30 Mexican Desserts For The Holidays

These 30 Mexican Desserts for the holidays taste like heaven and will satisfy your sweet tooth. Special enough for any holiday get together.

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This time of year is full of celebration and offers up plenty of occasions to indulge in sweet treat or two. In our house the holidays really start with pan de muerto for Día de los Muertos and don’t end until we’ve had that perfect slice of Rosca de Reyes on Día de los Reyes.

Whether you love traditional Mexican dessert recipes like Mexican sweet corn cake (pastel de elote) or more Tex-Mex desserts like sopapilla cheesecake bars, I think this list will give you plenty of options for making and serving the delicious Mexican desserts you love this holiday season.

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Mexican Desserts For The Holidays

1. Authentic Tres Leches Cake

Traditional Mexican cake soaked in three different kinds of milk and topped with a whipped cream frosting. Sprinkle with cinnamon and raspberries—or both!

A piece of tres leches cake topped with a pile of raspberries sitting on a gold rimmed plate with a fork on one side.

2. Easy Sopapilla Recipe

This sopapilla recipe is so easy to make and they come out light as air and crisp every time. Deep fry the pastry until it is light and golden and then drizzle with honey or sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Two sopapillas sitting on a white plate dusted with powdered sugar and drizzled with honey next to a cup of espresso.

3. Mexican Chocolate Sweet Tamales with Hot Honey

If you’ve never had dessert tamales you are in for a real treat! These chocolate tamales are like the best warm chocolate cake topped with a spicy honey.

A chocolate tamal sitting on a plate with a bite taken out of it. There is a fork on the side holding a piece of the tamal.

4. Authentic Arroz Con Leche

Luscious and rich this creamy rice pudding is everyone’s favorite dessert. Serve warm, cold, or room temperature.

A rectangular dish holding a serving of Arroz Con Leche topped with sliced fresh strawberries and a whole strawberry.

5. Churros with Mexican Hot Chocolate Sauce

Want to really WOW your guests? Make a batch of homemade churros! This technique will show you how to make them ahead then just fry them to order when you’re ready.

A baking sheet lined with parchment paper and several churros coated in cinnamon and sugar on the baking sheet.

6. Simple and Quick Champurrado

What about a sweet drink? This Champurrado will be the hit of your party. Similar to hot chocolate, Champurrado is a cozy, chocolatey drink made with masa harina, chocolate, and piloncillo. Ready in 10 minutes!

A rainbow placemat with two cups of Champurrado on them and a plate of tamales with a fork on the plate sitting on a gray table.

7. Pumpkin Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Bars

Stepping away from the traditional, this make-ahead dessert takes rich caramel dulce de leche and swirls it into creamy cheesecake with a Gamesa Maria cookie base.

A piece of parchment paper with a batch of dulce de leche pumpkin bars on it cut into pieces.

8. Flan!

Great for parties and gatherings because this silky custard has to be made ahead. Made with simple ingredients like eggs, sweetened condensed milk, and the surprise ingredient—ricotta cheese. This caramel flan will knock your socks off.

A baking sheet with a rectangular flan on it with caramel sauce dripping down the sides sitting on a wood table.

9. Atole

Serve your guests warm mugs of this creamy cinnamon and corn drink to go with their tamales or enjoy on its own. The flavor is sweet and soothing and is perfect for chilly holiday evenings.

A girl in a pink sweater holding a blue mug full of atole with a cinnamon stick sticking out of the mug.

10. Strawberry Tamales with Horchata Sauce

Another sweet tamal made with ripe, red strawberries and drizzled with creamy horchata sauce. Perfect for Las Posadas, Christmas, or any holiday party.

Two strawberry tamales sitting on a pink platter surrounded by strawberries and drizzled with horchata sauce.

11. Polvorones

Want to bake up some special holiday cookies? These Polvorones are just like the ones you get from the Mexican bakery.

Several large sugar cookies coated in sprinkles with more rainbow sprinkles all around on a silpat baking sheet.

12. Butternut Maple Empanadas with Cornmeal Crust

My interpretation of the sweet pumpkin empanadas but made with creamy butternut squash filling sweetened with maple syrup. The filling is wrapped in a cornmeal crust made with extra virgin coconut oil making them exceptionally delicious and dairy free!

Several empanadas sitting on a green cloth coated in large pieces of turbinado sugar.

13. Strawberry Tres Leches Cake

Ultra-moist, extra-fluffy tres leches cake infused with juicy strawberries in every bite. This gorgeous layer cake is a real stunner. Perfect for holiday gatherings.

A strawberry tres leches layer cake with a piece taken out and covered in whipped cream and fresh strawberries.

14. Mexican Chocolate Tequila Tart

This silky, rich chocolate filling is spiked in all the right ways with tequila in a sweet and salty crust made with butter, graham crackers, and saltines.

A mexican chocolate tart topped with whipped cream, figs, raspberries, and almonds with two slices removed and sitting next to it.

15. Mexican Wedding Cookies

These cookies have the best crunchy texture made with pecans, orange zest, vanilla, and cloves they’re gluten-free and dairy-free!

A baking sheet covered in parchment paper with several Mexican wedding cookies on it, one coated in powdered sugar.

16. No-Bake Pumpkin Chipotle Cheesecake

This is a perennial Thanksgiving favorite! A simple, no-bake cheesecake made with cream cheese, pumpkin puree and a kick of chipotle chili powder.

A cheesecake topped with whipped cream and sprinkled with cinnamon sitting on a cake stand next to pomegranates.

17. Buñuelos

A classic holiday sweet, Buñuelos are crispy fried dough that is sprinkled with sugar and anise seed. The homemade version warm out of the hot oil are like heaven.

Crispy fried rounds of dough sprinkled with sugar and anise seeds on a wood cutting board.

18. Jamoncillo de Leche

Jamoncillo de leche or milk fudge is a special Mexican candy made during the holidays. Sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk are slowly simmered until it is thick enough that is hardens when cooled. This version is flavored with coffee, peppermint, and cocoa powder.

Several squares of fudge colored in two layers, one chocolate one peppermint topped with crushed candy canes.

19. Cinnamon Coconut {Un} Fried Ice Cream

A Tex-Mex restaurant favorite, the wonderful thing about this fried ice cream recipe is that it requires no frying at all! These creamy vanilla ice cream balls coated in cinnamon-coconut crumbs is the perfect make-ahead dessert for your holiday party.

Three metal ice cream dishes filled with balls of fried ice cream topped with chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and a cherry.

20. Pistachio Mazapan

This authentic Mexican dessert is the traditional candy we all know and love as De la Rosa which is made with peanuts. This homemade version is made with festive pistachios giving it that holiday green glow and weepingly delicious buttery flavor.

Green rounds of pistachio Mazapan topped with flaky salt and chopped pistachios sitting in a box between layers of parchment.

21. Coconut Tres Leches Cake

If the other two tres leches cakes didn’t get you excited then maybe this coconut version will tempt you. Coconut milk gets swapped in for the traditional heavy cream then it is topped with toasted coconut flakes.

A pan of tres leches cake topped with whipped cream and toasted coconut with several pieces missing and a cake server.

22. Simple Authentic Capirotada

Learn the secret to making the perfect Capirotada every time. This classic Mexican bread pudding gets soaked in a cinnamon sugar syrup and topped with raisins and cheese. A holiday favorite in Mexico and here in the US.

An oval dish of capirotada with raisins and powdered sugar on top and a pink dish of powdered sugar behind it.

23. Pumpkin Spice Mexican Wedding Cookies

An easy cookie recipe with all the crumbly salt and sweet goodness of traditional Mexican Wedding Cookies (aka Snowballs) but with the addition of warm spices like cinnamon, ginger, and clove.

A round dish filled with Mexican wedding cookies and a cup of atole next to another cup of atole.

24. Blackberry-Mezcal Bread Pudding with Homemade Cajeta Sauce

Creamy and sweet bread pudding with mezcal-macerated blackberries, toasty bread, and drenched in homemade Cajeta, Mexico’s answer to rich and creamy caramel sauce.

An oval baking dish sitting on a marble table next to two servings of blackberry bread pudding topped with ice cream.

25. Oven Baked Mexican Rice Pudding

An elegant dessert that is deceptively simple. This version of arroz con leche is baked in the oven instead of simmered on the stove, taking all the standing and stirring out of the equation. Serve with a sweet and sour rhubarb sauce or fresh strawberries.

Three glass dishes filled with rice pudding and topped with rhubarb sauce sitting on a wood table next to a blue cloth.

26. Homemade Mexican Sweet Bread

If you plan on hosting a holiday brunch then you must make this Concha recipe. The sugar cookie coating on top is colored and flavored with freeze-dried fruits and they have a soft, bouncy crumb, perfect for dunking into coffee or hot chocolate.

Several conchas or Mexican pan dulce sitting on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. The conchas have colored topping.

27. Ginger Cardamom Rompope

The holidays aren’t the holidays until you’ve had a glass of rompope. This non-alcoholic version is infused with ginger, cardamom, and cinnamon making it the perfect drink for kids and adults alike.

A tall glass filled with rompope on ice with a cinnamon stick sticking out of the glass with a red and green cloth near by.

28. Pumpkin Layer Cake with Dulce de Leche

A stunning layer cake with layers of soft pumpkin cake, creamy dulce de leche, brown butter-cream cheese frosting, and a showering of toasted pecans on top. The best part? You can make the whole thing ahead of time and freeze!

A pumpkin layer cake on a cake stand topped with brown butter frosting and chopped pecans with several pieces removed.

29. Sweet Lime Tamales

Like the best sponge cake you’ve ever eaten, flecked with fragrant lime zest this is another one of our favorite sweet tamales recipes.

A green lime tamal sitting on a corn husk with a piece cut off sitting on a fork next to the tamal which is on a white platter.

30. Mexican Chocolate Pudding

Homemade chocolate pudding from scratch is easier than you think and can be made up to 3 days in advance! Infused with orange zest, cinnamon, and vanilla this rich chocolate pudding is luxurious and the perfect way to end a festive holiday dinner.

Two colorful dishes of Mexican chocolate pudding topped with whipped cream and raspberries and orange zest.

Check Out These Other Dessert Recipes From Our Sister Site, Kate’s Best Recipes!

So Many Mexican Desserts

So little time! Choosing is impossible, so go ahead and make a few this holiday season. Let me know when you do by snapping a pic and tagging me on Instagram @holajalapeno and #holajalapeno so I can see or leave me a comment below (don’t forget to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating) ! Also, sign up for my weekly newsletter, lots of good stuff there too!