What better way is there to usher in the new year than with a delectable dessert? Today, I have a variety of dessert recipes, all of which are perfect for your New Year’s Eve festivities. They’re all so decadent, it’s hard to pick which one to try first. So why not just try them all? This list has everything, from cupcakes to cakes to cookies, and more. And no matter what your favorite flavor is – chocolate, cheese, orange, champagne – I have you covered. Start the year with a bang and a wonderful explosion of flavors! These New Year’s Eve desserts definitely won’t disappoint.
1. Portillo’s Chocolate Cake
Let’s get the party started with this insanely moist, fudgy, and chocolatey chocolate cake. When it comes to chocolate cakes, Portillo’s is arguably the best. This Chicago restaurant may be famous for its burgers and hot dogs, but its chocolate cake is also just as beloved. Now, if you’re not from Chicago and still want a taste of this decadent chocolate cake, this recipe is exactly what you’ll need. This copycat recipe only calls for five ingredients, and yet it yields one of the most decadent, drool-worthy chocolate cakes I’ve ever had in my life.
2. New Year’s Eve Crack
Consider this next dessert’s name as your warning. These New Year’s Eve crack saltine candies are ridiculously addictive. They’re so good, you might find yourself snacking and craving them all year long. Don’t worry, I won’t judge. Saltine crackers are drizzled with a rich, buttery caramel sauce and bathed in decadent chocolate. You can end there or give them that extra holiday cheer by topping them with gold sprinkles. They’ll be just as delicious, either way.
3. Champagne Cupcakes
Let’s take a moment to appreciate how stunning these champagne cupcakes are. Sigh. They look so good, I almost don’t want to eat them! They’re so dainty and delicate, especially with those white “bubble” adornments on top. More importantly, though, these cupcakes taste as phenomenal as they look. The cupcakes themselves are soft and fluffy. The buttercream frosting has just the right level of sweetness with extra pizazz from the champagne. And don’t worry if you’re not an artist, as you can pull off that bubbly look without being one. All you’ll need are white mini-gumballs, Sixlets, and sugar sprinkles for the champagne bubble toppings.
4. Oreo Cookie Balls
This three-ingredient dessert takes the already-delicious Oreo cookies into a whole new level of deliciousness. For kitchen newbies, you’ll love how this recipe elevates the simple Oreos into a holiday-worthy dessert. Just combine crushed Oreos – creme filling included, and softened cream cheese, and shape them into balls. Dip them in melted white chocolate, and voila! They look and taste like truffles, except they’re made with Oreos and cream cheese instead of chocolate. The combination of the two ingredients creates a wonderful balance so that the balls aren’t overly sweet.
5. New Year’s Eve Parfaits with Raspberries and Grand Marnier
If you’re having a fancy New Year’s Eve celebration, these parfaits will fit right in. I mean, look how gorgeous they are! Served in champagne glasses, these sweet treats embody elegance. With beautiful layers of Grand Marnier (orange liqueur) pound cake, Chambord (raspberry liqueur) whipped cream, and fresh raspberries, they’ll definitely be the talk of the party. And the taste is absolutely divine. It’s very light and refreshing. The infusions of orange and raspberry liqueur in the cake and whipped cream, respectively, give the dessert such sophisticated flavors.
6. New Year’s Eve White Chocolate Puppy Chow
I don’t usually consider puppy chow as a special occasion dessert, but this one definitely is. Whether you call it puppy chow or muddy buddies, it doesn’t matter. It’s delicious, either way. Chex cereal is coated with a blend of creamy peanut butter and melted white chocolate. That alone is enough to make my mouth water, but it doesn’t end there. The cereal is then coated with powdered sugar and made even more festive with edible gold stars and gold sprinkles. What a wonderful glow-up, indeed.
7. New Year’s Eve Countdown Cupcakes
If you can’t bake to save your life but want to impress the kids with dessert, this recipe is for you. Don’t worry, there’s absolutely no baking necessary. All you’ll need are ready-made vanilla cupcakes, Oreo cookies, melted chocolate, vanilla frosting, gold and silver sugar, and gold star sprinkles. It may seem like a lot of ingredients, but they’re all readily available at the nearest grocery store, especially during the holidays. With a little bit of creativity, you’ll be able to create those beautiful (yet super easy) cookie clocks! You can even have the kids help out when decorating. What a fun activity, don’t you agree?
8. Oreo Cheesecake Bites
These Oreo cheesecake bites are seriously heavenly. An entire Oreo cookie serves as the crust for these bite-sized cheesecakes. How brilliant is that? There’s no need to worry about making a crust from scratch. Just plop a cookie into the muffin tin and boom, you’re done. As for the cheesecake itself? I can’t even begin to explain how amazing it is. It’s smooth and creamy, rich but not too heavy. The combination of sweet and tart is perfectly balanced, as well. I can’t get enough of them! I’ve tried eating just one, but I couldn’t. It’s just not possible.
9. New Year’s Eve Butter Cookies
Did you know that you can make homemade butter cookies with just three ingredients? To me, butter cookies belong to the god-tier dessert category. So when I found out about this super easy recipe, I knew I had to try it. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint. They’re so incredibly soft, chewy, sweet, and buttery. The fact that they only require three ingredients makes them even more appealing.
10. White Chocolate Mousse
This white chocolate mousse is light and delicate, smooth and creamy, and sinful and heavenly. The blend of heavy cream, egg yolks, and melted white chocolate creates a luscious and silky consistency. The flavor has just the right amount of lightness and sweetness. It’s not too overpowering, and not too bland. Plus, look how elegant it is! The white mousse has such an ethereal look to it. It’s absolutely holiday-worthy, but it’s easy enough to make any day.
11. New Year’s Party Loaf
Just by looking at this loaf, you can already tell it’s a party in your mouth. Sweet, and buttery, the bread loaf is filled with honey butter. That alone is already perfection. As for the texture, expect a slightly crispy outer crust, and an excellently soft and fluffy interior. It’s ring-shaped, which makes it fitting for New Year’s Eve. Its spherical form symbolizes good fortune and the circle of life. But to make it extra holiday-worthy, you’ll drizzle the top with a powdered sugar glaze and gold and silver sugar sprinkles.
12. Midnight Marshmallow Pops
Here’s something the kids will definitely enjoy eating and making. Looking at it, you’ll think it requires baking expertise, but on the contrary, you need not even go near the oven. Marshmallows are dipped in melted white chocolate and spritz with shiny silver food coloring mist. I can’t even begin to express how gorgeous they look! Dressed up with stunning silver dragees and an easy-to-make edible clock, these marshmallows will definitely steal the show.
13. New Year’s Eve Ball Cupcakes
If party-worthy is what you’re looking for, these cupcakes definitely fit the bill. Ready-made chocolate cupcakes are frosted with chocolate buttercream and topped with an elegant golden sphere. I know it seems insanely difficult to achieve, but in fact, it’s so easy, the kids can help out. The spheres are made out of Lindt truffles, so there’s no need to make them from scratch. Just brush them with golden edible paint and boom, you’re done.
14. Pink Champagne Cake
This pink champagne cake exudes elegance. It’s almost too pretty to eat, but once you take your first bite, you might not be able to stop. The cake layers are flavored with champagne, giving them notes of fruity champagne flavor. The vanilla buttercream frosting is the perfect filling and frosting for the cake. It’s light, just like the cake, and wonderfully sweet and creamy. Jazzed up with shiny cake sparkles, this cake is just as beautiful as it is delicious.
15. Champagne Cake Balls
Here’s another champagne-flavored dessert for you! It’s a lot like the previous pink champagne cake, but it’s bite-sized. Cake balls are super easy to make. Just mash the cake with frosting until you get a moist, shape-able mixture. Form them into balls and dip them in chocolate. Simple, right? These cake balls are so addictive you might find yourself popping them into your mouth one after another. You’ll love how the cake is super light and moist, while the frosting has just the perfect level of sweetness and buttery goodness. The chocolate coating gives it a nice outer crunch, which complements the moist filling beautifully.
16. New Year’s Eve Party Cake
The black frosting of this cake makes it looks so sophisticated! And the taste is divine. Ridiculously moist, tender, and fluffy layers of chocolate cake are filled and frosted with a black champagne buttercream frosting. Tasting this cake made me realize that chocolate and champagne make a fantastic pair. Even with just the black frosting, the cake is already beautiful. But you can jazz it up even more with sprinkles. The colors of the sprinkles really pop against the dark background!
17. Atomic Cake
The atomic cake has three different cake layers – chocolate, banana, and white. The fillings are also three different flavors – pudding – banana, chocolate, and vanilla pudding. As if those weren’t enough, there are also sliced bananas and strawberries in there. Apart from the sweetness, the fruits also add freshness to the cake. Coated with a simple whipped cream frosting, the cake seems so basic from the outside, but wait until you slice it open. That’s where the magic begins.
18. Mini-Strawberry Champagne Cheesecakes
Have you ever tried a champagne-flavored cheesecake? If the answer is no, take this as the sign to do it. Mind-blowing: that’s the best way to describe these bite-sized cheesecakes. So here’s how it goes: the crust is made with crushed vanilla wafer cookies. It’s sweeter than the traditional graham cracker crust, which is a great complement to the champagne. The cheesecake itself is infused with champagne reduction and sliced strawberries. These infusions give the cheesecake a lovely fruity flavor and a heavenly aroma. The frosting is light and fluffy strawberry whipped cream. It’s the perfect topping to tie all the flavors together.
19. Hershey’s Chocolate Cake
When it comes to chocolate, expect nothing but greatness from Hershey’s. Their chocolates are sublime, so it only makes sense for this chocolate cake to be phenomenal, too. The Hershey’s chocolate cake is wonderfully moist, fudgy, and oh-so indulgent. Trust me, no one will know this cake came from a box. The key is to follow this recipe and not the one specified at the back of the box.
20. New Year’s Eve Countdown Cookies
Here’s another recipe you can turn into a fun New Year’s Eve activity with the kids. Soft butter cookies are dressed up with a fancy countdown clock! Don’t be intimidated by this recipe, because it’s actually very easy. The cookies are so quick to prepare and bake. As for the decorations, all you’ll need are frosting (ready-made is okay), edible flakes and sprinkles, and edible candy markers.
21. Jam Shortbreads
These shortbread cookies are sinfully sublime. The soft, crumbly, creamy, buttery flavors are strong in this dessert! But why stop there? Make these cookies even more extra with fruit fillings. Use any fruit jam you have on hand. Personally, I love using cherry preserve and mango jam, but again, use whatever works for you. Pro-tip: Try to use as many as you can for a more colorful plate.
22. Chocolate Fondue
Any party that serves chocolate fondue is a certified hit. I have yet to meet a person who doesn’t delight in this magnificent treat! After all, how can anyone say no to smooth, silky melted chocolate? And don’t worry, you won’t need a fondue fountain to make this work. The fondue may be the star, but it’s not complete without the goodies for dipping. The sky’s the limit, here! Wafers, cookies, pretzel sticks, fresh fruit, marshmallows – anything goes.
23. Bavarian Mints
These confections are similar to fudge in texture. But the flavor is so much more. If you’re obsessed with the combination of chocolate and peppermint, you will love these Bavarian mints. I love the perfect combination that peppermint and chocolate creates. The minty taste is not too overwhelming that the fudge tastes like toothpaste. Instead, it just counterbalances the sweetness of the chocolate and gives the dessert a nice, cooling sensation.
24. Orange Slice Cake
When it comes to texture, this cake is a lot similar to a fruit cake. But it doesn’t have that slightly bitter flavor that some folks don’t really appreciate. If you’re one of them, you’ll definitely love this cake. The cake is studded with nuts for added crunch and flavor and orange slice candies for chewiness and a zesty flair.
25. New Year’s Eve Cupcake Clock
How adorable is this cupcake clock? It’s such a genius idea, don’t you agree? I love how it definitely achieves that New Year countdown look, but it’s such a breeze to pull off. In fact, out of all the clock desserts on this list, this one is the easiest. You’ll just take 12 cupcakes and pipe numbers on them, arrange them into a clock, and voila. It’s simple, yet spectacular.
26. New Year’s Eve Sparkler Cupcake Sundaes
Why serve one dessert when you can give your guests five? I love the idea of putting together several bite-sized sweets in a champagne glass and finishing them off with a sparkler. It’s a perfect way of having your guests sample different desserts. At the base of the dessert is a simple cupcake, but it’s topped with a scoop of ice cream and coated with a chocolate shell. That alone is already phenomenal, but there are so many ways to switch it up, so go nuts! Fill the glass with macarons, cookies, candy kisses, truffles – you name it. Finish it off with literal fireworks! It’s easy, just stick a sparkler into the cupcake, and voila.
27. Strawberries & Champagne Cake Balls
I’m such a sucker for cake balls. These bite-sized goodies are so much fun to eat. The flavors and textures are also on point. These cake balls are extra perfect for your New Year’s Eve celebration because of their champagne cake filling. The white chocolate exterior is smooth, silky, and mildly crunchy. It’s the perfect coating to hold the moist cake together.
28. New Year’s Eve White Chocolate Toffee Bark
Also called cracker candy and saltine cracker toffee, these toffee bark confections are ridiculously addictive, and I can’t stop at one. Crunchy saltine crackers are topped with a layer of gooey toffee and rich chocolate. There’s something super spectacular about its sweet and salty flavor profile.
29. Champagne New Year’s Meringues
These meringues are crunchy on the outside, and so soft and chewy that they melt in your mouth. I once thought that meringue-making was complicated. It was such a nice to find out how simple it actually is. Meringue candies are basically made from whipped egg whites sweetened with sugar. That’s it! It’s a wonderful way to use up leftover egg whites, if say, you just made a ton of custard.
30. New Year’s Eve Haystacks
I can’t get over how cute these haystacks are! They’re so easy to make, too. Chow mein noodles and peanuts are coated in chocolate and formed into bite-sized rounds. They’re nutty, chocolatey, and so crunchy. They’re already adorable as-is, but dress them up with golden star candies and colored sugar for that extra holiday cheer. Click on a star to rate it!
Average rating 4 / 5. Vote count: 2 No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post.
Share on social media: Let us improve this post!
