13 Insanely Easy Three-Ingredient Holiday Desserts

Nutella cake, frosted with Nutella. That's all you need to know.

Nutella Cake

Serves 6 to 8

Recipe by Lindsay Hunt

Beat 1½ cups Nutella with 4 large eggs in a large bowl until well combined and slightly increased in volume, about 2 minutes. Fold in the ½ cup all-purpose flour until combined. Scrape into a greased and parchment-lined 8-inch pan and bake at 350º F until the center is just set, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then cool on a wire rack until room temperature. Frost with ½ cup Nutella, and serve.

Making mini cakes means everyone GETS THEIR OWN CAKE. These are made with cookie butter—basically peanut butter, except instead of peanuts, cookies. The cakes are super easy because you just bake the batter in a muffin tin, then glaze them with MORE melted cookie butter. ~Fancy.~

Mini Cookie Butter Cakes

Serves 6 to 8

Recipe by Lindsay Hunt

Microwave 1½ cups cookie butter in 20 second intervals until pourable. Beat 5 large eggs and ½ cup sugar with an electric mixer on high in a large bowl until tripled in size, 6 to 8 minutes. Beat the warm cookie butter into the egg-sugar mixture until fully incorporated.

Divide the batter among the cups of a greased 12-cup muffin tin. Bake in a 350º F oven for 18 to 22 minutes, until the cakes are cooked through and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let sit 5 minutes, then invert the cakes onto a cooling rack and then glaze with ½ cup more warmed cookie butter.

I don't know how to explain the miracle of this mousse, except to say that somehow you cook chocolate and water together, and then beat the melted mixture it turns into an amazingly silky pudding. It's dangerously simple. (P.S. We aren't counting water as an ingredient.)

Chocolate Pudding

Serves 6 to 8

Recipe by Lindsay Hunt

Cook 2 cups chocolate chips and 1½ cups water over medium heat in a saucepan until the chocolate is melted. Beat on high for 10 to 15 minutes with an electric hand mixer until a fluffy mousse comes together. Scoop into a serving bowl, then top with 2 cups whipped cream, drizzle with caramel sauce, and sprinkle with more chocolate chips.

H/T to Cafe Fernando for the inspiration.

Dulce de leche is caramelized sweetened condensed milk, which means it's the richest caramel of all. Spread it onto puff pastry and top with sliced apples and call it a day.

Caramel Apple Tart
Serves 4 to 6

Recipe by Lindsay Hunt

Unroll one 9-oz. sheet puff pastry and roll to make 10-inch square. Use a knife to lightly score a 1-in. border all around the edges of the pastry. Use a fork to prick holes all over the center of the pastry. Spread the middle of the dough with ½ cup dulce de leche and then layer on 2 thinly sliced apples. Bake in a 400º F oven, until the pastry is golden brown and flaky and the apples are tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve hot.

Galettes are the lazy cook's secret dessert weapon: they're easy AF to make but look so pretty. Instead of fitting dough into a pie dish, you just fold in the edges to keep the pears in. Don't worry if it gets a bit messy, that rustic look is so in RN.

Maple Pear Galette

Serves 4 to 6

Recipe by Lindsay Hunt

Roll 1 pound prepared pie dough into a 12-inch round and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Toss 1 pound sliced pears (about 4 small pears) with 2 Tbsp. maple syrup and pile in the center of the pie dough, leaving a clean 2-inch border. Fold the edges of the dough in towards the center to contain the filling. Bake in a 400º F oven, until the pastry is golden brown and flaky and the pears are tender, 40 to 50 minutes. Drizzle with 2 Tbsp. maple syrup and serve.

Did you know that you can turn cookies into cake by letting them sit with whipped cream overnight? The moisture from the cream seeps into the cookies and makes them soft. So: Whip lemon curd with heavy cream and stack it with gingersnaps to make the easiest layer cake ever.

Lemon and Gingersnap Icebox Cake

Serves 6 to 8

Recipe by Lindsay Hunt

Whip 4 cups heavy cream and 1½ cups lemon curd with an electric mixer in a large bowl until the cream is whipped and holds stiff peaks. On a plate, layer the whipped cream mixture with 1 lb. gingersnaps, arranging the cookies and cream into layers, creating a 4-inch-tall round, the size of a regular 9-inch cake. Frost the outside with a layer of the cream and then refrigerate overnight (at least 8 hours). Before serving, decorate the cake with more lemon curd and sprinkle with crushed gingersnaps.

I can pretty much promise that everyone will say "Wow, these look so pretty!" when they see these trifles. You don't need to tell them that all you had to do was crumble up some store-bought cake and layer it with Cool Whip and marmalade.

Orange Gingerbread Trifles

Serves 4

Recipe by Lindsay Hunt

Layer 12 oz. cubed homemade or store-bought gingerbread, one 8-oz. container Cool Whip (or 3 cups whipped cream), and 1 cup orange marmalade in 4 glasses, creating 2 or 3 layers of each ingredient. Serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to 4 hours to let the flavors and ingredients meld.

PRO TIP: You can use store-bought or homemade gingerbread. I love this recipe of Martha Stewart’s, or you can use a boxed mix.

Melted ice cream + flour = cake. It's optional to toast the marshmallow fluff topping with a blow torch, but it gives the cake that ~toasty s'mores flavor~.

Marshmallow Pumpkin Cake

Serves 6 to 8

Recipe by Lindsay Hunt

Beat 1 pint melted pumpkin ice cream with 1½ cups self-rising flour. Scrape into a greased and floured 8-inch cake pan and bake at 350º F for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Invert onto a rack and cool to room temperature. Frost with 2 cups marshmallow fluff, then toast the fluff with a blowtorch (optional).

Call it dessert, or call it breakfast. This is like a shortcut monkey bread, instead of tossing each little ball of dough in butter and then rolling in sugar, you can just toss it all together and then bake it in a skillet.

Gooey Pecan Pie Biscuits

Serves 6 to 8

Recipe by Lindsay Hunt

Cut 1 pound biscuit dough into 16 equal pieces, then roll the dough into balls and put them in a large bowl. Toss with 2 cups pecan pie filling and 1 stick (½ cup) melted unsalted butter. Scoop everything into a medium ovenproof skillet and bake at 350º F for 22 to 27 minutes, until the biscuits are cooked through. Serve hot.

PRO TIP: If you can’t find pecan pie filling at your supermarket, mix together 1½ cups pecans, 1 cup dark Karo corn syrup, and 1 cup sugar

Crescent dough is really the MVP of all the canned things. Fill the dough with apple pie filling and cream cheese and twist it all up. It's the most elegant thing that ever came out of a Pillsbury can.

Cream-cheese apple pie babka

Serves 6 to 8

Recipe by Lindsay Hunt

Unroll two 8-oz. tubes crescent dough onto a work surface. Spread the dough with 6-oz. room-temperature cream cheese, dividing evenly between the two pieces of dough. Reserve ¼ cup from one 21-oz. can apple pie filling, and then use the remainder to top the cream cheese. Roll the dough into 2 logs and slice both in half lengthwise through the middle. Twist two sections together at a time, keeping the cut side up. Arrange both twists in a cast-iron skillet or a baking pan with their ends touching, in the shape of a ring or a wreath.

Bake at 375º F for 35 to 40 minutes, until the dough is golden brown and cooked through. Mix the reserved apple pie filling and 2 oz. cream cheese and drizzle over the top of the babka. Serve hot.

Something magical happens when you combine espresso and sweetened condensed milk then whip it with heavy cream: It becomes a fluffy version the best coffee ice cream you've ever had.

Coffee Mousse

Serves 6 to 8

Recipe by Lindsay Hunt

Cook 1 tablespoon instant espresso and one 14-oz. can of sweetened condensed milk in a small pot over medium-low heat until combined, 3 to 5 minutes. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, then add 1 pint heavy cream and beat with an electric mixer on high until soft peaks form, 8 to 10 minutes. Sprinkle with more instant espresso, if you want.

PRO TIP: You can freeze this mixture to make soft serve ice cream.

Cranberry sauce has finally found its calling: swirled into dessert, like this white chocolate pudding, which is made for anyone with a raging sweet tooth. [Raises hand.]

White Chocolate and Cranberry Pudding

Serves 6 to 8

Recipe by Lindsay Hunt

Combine 1 lb. chopped white chocolate and 1 pint heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second intervals, whisking in between, until the chocolate is melted. Refrigerate 30 minutes and then beat with an electric mixer on high until quadrupled in size, 8 to 10 minutes. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, then serve swirled with 1¼ cups cranberry sauce.

This is for when you want your own, personal pumpkin pie. Instead of just filling the puff pastry with pumpkin pie mix, you cook it with some sugar on the stovetop to make a silkier, richer filling.

Pumpkin Hand Pies

Serves 8

Recipe by Lindsay Hunt

Cook 1 ½ cups pumpkin pie filling and ⅓ cup sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, until the filling is thick and glossy, 6 to 8 minutes. Let cool.

Unroll 2 sheets defrosted puff pastry (from one 17.6-oz package). Cut each sheet into 4 equal squares, then divide the pumpkin mixture among the 8 squares. Fold each square over into a triangle to seal the filling inside, then use a fork to crimp the edges shut. Brush the pastry with water, then sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 400º F until the pastry is golden brown and flaky, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve hot.