13 Holiday Desserts To Make In A Jar

Dessert can be the most stressful part of any party. Cooking is enough work without having to wonder whether or not your soufflé is going to turn out perfectly. These desserts give you the option to make your layers from scratch or buy your layers pre-made for a no-bake dessert. With jar desserts, you can lay out an array of stress-free desserts for your guests to choose from. We've compiled everything from sugar-free desserts to decadent peanut butter, chocolate layered desserts.

Fruit cup desserts are an excellent option if someone at your party has dietary restrictions, like being vegan or diabetic. Layer raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries and you'll have a colorful, fresh, and healthy dessert to serve.

Layer turtle brownies, thinly sliced strawberries, and caramel sauce to create a decadent chocolate dessert for your guests. The gooey, rich brownies are balanced out nicely with the fresh acidity from the strawberries. Take out a few kinds of ice cream for your guests to put on top.

Buy a pre-made carrot cake from the store or make your own delicious carrot cake, and layer it with homemade cream cheese frosting and walnuts. The moist carrot cake leaves a sweet mushy texture that's offset by the crunchy, bold flavors of the walnuts and a slightly tangy frosting. This orange and white jar will remind everyone of the fall leaves outside, which makes it perfect for any fall dinner party.

We took inspiration from dirt cups, the classic children's dessert, and created Christmas coal cups. Place these on a table next to a bright jar filled with fruit, and have your guests choose if they want crisp, colorful fruit cups or dark, decadent coal. Layer chocolate pudding with crushed Oreo cookies to make these chocolate desserts.

Fruit cake is a holiday tradition, but how many people actually like it? Reinvent this classic Christmas-time dessert by layering your favorite fruits with your favorite homemade cake. It can be anything from a decadent chocolate cake and bananas to angel food cake with raspberries and blueberries.

Pre-make ice cream sundaes using sprinkles, vanilla and chocolate ice cream, banana slices, and whipped cream. Just put these in the freezer before dinner, and they'll stay cool for your guests to enjoy after their meal.

To create this bright yellow dessert, layer homemade yellow cake or store-bought cake with slices of pineapple pieces that are lightly sprinkled with brown sugar. The fruit gives this cake a fresher and lighter feel than most decadent holiday desserts. 

Make a no-bake pumpkin cheesecake by whipping together 1 cup of canned pumpkin, 1 package of cream cheese, ¾ cup of sugar, and ¾ tsp. of pumpkin pie spice. Then layer the "cheesecake" with whipped cream and crushed graham crackers.  The dessert will have an orange and white layer offset by a golden brown graham cracker layer that gives this jar a classic fall look.

This is a great dessert for any peanut butter lover. To create this dessert, layer sour cream chocolate cake with homemade peanut butter frosting and put a surprise Reese's peanut butter cup in the center.

Red velvets naturally accompany Christmas parties with their deep Santa red cake and their snowflake white frosting. Buy pre-made red velvet cupcakes or make your own, and layer the cake with cream cheese frosting. Making the frosting from scratch will ensure it has a fresher taste when your guests dig their spoons into these jars.

Pack your jar with homemade rum cake, and drizzle some dark rum on top of the cake to give it that sweet, mushy bite that rum cake is known for. Top off the jar with chopped pecans to give this moist cake a crunchy nutty topping.

Layer store-bought or homemade angel food cake in a jar with strawberries and fresh buttercream frosting for a no-mess strawberry short cake. The sweet tang of the strawberries mellows out the overwhelming sugary buttercream icing. You can even dye your buttercream frosting green to make the jars Christmas colored.  

This three-ingredient dessert makes gooey s'more parfaits with marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate pudding. The grinded up graham crackers coat the gooey marshmallows for the perfect bite that will make your guests think they're roasting marshmallows over an open fire.

Click here for the Sweet and Toasty Parfait Recipe.