55 Comfort Food Desserts That Are Pure Bliss
Updated on March 01, 2024
Whip up decadent, feel-good treats like cream pies, chocolate cake and more.
Our Most-Comforting Dessert Ideas
When you’re craving comfort food, only the most decadent dishes will do—desserts included. From cakes layered with creamy frosting and sugar-dusted doughnuts hot from the fryer to rich, fudgy brownies and chocolate desserts galore, you’ll find all the sweet treats you need right here. Ready to dig in? This easy-to-make pie will take your obsession for chocolate-peanut butter desserts to the next level. It starts with a chocolate graham cracker crust that’s filled with whipped peanut butter. After a layer of whipped cream, it’s topped with roasted peanuts and mini chocolate chips for the perfect finishing touch.
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Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding with Bourbon Ice Cream Sauce
Michael Chiarello keeps his bread pudding extra moist and flavorful by using buttery croissants and then pairing it with an ice cream-flavored sauce spiked with bourbon whiskey.
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Peanut Butter Bars with Salted Chocolate Ganache
For the perfect finishing touch, sprinkle flaky sea salt atop the chocolate layer on Nancy Fuller's peanut butter bars.
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Baked Fudge
Ree's chocolatey baked fudge is like a cross between pudding and brownies.
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Chocolate Chip Cookies
This chewy version of the comforting classic is foolproof — and perfect for dunking into a cold glass of milk.
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Banana Pudding
Sweet, creamy and ready in just 45 minutes — what’s not to love about Trisha’s take on this comfort food classic?
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Photo: Matt Armendariz
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Boston Cream Pie Cheesecake
When two beloved desserts combine into one delicious mashup, you never have to choose again.
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Chocolate Fondue
In less than 20 minutes you'll be dipping biscotti bits, strawberries and pound cake into rich chocolate.
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Mini Peanut Butter & Jelly Pies
There's no need to fight over the last bite when you give each guest his or her own individual peanut butter pie.
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Photo: Brian Kennedy ©
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Red Velvet Bread Pudding
Classic red velvet cupcakes get extra moist and flavorful when baked into a creamy bread pudding. You can start with cupcakes and frosting made from scratch or use frosted cupcakes from the bakery.
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Alton's Chocolate Pudding
Alton Brown's homemade pudding mix with Dutch-processed cocoa and confectioners' sugar is great to have on hand when a chocolate craving strikes.
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Homemade Glazed Doughnuts
Why not fry these breakfast favorites at home? To make the most of the glaze, set the holes underneath the doughnuts so they can catch the extra good stuff.
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Warm Chocolate Cakes with Berries
Giada's decadent chocolate cake with a hint of espresso will warm you up from the inside out.
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Peanut Butter Cupboard Cookie Bars
This salty-sweet treat is a triple threat, topped with pretzel sticks, potato chips and candy-coated peanut butter pieces.
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Banana Pudding Tiramisu
Layers of creamy mascarpone pudding, bananas and coffee-soaked vanilla wafers bring together the best parts of these two classic comfort desserts. Make it the night before you plan to serve — the flavor and texture only get better.
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Amaretto Chocolate Brownies
Tyler Florence's rich brownies are dusted with powdered sugar for an extra sweet finish.
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Triple Chocolate Pudding
Make this eggless custard up to two days in advance and store in the refrigerator.
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Photo: Matt Armendariz
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Best Bread Pudding
Look no further: We've got the only bread pudding recipe you will ever need. This super-thick version is equal parts sweet and custardy, with just a touch a spice. Perfect for a special event, or for Sunday morning breakfast at home.
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Lizzie's Old-Fashioned Cocoa Cake with Caramel Icing
Trisha Yearwood's tip: Make sure to pour the same amount of batter into each pan so the layers cook at the same rate.
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Rocky Road Pudding
Turn a favorite ice cream flavor into a pudding that will please kids and adults alike.
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Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies
Get all the flavors of fluffy red velvet cake in a snappy sugar cookie, then make cookie sandwiches with cream cheese filling.
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Vanilla-Banana Pudding
Think of this as a quicker, stir-together version of traditional banana pudding — same great flavor, but less fuss.
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Ooey Gooey Butter Cake
This crowd-pleaser definitely lives up to its name — it's buttery and gooey, with a crisp cake-mix crust. Vanilla bean paste and nutmeg give it a warm and comforting flavor you'll crave year-round.
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Monster Cookies
Ree's Monster Cookies, also known as her "everything cookies," are chock-full of fun ingredients like oats, pecans, rice cereal, chocolate chips and chocolate candies.
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Photo: Renee Comet ©
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Peanut Butter and Jelly Bundt Cake
This cake will satisfy any PB&J lover's sweet tooth. For a garnish upgrade, sprinkle honey-roasted peanuts on the top, or decorate the cake with halved raspberries.
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Photo: Kate Mathis
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Individual Caramel Cakes
Ree tops individual spice cakes with a caramel frosting that’ll warm you up from the inside-out.
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S'more Brownie Bites
These decadent bites have the flavor of s'mores with the texture of brownies.
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Tarte Tatin
An apple a day ... is best eaten in this classic dessert. A simple three-ingredient technique makes the recipe easy enough for even a beginner baker.
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Carrot Cheesecake
Most people would agree that the cream cheese frosting is the best part of any carrot cake, so it makes perfect sense to replace it with a thick layer of creamy cheesecake. These two classic cakes make one showstopping mash-up dessert.
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Brownie Batter Cookies
Trisha's crisp-yet-chewy cookies made with cocoa powder and chocolate chips are ready in less than 40 minutes.
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Red Velvet Icebox Cake
This easy-yet-impressive cake layers red velvet cookies, sweetened cream cheese and shaved milk chocolate. The cookies soften up nicely as the cake sits overnight.
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Cookies and Cream Pudding
This vanilla pudding is delicious all on its own, but adding in crushed chocolate wafer cookies adds great texture and nostalgic flavor.
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Cookies and Cream Cake
The Neelys take the familiar ice cream flavor and turn it into a cake. The star of this dessert? The cookies-and-cream cheese icing.
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Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
This easy recipe ensures a crispy chocolate chip cookie with just 20 minutes of prep time.
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Bananas Foster
Ree's banana aversion doesn't keep her from making a mean bananas Foster, fire and all. Spoon these boozy, buttery bananas over ice cream, French toast or crepes.
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Peanut Butter and Jelly Crumb Cake
You can use your favorite jelly, jam or fruit preserves for this easy crumb cake. If you can't find honey-roasted peanuts, roasted and salted ones are a good substitution.
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Snickerdoodles
What could be better than cinnamon, sugar and butter? Warm and comforting, these iconic cookies are best served fresh from the oven — with a glass of milk, of course.
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Giada's Rice Pudding
This five-star dessert from Giada De Laurentiis elevates rice pudding with dark rum, orange peel and vanilla bean.
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Fried Apple Pies
Bobby Flay's secret dough ingredient: lard. He likes to use Golden Delicious and Granny Smith apples because they're tart and remain firm after baking.
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Dark Chocolate Mousse
This rich mousse is a surprisingly better-for-you dessert! Ellie Krieger uses silken tofu for a creamy texture and far less fat than regular cream.
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Cake Doughnut Bread Pudding
This rum-topped dessert goes from oven to table in a little over an hour.
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Oatmeal Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches
As if oatmeal cookies weren't comforting enough, Gina sandwiches ice cream between them and rolls these powerhouse desserts in chopped pecans for extra crunch.
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Devil's Food Cupcakes
Got a craving for chocolate? The Neelys' decadent cupcakes will hit the spot. The single raspberry on top not only serves as a pretty garnish, but also plays a key part as a fruity balance to the bittersweet devil's food cake underneath.
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Peanut Butter and Jelly Pudding
Fold fresh grapes, roasted peanuts and peanut butter chips into creamy vanilla pudding for a snack or dessert that tastes just like the beloved sandwich.
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Peanut Butter-Chocolate-Coconut Layer Cake
This trio of ingredients makes the perfect showstopper of a cake. To create the frosting, reserve half of the cake filling and whip it with heavy cream.
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Malted Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ree Drummond uses malted milk powder to give her chocolate chip cookies a special twist.
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Vanilla Pudding
Super creamy and easy, this classic pudding is great all on its own or can be dressed up with our suggested stir-ins.
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Chocolate-Nut Slab Pie
Let your trusty sheet pan help you bring nutty, chocolatey comfort to the dessert table. Even if you've got more than a dozen mouths to please, this pie will get the job done.
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Birthday Cake Doughnuts
These crispy, cakey doughnuts were meant to be frosted. Make the doughnuts a day in advance of your celebration and store in an airtight container. When needed, just frost, decorate and serve — no cake cutting required!
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Lemon Rice Pudding
Ree cuts down on time, but not flavor with this fuss-free rice pudding that you’ll be making over, and over again.
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Loaded Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies
We use walnuts and raisins in these cookies, but feel free to try your own favorite mix of nuts and dried fruit, like pecans and cranberries or roasted peanuts and chopped apricots.
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Chocolate Bread Pudding
Alton recommends stale challah bread and bittersweet chocolate for this warm, rich dessert.
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Chocolate Rice Pudding
Six ingredients are all it takes to whip up Sandra Lee's easy dessert. Serve it either warm or cool.
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Double-Chocolate Bread Pudding with Bourbon Whipped Cream
The chocolate in this decadent bread pudding comes twofold: chocolate chips and chocolate syrup. And, as if that weren't special enough, Sunny Anderson uses a delicious combination of buttery croissants and cinnamon raisin bread to soak up the chocolatey custard.
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Mexican Hot Chocolate Layer Cake
Chipotle powder and cinnamon turn up the heat in this chocolate cake. It’s the perfect dessert for anyone who likes to spice things up.
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