18 Best Easter Desserts - Cooking Light

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner

Healthy Easter Desserts

Make your Easter menu memorable by ending on a sweet note. From cookies to cakes, our Easter desserts are fresh, bright, and pretty enough for your holiday table.

If you can't decide whether you want vanilla or chocolate, this Black and White Angel Food Cake is just for you. Beaten egg whites create the light, airy texture of this classic dessert.

View Recipe: Black and White Angel Food Cake

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner

Easter Egg Cookies

These festive cookies are loosely based on the Greek Easter specialty koulourakia. Use egg-shaped cookie cutters to create these Easter "eggs" (we ordered ours from H.O. Foose Tinsmithing Co.). Enlist kids to decorate these simple cookies.

View Recipe: Easter Egg Cookies

Photo: Nina Choi

Sponge Cake with Orange Curd and Strawberries

Matzo and almond flour sponge cake is delightful—floral and sweet, with lemon, orange, and tangy berries.

View Recipe: Sponge Cake with Orange Curd and Strawberries

Photo: John Autry

Coconut Cream Pie

When it comes to creamy, dreamy coconut pie, never settle for anything less than mile-high. We fluff up the flavor, deploy an Italian meringue, and re-create a blue-ribbon dessert that won't march your diet into madness (learn how our Test Kitchen made over this recipe).

View Recipe: Coconut Cream Pie

Photo: Randy Mayor

Carrot Cake

This lighter twist on traditional carrot cake features a tender cake packed with grated carrot, juicy pineapple, flaked coconut, and chopped pecans. Cream cheese frosting and a garnish of grated carrot tops the cake.

View Recipe: Carrot Cake

Easy Lemon Squares

Whip up this easy crowd-favorite in a matter of minutes for a light dessert that's deliciously sweet and tangy.

View Recipe: Easy Lemon Squares

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner

Chocolate-Mint Pudding

Bursting with fragrance, mint adds dimension and seasonal flavor to chocolate pudding.

Prep Tip: Unless milk is stabilized with a thickener such as flour or cornstarch, it will “break,” or curdle, when it becomes too hot; that’s why it’s important to watch the temperature as you’re cooking the custard. Also make sure and cover the surface of the pudding with plastic wrap (with the wrap actually touching the pudding) to avoid a skin forming.

View Recipe: Chocolate-Mint Pudding

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner

Fresh Coconut Cake

Rather than knocking you out with fake coconut extract overtones, this towering, tender cake offers balanced flavor and nutrition—two things you can feel good about when serving a slice to your lucky guests.

View Recipe: Fresh Coconut Cake

Photo: José Picayo

Gingery Banana Pudding with Bourbon Cream

A classic southern dessert gets a boozy finish when topped with our delectable bourbon cream. Gingersnaps stand in for traditional vanilla wafers giving the pudding a spicy edge of sophistication.

View Recipe: Gingery Banana Pudding with Bourbon Cream

Photo: Randy Mayor

Sour Cream-Lemon Pound Cake

This reader-favorite pound cake is perfect for making ahead. Simply bake the cake (omitting the glaze) and freeze until ready to serve. After it's thawed, drizzle the glaze over the top of the cake.

View Recipe: Sour Cream-Lemon Pound Cake

Photo: Randy Mayor

Banana-Raspberry Cake with Lemon Frosting

Mashed ripe banana adds moistness to this springtime cake while a hint of lemon in the cream cheese frosting provides just the right amount of tartness.

View Recipe: Banana-Raspberry Cake with Lemon Frosting

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner

Lemon Cloud with Strawberry-Mint Compote

Here's a case where you want your soufflés to fall. As they do, the lemon flavor intensifies, and the texture becomes almost cakelike. Any berries will work in place of the strawberries for the compote.

View Recipe: Lemon Cloud with Strawberry-Mint Compote

Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

Add some color to your dessert tray with these jam-filled thumbprints. We recommend filling with homemade Raspberry Refrigerator Jam, but in a pinch your favorite store-bought variety will work just fine.

View Recipe: Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner

Glazed Lemon-Blueberry Poppy Seed Bundt Cake

Perfect for brunch, this light cake features sweet, seasonal berries and a lemony glaze. Garnish with ribbons of lemon rind and fresh blueberries.

View Recipe: Glazed Lemon-Blueberry Poppy Seed Bundt Cake

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner

Strawberry-Rhubarb Ice Cream

Make a nonalcoholic version of this grown-up ice cream by substituting cranberry juice cocktail for the wine.

View Recipe: Strawberry-Rhubarb Ice Cream

Photo: Jeff Kauck

Piña Colada Cheesecake Bars

Channel the tropics with these cheesecake bars that feature fresh, in-season pineapple. This recipe uses a small amount of coconut flour, which is slightly sweet, high in fiber (3 grams per tablespoon), and gluten-free. Look for it in health-food stores or order online from Bob's Red Mill. You also can substitute an equal amount of all-purpose flour.

View Recipe: Piña Colada Cheesecake Bars

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner

Café au Lait Chiffon Pie

Boiling coffee down to a concentrated syrup, then mixing it with milk in an airy chiffon filling makes this chocolate-graham-cracker-crusted pie a dessert that's sure to give you a buzz.

View Recipe: Café au Lait Chiffon Pie

Photo: Lauren Rubinstein

Strawberry-Almond Cream Tart

Nestled in a creamy filling and crumbly graham cracker crust, strawberries shine in this delectable tart.

View Recipe: Strawberry-Almond Cream Tart

Our Best Easter Desserts

Healthy Easter Desserts

Easter Egg Cookies

Sponge Cake with Orange Curd and Strawberries

Coconut Cream Pie

Carrot Cake

Easy Lemon Squares

Chocolate-Mint Pudding

Fresh Coconut Cake

Gingery Banana Pudding with Bourbon Cream

Sour Cream-Lemon Pound Cake

Banana-Raspberry Cake with Lemon Frosting

Lemon Cloud with Strawberry-Mint Compote

Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

Glazed Lemon-Blueberry Poppy Seed Bundt Cake

Strawberry-Rhubarb Ice Cream

Piña Colada Cheesecake Bars

Café au Lait Chiffon Pie

Strawberry-Almond Cream Tart