10 holiday desserts you can make with 5 ingredients or fewer

Fri, 12/19/2025 - 11:36

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Peppermint Bark — Desserts like peppermint bark are ideal for holiday entertaining and require only a few ingredients to make.
Bhofack2/Getty Images

When it comes to holiday baking, you don't need to spend time or money on complicated recipes.
Many festive desserts, from peanut butter balls to peppermint bark, require only a few ingredients.
Homemade chocolate fudge is also easy to make and a great gift to give away.

Holiday baking is a fun activity in the lead-up to Christmas or any other holiday you celebrate, but you don't have to spend a lot of money or make complicated, intricate desserts to enjoy a sweet treat around the holidays.

From peanut-butter balls and rich chocolate fudge to peppermint bark, these festive desserts only require a few ingredients to make, and you might already have all of the ingredients lying around.

Here are 10 festive holiday desserts that only need five ingredients or fewer.

You can make sugar cookies with only three basic ingredients.

sugar cookies with red and green sprinkles in a red and white striped cookie tin — Charles Brutlag/Shutterstock

These three-ingredient sugar cookies by BellyFull take 15 minutes to whip up and use things that you probably already have in your kitchen: unsalted butter, granulated sugar, and all-purpose flour.

However, if you want to make your sugar cookies even more special, you can also use a few extra ingredients, such as vanilla, a quick and easy icing like this one from Betty Crocker, and festive red, green, or blue sprinkles.

Peanut brittle is a sweet and salty treat that can be made with just five ingredients.

This recipe by SweetPhi utilizes baking soda, sugar, light corn syrup, dry-roasted peanuts, and flaky sea salt to create a rich holiday treat. You won't even need a candy thermometer to make this dessert — just a saucepan, measuring spoons, and parchment paper.

Chocolate bark is one of the easiest holiday desserts, and you can customize it with any toppings.

Chocolate bark with pistachios.
andrea.gomez21/Shutterstock

To make sweet-and-spicy chocolate bark, you'll need hazelnuts, two bars of dark chocolate, dried cranberries, sea salt, and cayenne pepper.

One of the best parts about making chocolate bark is that not only can you customize the toppings, but you also don't even need to bake it. Melt the chocolate, add your toppings, and refrigerate until it is hardened and ready to break apart.

You can also make a festive white chocolate and peppermint bark.

peppermint and white chocolate bark — Teri Virbickis/Shutterstock

If you enjoy peppermint mochas, you'll love this four-ingredient dessert. To make white-chocolate peppermint bark, you'll need candy canes or hard peppermint candies, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and peppermint extract.

It's perfect for making with kids and keeps for up to three weeks in the refrigerator, meaning you can enjoy it throughout the entire holiday season.

Peanut-butter cookies aren't just a crowd-pleasing dessert; they're also easy to make.

The Stay at Home Chef's recipe for five-ingredient peanut-butter cookies is gluten-free and includes creamy peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, one egg, and vanilla extract.

Peanut-butter balls also only require a few ingredients.

chocolate peanut butter balls — Nina Firsova/Shutterstock

Whether you're a peanut-butter fanatic or simply an inexperienced baker, this easy recipe by Kitchen Fun calls for four ingredients that you might already have in your pantry: creamy peanut butter, powdered sugar, butter, and semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Make the peanut-butter dough, dip the balls into the melted chocolate, and refrigerate them until the chocolate has hardened. If you want to go the extra mile, you can also top the balls with festive-colored sprinkles or nuts for added flavor and texture.

Making homemade chocolate truffles might sound intimidating, but this recipe couldn't be easier.

dark chocolate truffles on a white plate — Vladislav Noseek/Shutterstock

Gimme Some Oven's recipe for five-ingredient whiskey dark chocolate truffles uses dark chocolate, heavy cream, butter, sea salt, and your choice of whiskey.

Be warned: These sweet treats aren't intended for kids. Since the truffles aren't baked, none of the alcohol gets a chance to "burn off."

If chocolate or peanut butter isn't your thing, these tart lemon bars only require five ingredients.

lemon bars with lemon slices on a plate — Josie Grant/Shutterstock

To make Gimme Some Oven's lemon bars, you'll need all-purpose flour, butter, powdered sugar, eggs, and lemons. Or, if you're looking to make life even easier, you can buy store-bought lemon curd.

Chocolate-covered strawberries are always a hit and only require two ingredients.

Rows of chocolate covered strawberries. — Chocolate covered strawberries are easy to make at home, and are best consumed within 24 hours.
Jerry Deutsch / EyeEm/Getty Images

Dip your strawberries into melted semisweet chocolate, then set them down onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, and wait until the chocolate has set.

To make your chocolate-covered strawberries even more show-stopping, you can also melt some white chocolate and drizzle it over the top of the strawberries before setting them aside to harden.

Chocolate fudge is perfect for setting out at a holiday party or can be given as a gift.

Taste of Home's recipe for five-ingredient chocolate fudge relies on pantry staples: butter, semisweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla extract.

It only takes 10 minutes to prepare, meaning you can have a sweet treat ready to serve in no time, faster than you can say "mistletoe."

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10 holiday desserts you can make with 5 ingredients or fewer