top the tart. Place in the fridge and allow to rest for 30 minutes.

Step 5: Line the tart shell with baking parchment, fill with baking beans and blind bake for 15 minutes. Remove the baking beans and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes.

Step 6: Add half of the mincemeat to the tart shell and top with the pastry stars. Brush the stars with olive oil and sprinkle demerara sugar. Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Step 7: While the tart is baking make the cashew cream. Place all the ingredients in a high-speed blender and blitz until completely smooth. Place in the fridge until ready to serve. Sprinkle the tart with icing sugar and serve with the cashew brandy cream

A Kicking Christmas Cocktail

This bitter sweet gin based cocktail is infused with orange and a ginger kick, plus some super swanky slow-melting ice cubes. Basically, you can skip dinner and go straight to this. Oooh... 🍸

Ingredients (Serves 1):

Step by step:

Step 1: Add the Ice Co Super Cubes to a glass and pour in the gin, liqueur and orange bitters.

Step 2: Top with soda water and stir gently.

Step 3: Garnish with a ginger slice and lemon peel before serving.