15 Craveable Cranberry Desserts for the Holiday Season

Make sweet, tart cranberries the star of any dessert spread with these recipes for fruity pies, tarts, cookies, and cakes with juicy fillings, colorful toppings, or pops of color. Cranberry pies and pie bars are perfect for Thanksgiving, cranberry cookies make for crowd-pleasing gifts this holiday season, and cranberry cakes can brighten any celebration. Here’s a host of craveable cranberry desserts, from simple to stunning, whatever the occasion.

Cranberry Crumble Pie

Gerard + Belevender

The compote and crumble can be made ahead for this berry pie with a fruity filling, warm spices, and a buttery topping.

Dried Cranberry and Chocolate Cookies

Food & Wine / Photo by Carson Downing / Food Styling by Lauren McAnelly / Prop Styling by Sue Mitchell

Cookbook author Sally Sampson adds cranberries and rolled oats to buttery chocolate chip cookie dough in this 30-minute cookie recipe with room to riff.

Dorie Greenspan’s Mini Cranberry Tarts

James Ransom / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless

Fill flaky pastry shells with a nut- and dried fruit–studded cranberry sauce and top with a pouf of slightly sweetened whipped cream in this leftover-friendly tart recipe from legendary cookbook author Dorie Greenspan.

Cranberry-Orange Sparkling Wine Gelatin

Photo by Noah Fecks / Food Styling by Drew Aichele / Prop Styling by Ethan Lunkenheimer

Layers of colorful cranberries with gin and sparkling wine with a hint of elderflower liqueur make for a festive, spiked gelatin centerpiece that will play well with the pastries filling the dessert spread.

Cranberry Moscow Mule Gingersnaps

Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Thom Driver

Cookbook author Vallery Lomas’ soft and cakey drop cookies pack a punch with freshly grated ginger, ginger syrup, and ground dried ginger, plus specks of lime zest and vodka-plumped dried cranberries.

Roasted Spiced Cranberry Pie

Photo: Victor Protasio / Food Stylist Torie Cox / Prop Stylist Claire Spollen

F&W’s Paige Grandjean roasts cranberries to concentrates their flavor, adds a kick with lemongrass and gochugaru, and gives the filling a pop of tropical brightness with thin strips of dried mango. A sprinkling of granola finishes the pie with a crunchy, streusel-like topping.

Goat Cheese Cake with Wine-Poached Cranberries

Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Christine Keely

Iconic pastry chef Claudia Fleming drapes her creamy holiday cheesecake with a tart, glistening cranberry gelée and candied pistachios. Each component can be made ahead.

Brown Sugar Bundt Cake With Candied Cranberries

Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Ana Kelly / Prop Styling by Audrey Davis

Glaze this tender cranberry cake with a sweet vanilla-flecked buttermilk for a delicate dessert from James Beard Award-winning writer and chef Lisa Donovan with subtle spice, bright acidity, and tang from orange zest.

Mhalabiyeh (Fragrant Milk Pudding with Cranberries)

Greg DuPree

Make your own cranberry sauce to top these Palestinian puddings flavored with mastic gum that’s reminiscent of licorice or pine.

Bimuelos with Cranberry Curd and Cardamom Honey

Photo by Dan Perez / Food Styling and Prop Styling by Nurit Kariv

Cookbook author Adeena Sussman uses half a pound of fresh or frozen cranberries in a make-ahead curd for these orange-scented, fried balls of dough doused in a cardamom-laced honey.

Brown Sugar-Cranberry Tart

Sweet and tart cranberries pop in the creamy custard of this 3-hour pie from chef and author David Tanis.

Triple-Layer Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

Nicole Franzen

Beloved bakers Cheryl and Griffith Day top this moist, tender layer cake with cranberries that are tossed in simple syrup then rolled in sugar an hour ahead.