Making good use of your freezer is more important than ever during the festive season. With plenty of freezable Christmas recipes on offer, we’ve picked our favourite sweet treats that can be baked ahead of time and frozen – so all you need to do when your guests arrive is defrost or assemble a stylish dessert for the table.
Try these freezable festive bakes, or head over to our ultimate Christmas baking collection for even more inspiration.
We’ve got plenty more ideas for make-ahead Christmas food in our make-ahead Christmas dessert ideas, make-ahead Christmas recipe collection and make-ahead Christmas starter recipes.
Read our freezer guide to Christmas for freezer advice then take a browse through our freezable Christmas recipes and freezable Christmas centrepieces.
1. Red velvet brownies
Enjoy these festively red, rich and fudgy red velvet brownies swirled with a tangy cheesecake filling. They’re perfect treat when you have guests over at Christmas. Plus, you can freeze them in their entirety for up to a month.
2. Mincemeat half-baked cookies
Indulge in these soft and squidgy Christmas cookies with moreish mincemeat flavours. A novel way to enjoy festive flavours, they’re the perfect bake for impressing loved ones. Make ahead and freeze, then simply pop in the oven when guests arrive.
3. Passion fruit, chocolate & coconut roulade
This modern twist on a classic Yule log is a great dessert to have in the freezer over Christmas. You can bake and assemble this passion fruit, chocolate & coconut roulade all ahead of time. To serve, simply bring out to stand at room temperature for 2 hours before serving.
4. Gingerbread cake with caramel biscuit icing
Although there are a few stages to making this fantastic gingerbread cake with caramel biscuit icing, you can make it more achievable by making the sponges in advance and popping them in the freezer. Closer to the big day, let the sponges thaw and focus on whipping up the delicious caramel biscuit icing that makes this cake so special. Assemble and decorate with as many pretty gingerbread biscuits as you like – perfect!
5. Sticky toffee Christmas pud
Most Christmas puddings will last well in or out of the freezer and this decadent version works particularly well as a showstopper on standby. Our blitz-&-bake sticky toffee Christmas pud combines the crowd-pleasing elements of a sticky toffee pudding with classic carrot cake, topped with a devilishly moreish walnut toffee sauce.
6. Christmas buns
Wake up on Christmas morning to the smell of freshly baked cinnamon buns with Paul Hollywood’s wholesome festive recipe. Bake these Christmas buns for the family and freeze them until needed, then defrost and warm through in the oven before generously drizzling with zesty lemon icing.
7. Snowman biscuits
Bake a batch of these snowman biscuits and freeze them, un-iced, until you need a fun winter’s day activity. When you need to entertain the kids, simply defrost the plain biscuits and get the little ones to help decorate them with simple fondant icing in different colours. Visit our Christmas for kids recipe collection for even more family projects to keep the kids entertained in the holidays.
8. From-the-freezer mince pies
It’s handy to have a few from-the-freezer mince pies over the festive season in case of unexpected guests – or in case your expected guests have large appetites! This is one of our quickest recipes for mince pies, using ready-made ingredients for simplicity and ease.
9. Christmas tree cakes
These ultra-festive Christmas tree cakes are sure to impress friends and family at a Christmas party or gathering. Undecorated, it will keep wrapped and frozen for up to three months. Once out of the freezer and ready to decorate, why not get little ones involved in the process? This clever recipe makes two ‘trees’ from just one sponge, so once it’s cooled, you can go head-to-head on the decorating!
10. Dubai chocolate dates
Transform trending Dubai chocolate flavours and textures, including crisp kadayif (shredded filo) pastry and pistachio-tahini cream, into a festive nibble with these chocolate-dipped dates. Simply freeze in a single layer on the tray until solid, then transfer to a freezerproof bag and keep for up to three months.
Feeling festive? Try these Christmas recipe collections:
Top Christmas baking recipes
Freezable Christmas recipes
A freezer guide to Christmas
Easy Christmas dessert recipes
What are your top tips for freezing cakes and puddings? Leave a comment below…
