45 Easy Christmas Desserts for a Crowd
When you are making Christmas desserts for a crowd, bar recipes are one of the easiest ways to bake a lot of treats without spending all day in the kitchen. Instead of scooping dozens of cookies or making multiple cakes and pies, you can bake a pan of bars and quickly cut them into individual servings.
Maybe I was destined to love bar recipes because my maiden name was Barz! Growing up, we made a LOT of bars, especially around Christmas. My mom was a wonderful baker, and I still bake some of those same bar recipes every Christmas.
I’ve included several of our tried-and-true Christmas recipes below, along with plenty of other easy Christmas bars and big-batch desserts. Whether you need dessert for a Christmas party, church gathering, cookie tray or big family celebration, there are lots of easy recipes here to choose from.
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Classic Christmas Bars and Family Favorites
Ooey Gooey Butter Bars
Ooey gooey butter bars are one of our family’s must-make Christmas desserts! If you are from the St. Louis area, you may recognize these. If you are not, you will fall in love once you try them too! Gooey butter cake is a St. Louis specialty, and our easy bar version has a buttery cake mix crust with a sweet, gooey cream cheese layer.
Get my easy Ooey Gooey Butter Bars recipe at Joyfully Thriving.
Christmas Cookie Bars
Skip scooping dozens of individual cookies and make one pan of Christmas cookie bars instead. These chewy brown sugar bars are filled with red and green M&M’s and Christmas sprinkles for an easy, festive dessert.
Find the complete recipe at Dinner at the Zoo.
Oatmeal Butterscotch Blondies
Oats and butterscotch chips give these chewy blondies a delicious old-fashioned flavor. They’re easy to bake in one pan and would be a simple addition to a Christmas party or dessert table.
Get the recipe from Creme de la Crumb.
Caramel Morsel Bars
Caramel morsel bars are chocolate bars, covered with chocolate and caramel, and then topped with a chocolate cake mix crumble. This is another longtime Christmas recipe in our family and one of those simple bar recipes that disappears quickly from a Christmas dessert tray.
See how to make Caramel Morsel Bars at Joyfully Thriving.
Christmas Blondies
These soft and chewy blondies are loaded with red and green M&M’s for an easy Christmas dessert. They’re a great choice when you need something festive but don’t have time to bake multiple batches of cookies.
Find the full Christmas Blondies recipe at Inside BruCrew Life.
Holiday Special K Bars
These no-bake Special K bars combine crispy cereal, peanut butter and chocolate with festive holiday sprinkles. It’s similar to a Scotcheroo made with Rice Krispies, but the Special K is a different twist.
Get the easy recipe from Averie Cooks.
Holiday Cookie Bars
This is a fantastic option when you’re truly baking for a crowd. One sheet pan makes 54 small cookie bars in six different flavors, so you get lots of variety without making six separate trays of bars. What a clever idea!
Get the Holiday Cookie Bars recipe at The BakerMama.
Peppermint, Gingerbread and Eggnog Christmas Bars
Gingerbread Cookie Bars
Get all the warm gingerbread flavor of Christmas cookies without rolling or cutting a single cookie. These soft gingerbread bars are topped with cream cheese frosting and are perfect for sharing.
Find the complete recipe at Sally’s Baking.
Candy Cane Kiss Cookie Bars
These festive sugar cookie bars combine peppermint Candy Cane Kisses with a sweet cream cheese frosting. They’re a fun way to add peppermint to your Christmas dessert tray without making another batch of traditional cookies.
Get the recipe at The Girl Who Ate Everything.
Candy Cane Oreo Cookie Bars
Chocolate and peppermint are such a classic Christmas combination! These decadent bars layer a chocolate cookie base with white chocolate fudge, Oreos and crushed peppermint candies.
See the full recipe at Shugary Sweets.
Peppermint Gooey Bars
If you like soft and gooey desserts, here’s one to try. It starts with a cake mix base and uses sweetened condensed milk for the sweetness – and gooeyness.
Find out how to make them at 365 Days of Baking and More.
Peanut Butter and Chocolate Fudge Full Bars
Chocolate and peanut butter are always a favorite combination at our house. These rich fudge-full bars are another recipe I make every Christmas. It’s another easy bar recipe that starts with a cake mix base. And the chocolate layer on top? So rich and good!
Get my Peanut Butter and Chocolate Fudge Full Bars recipe at Joyfully Thriving.
Peppermint Sugar Cookie Bars
Instead of rolling and decorating individual sugar cookies, bake the dough in one pan and add a festive peppermint frosting. These easy bars give you classic Christmas cookie flavor with much less work.
Get the complete recipe from Bake or Break.
Peppermint Bark Cookie Bars
These chewy cookie bars are topped with milk chocolate, white chocolate and crushed candy canes for all the flavors of peppermint bark. They’re definitely a dessert that looks and tastes like Christmas.
Find the Peppermint Bark Cookie Bars recipe at What Molly Made.
Eggnog Cookie Bars
If eggnog is part of Christmas at your house, try turning it into dessert! These soft cookie bars use eggnog in both the bars and the frosting for a festive flavor that’s different from all the chocolate and peppermint treats.
See how to make Eggnog Cookie Bars at Inside BruCrew Life.
Fruity Christmas Dessert Bars
Cherry Pie Bars
Get all the flavors of cherry pie in an easier-to-serve bar. These cherry pie bars are especially handy for Christmas gatherings because you can bake a whole pan and slice them into individual servings. Plus, the red of the cherries looks so pretty on a Christmas table!
Get the full recipe from A Farmgirl’s Kitchen.
Cranberry Oatmeal Crumb Bars
These cranberry bars are another Christmas tradition in our family, with a buttery crust and sweet cranberry and date filling. It’s a unique bar that everyone loves! Plus, you can make them ahead of time and freeze for later.
Get my easy Cranberry Bars recipe at Joyfully Thriving.
Cherry Bars with Almond Glaze
Cherry and almond are such a delicious combination, especially at Christmas. These bars are baked in a large half-sheet pan and can be cut into around 40 smaller pieces, making them a particularly good choice for a crowd.
Find the complete recipe at Risa’s Family Kitchen.
Cheesecake Cranberry Bars
These layered bars combine buttery shortbread, cheesecake and tart cranberries. The red cranberry layer makes them naturally pretty for a Christmas dessert platter.
Get the recipe from Valya’s Taste of Home.
Raspberry Sugar Cookie Bars
These beautiful bars layer raspberry jam with sugar cookie dough, including festive Christmas tree cutouts on top. They’re a pretty way to add something fruity to a Christmas dessert table.
See how to make Raspberry Sugar Cookie Bars at Simply Delicious.
Cranberry White Chocolate Bars
Cranberries and white chocolate give these bars plenty of holiday flavor, while a gingersnap crust adds a little Christmas spice.
Find the full recipe at The Healthy Cooking Blog.
Holiday Raspberry Chocolate Bars
Raspberry and chocolate make a rich combination in these easy holiday bars. The raspberry adds a beautiful red color that makes them especially nice for Christmas.
Get the Holiday Raspberry Chocolate Bars recipe from Fountain Avenue Kitchen.
Cranberry Pistachio Bliss Bars
Cranberries and pistachios give these bars natural red and green Christmas color without relying on sprinkles or candy. They’re topped with cream cheese frosting for an extra-special holiday treat.
Find the complete recipe at Cookies & Cups.
Apricot Almond Bars
These buttery bars combine sweet apricots with sliced almonds and an apricot glaze. They were inspired by an old Christmas baking recipe and add a completely different fruit flavor to a holiday dessert tray.
Get the Apricot Almond Bars recipe at Norine’s Nest.
Raspberry Lemon Squares
Bright lemon and raspberry make these bars a nice change from all the chocolate Christmas desserts. They’re sweet, tart and colorful, with a powdered sugar topping that makes them look especially pretty on a holiday platter.
See the full Raspberry Lemon Squares recipe at Kevin & Amanda.
My Favorite Tools and Tips for Making Christmas Bars
After making a lot of bars over the years, I have a couple simple tools that I reach for again and again. You don’t need anything fancy to make bar desserts, but these make baking and serving them a little easier.
My Favorite Pan for Baking Bars
For most bar recipes, I prefer baking in a glass 9×13 pan. I like being able to see the edges and bottom of the bars as they bake, and a 9×13 pan is a great size when you need plenty of servings for a Christmas party or cookie tray. It’s even better when my glass pans have a lid like this one (which I now own multiples of).
I also love using these mini serving spatulas for bars. They’re just the right size for getting those first few pieces neatly out of the pan and make serving small Christmas bars much easier. I actually have 6 of them in my baking drawer and use them all the time for everything! But for these Christmas bars? The mini spatulas are the perfect size – and an absolute bargain at only a couple dollars each. They would make great Christmas gifts, too. Hint, hint!
How to Freeze Christmas Bars
One of my favorite things about bar recipes is how easy they are to make ahead and freeze for Christmas. I often do a lot of our Christmas baking ahead of time so I’m not trying to bake everything right before Christmas.
I recommend cutting the bars before freezing them. Once they’re completely cooled, cut them into individual servings and layer them between pieces of plastic wrap in an airtight container. This keeps the layers from sticking together and makes it easy to take out exactly how many bars you need.
When you’re ready to serve them, simply remove the bars from the freezer and let them thaw at room temperature. It’s an easy way to get a head start on Christmas baking and have homemade treats ready whenever you need them.
Now, back to all those delicious Christmas bars!
Chocolate, Caramel and Rich Christmas Bars
Chocolate Orange Bars with Shortbread Crust
Chocolate and orange are a classic holiday combination. They start with orange shortbread and add a gooey orange filling and chocolate topping.
Get the complete recipe at Cooking with Mamma C.
Nanaimo Bars
These classic Canadian bars have three delicious layers: a chocolate-coconut base, creamy custard filling and chocolate topping. One batch makes 36 bars, making them a rich little treat to add to a Christmas dessert tray.
Find the Nanaimo Bars recipe at The Recipe Rebel.
Christmas Brownies
Dress up a pan of fudgy brownies with homemade vanilla frosting and peppermint crumbs. You could even start with a boxed brownie mix if you are crunched for time.
Get the recipe at Dinners, Dishes & Desserts.
Dulce de Leche Cookie Bars
These layered bars combine buttery shortbread, chocolate and creamy dulce de leche. Even better for a big Christmas gathering, one batch can be cut into 48 bars. I love the Christmas color swirls on top, too!
Find the full Dulce de Leche Cookie Bars recipe at Tara Teaspoon.
Christmas Brownies for a Crowd
Sometimes you simply need a LOT of brownies! This recipe includes instructions for scaling festive Christmas brownies up for a crowd, as well as 4 cute ideas for frosting your brownies.
See how to make Christmas Brownies for a Crowd at Borrowed Bites.
Christmas Magic Cookie Bars
Magic bars are perfect for Christmas baking because you get lots of delicious layers with very little fuss. This festive version combines a variety of baking chips plus M&Ms in one easy pan.
Get the full Christmas Magic Cookie Bars recipe at Oh Sweet Basil.
Coconut Pecan Cookie Bars
A buttery crust is topped with a chewy coconut and pecan layer in these old-fashioned cookie bars. They’re a nice choice when you want a Christmas bar that gives a nod to pecan pie.
Find the recipe at Julia’s Cuisine.
Shortbread, Almond, Coconut and Old-Fashioned Christmas Bars
Fudge Topped Almond Shortbread
Buttery almond shortbread gets even better when you top it with a rich layer of chocolate fudge! I love how pretty the little layered squares look on a Christmas cookie platter.
Get my Fudge Topped Almond Shortbread recipe at Joyfully Thriving.
Chocolate Chip Shortbread Bars with Citrus
Buttery shortbread, chocolate chips and a little citrus make these bars simple but special. It’s the best of all Christmas flavors combined!
Get the complete recipe from The Olive Blogger.
Scandinavian Almond Bars
These almond-flavored bars have a simple old-fashioned feel that fits right in with Christmas baking. This recipe is a little different because you pat the dough into long strips, then slice them into individual bars after baking.
Find the Scandinavian Almond Bars recipe at Quick German Recipes.
Baklava Bars
These bars give you the flavors of baklava in a much easier Christmas-cookie form, with walnuts, cinnamon, honey and flaky phyllo.
Get the recipe from The Domestic Front.
Cinnamon Pecan Cookie Bars
These old-fashioned cinnamon pecan bars come from a family Christmas recipe. They’re buttery and crisp with warm cinnamon and pecans, making them a delicious addition to a Christmas dessert tray.
Get the full Cinnamon Pecan Cookie Bars recipe at The Seasoned Mom.
Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars
If you love the cinnamon-sugar flavor of snickerdoodles, you can get that same flavor without rolling individual cookies. These thick and chewy bars are easy to bake in one pan and are perfect for Christmas cookie trays and holiday gatherings.
Get the easy Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars recipe at Crayons & Cravings.
Sticky Coconut Maple Bars
Brown butter, maple and coconut are a unique flavor combination for these bars. I especially like that this recipe comes from the blogger’s own family Christmas tradition, much like many of my favorite recipes.
Find the complete recipe at ZoëBakes.
Triple Treat Holiday Bars
Why make one flavor when you can make three from the same pan? These retro Christmas bars use an almond cookie base with cherry, pineapple and chocolate variations.
Get the Triple Treat Holiday Bars recipe at Click Americana.
Easy No-Bake and Big-Batch Christmas Treats
Sweet Marie Bars
These no-bake bars combine peanut butter and crispy cereal with a chocolate topping. They can be cut into 48 regular bars or 60 to 70 smaller pieces. That is always a good option with bars – cutting them small!
Get the full recipe at Red Cottage Chronicles.
Peanut Cluster Candies
These easy chocolate peanut clusters are another recipe my mom and I make every single Christmas. While not a bar recipe, they make a big batch with very little work! These freeze well for later, too.
Get my easy Peanut Cluster Candies recipe at Joyfully Thriving.
Christmas Rice Krispie Treats
Sometimes the simplest Christmas desserts are the first ones the kids grab! These classic crispy cereal treats get an easy holiday makeover and are perfect when you need a quick treat for a Christmas party.
Find the Christmas Rice Krispie Treats recipe at Boston Girl Bakes.
Pecan Pie Bars
Love pecan pie but don’t want to make multiple pies for a crowd? These bars give you that gooey pecan filling over a buttery crust in easy-to-serve squares.
Get the full recipe from Play Party Plan.
Christmas Crack Toffee
Saltine crackers, buttery toffee and chocolate turn into an addictive Christmas candy that’s easy to make by the panful. Break it into pieces and you’ve got plenty to share on a dessert tray or package for gifts.
See how to make Christmas Crack at House of Nash Eats.
More Easy Christmas Desserts
Whether you are baking for a big Christmas party or simply filling cookie trays to share with family and friends, I hope this list gives you plenty of easy Christmas dessert ideas.
Remember, many bar recipes can be made ahead of time and frozen, which is always helpful during the busy Christmas season. Pick a couple family favorites, add something new to try this year, and enjoy filling those Christmas dessert trays!
If you are looking for even more easy Christmas baking ideas, be sure to check out these Christmas recipe collections too:
