Last updated on January 30th, 2025
If you are planning a Christmas dinner and looking to serve up some traditional Italian desserts then you are in the right place! I have been living in Italy since 2012 and celebrating Christmas every year with my Italian in-laws… I’ve had plenty of time to explore and sample typical Italian Christmas desserts!
Let’s take a look at which Italian desserts you may want to serve at your Christmas dinner. I’ll explain what each one is, where it’s from and whether or not I suggest buying or making it. Cakes, cookies, puddings, pies – no matter your craving, I’ve got an Italian dessert for you!
And if you aren’t planning on hosting an Italian Christmas dinner but rather, are traveling the Italian peninsula for the holidays, choose one of these desserts on a menu at any Italian restaurant on Natale in Italia!
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Pandoro
Origin: Verona
Make Or Buy: Buy because it’s extremely labor intensive!
The pandoro Christmas cake is a traditional sweet yeast bread flavored with vanilla known for its smooth consistency and distinctive star shape. Before serving, pandoro is dusted with confectioners’ sugar and sliced. It’s often accompanied by a luscious cream made with eggs, sugar, mascarpone cheese, and a splash of Cognac.
Learn More: Get the scoop on pandoro in How My Italian Family Cuts Pandoro – Step-by-Step Instructions + Video.
Pandoro Or Panettone: Curious to know the differences? Let me help in Pandoro Vs Panettone – An Italian Christmas Cake Showdown.
Panettone
Origin: Lombardy
Make Or Buy: Buy unless you are an experienced pastry maker. They take days to make from scratch.
Panettone, one of Italy’s most famous foods, is a soft, naturally leavened bread made from a dough of water, flour, butter, and egg yolks. Characterized by its large dome shape, panettone is enriched with candied fruits, orange peel, citron, and raisins. This sweet bread has evolved in recent years, with artisan variations including chocolate or pistachio glazes, versions without candied fruit or raisins, and even those filled with pastry cream.
In the lead-up to Christmas, both grocery stores and bakeries are brimming with these traditional Italian cakes (be sure to pick one up and bring it home as a souvenir or gift if you are traveling in Italy during the holidays).
Panettone Basics: Learn how to cut and serve panettone here.
Potiza
Origin: Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Make Or Buy: Buy unless you are an experienced pastry maker.
Potiza is a sweet, yeast bread also known as focaccia natalizia from Friuli-Venezia Giulia stuffed with a sweet, dense filling made from sugar, nuts, dried fruit and some kind of liquor (or digestivo). It’s shaped into a round, brushed with an egg wash and sprinkled with white sugar dots.
Lou Mécoulen
Origin: Aosta Valley
Make Or Buy: Make – great for beginner bread makers.
Lou mécoulen is a lighter brioche sweet bread (when compared to panettone) shaped into a round and dotted with raisins. It’s light yet slightly sweet, perfect for dessert with a mascarpone cream or for breakfast during the holidays. If you are new to baking sweet breads, this is a good place to start!
Torrone
Origin: Piedmont
Make Or Buy: Buy online or at an Italian specialty shop based on what types of nuts you like.
Torrone is Italy’s version of nougat studded with various seasonal nuts. Its texture can vary hard or crunchy, soft or chewy, catering to diverse preferences. Torrone is a quintessential Italian Christmas treat that you can find almost anywhere in Italy around the holidays including at grocery stores, small shops and at open air farmer’s markets.
Its name, derived from the Latin verb torrere meaning ‘toasted,’ refers to the roasting process of the various nuts used in this gluten-free dessert (hazelnuts, pistachios and/or almonds).
Torciglione Umbro
Origin: Umbria
Make Or Buy: Make with kids – it’s easy and fun.
Torciglione Umbro is the traditional Italian dessert you should be making if you have kids. It’s so easy and simple with just a short list of 5 ingredients and shaped like a snake! Gather almond flour, eggs, lemon zest and sugar (and a splash of rum if you want!) to create a fun snake shape and bake. Decorate with almonds and enjoy.
Parrozzo
Origin: Abruzzo
Make Or Buy: Make it
Parrozzo, sometimes called panrozzo is an almond Christmas cake from the Abruzzo region of Italy shaped into a dome and covered in a hard chocolate glaze.
Choosing Chocolate: If you are baking in Italy, be sure to read all about The Most Popular Italian Chocolate – (Our Favorite Brands & Products).
Panforte
Origin: Tuscany (Siena)
Make Or Buy: Either
Panforte is a traditional Tuscan Christmas cake with roots dating back to the year 1000, originally known as ‘Christmas bread’ or Pan Pepatus made from dried fruit, nuts and sugar. Today, panforte includes additions such as orange peel, citron, and other candied fruits although the recipe has remained largely unchanged.
Good To Know: Panforte lasts a very long time. You can buy it by a small sliver priced by weight to try it for the first time but if you decide to buy a whole cake, keep it tightly wrapped and it will last months!
Zelten
Origin: Trentino-Alto Adige
Make Or Buy: A great cake for beginners
Zelten is northern Italy’s version of a rustic Christmas cake made with rye and whole wheat flour, studded with candied fruits, orange zest and various spices or flavorings. Easy to make, I highly recommend this simple cake if you are new to baking Italian desserts. It’s also great for breakfast with a cup of coffee.
Cannoli
Origin: Sicily
Make Or Buy: Make them at home (but they are labor intensive) or buy them in Italy
Cannoli are enjoyed year-round in Italy but are particularly special to Sicilians at Christmas. This Italian dessert is made by filling a fried dough pipe with sweetened sheep’s milk ricotta, sometimes enhanced with candied fruit or chocolate chips. To maintain their crunchiness, cannoli are best eaten immediately after being filled (look for pastry shops in Sicily filling them to order for the best ones!).
Foodie Alert: You may want to explore more Foods Italy is Famous For – And Where To Try All of Them.
Certosino di Bologna
Origin: Bologna
Make Or Buy: Buy
Certosino di Bologna is a type of Christmas cake decorated with large pieces of candied fruit. It’s made with various spices, honey, almonds, pine nuts and a lot of good quality Italian chocolate. It’s very dense and rich, not loved by everyone in Italy but certainly by those from Bologna!
Pinoccate
Origin: Umbria
Make Or Buy: Either
Pinoccate are diamond or square shaped cookies made by boiling simple syrup until thick and mixing it with pine nuts. Half the mixture is colored with cocoa. The cookies are then wrapped or served together: one white diamond and one black diamond.
Bonèt
Origin: Piedmont
Make Or Buy: Make it at home but it does take some experience.
Bonèt is a type of chocolate creme caramel (Italian chocolate pudding) made with amaretti cookies cooked in a water bath until set. It is then flipped over and served cold. Today, it’s made in different shapes and either spooned out, sliced or served in individual ramekins. This is one of my family’s favorite Italian desserts to serve at Christmas dinner!
Spongata di Sarzana
Origin: Liguria / Emilia-Romagna
Make Or Buy: Either
Today, spongata di sarzana is typically found in Liguria but the story goes that it actually originated in Emilia-Romagna. It’s a type of Italian pie made with a short crust pastry filled with a mixture of nuts, spices, honey and candied fruit (as you are reading, you might notice this is a common filling for desserts and cookies in Italy during Christmas).
Pangiallo
Origin: Lazio
Make Or Buy: Make it if you are abroad. Buy it if you are in Rome.
Pangiallo is an ancient Roman dessert originally prepared for the winter solstice but also served at Christmas dinner. This dense bread is made with a wide array of dried fruit, candied fruit, nuts, honey and saffron, giving it a golden tint (ode to the sun!)
Struffoli
Origin: Campania
Make Or Buy: Make. They don’t hold up well and are hard to find abroad. If you are in Italy, buy them at bakeries!
Originating from Naples, struffoli are small balls of fried dough flavored with aniseed liquor, dipped in honey, and decorated with colorful sprinkles. You may see them called cicirata in Calabria or cicerchiata in Umbria, Abruzzo, and Le Marche.
Cartellate
Origin: Puglia
Make Or Buy: Buy if you are in Italy (they are labor intensive and tricky to master).
Cartellate are “roses” of deep fried thinly rolled pastry dough served at Christmas dinner in Southern Italy. They are labor intensive to make but a real treat should you get the chance to try them. Typically they are coated with a drizzle of grape or fig concentrate but nowadays you will also see them decorated and flavored with honey, almonds, colored sprinkles or chocolate.
Pandolce Genovese
Origin: Liguria
Make Or Buy: Make it at home. A great recipe for kids to make or for beginner bakers.
Pandolce genovese, also known as Genoa cake is a type of Italian fruit cake made from raisins, currants, dried cherries, almonds, and candied orange peel which are cooked in a sweet cake batter of flour, eggs, butter, and sugar. If you are looking to make some of these Italian desserts at home, this one is fairly easy to make and straight forward.
Italian Christmas Cookies
Typically, Italian cookies are not eaten for dessert in Italy. Instead, they are enjoyed for merenda or a snack or even for breakfast in Italy. On Christmas, however, these cookies are served for dessert after Christmas dinner in Italy.
Most of these traditional Italian Christmas cookies are now made year round but historically, they were only made for the holidays.
Below is a short list of the most popular Italian Christmas cookies to try in Italy or make at home for the holidays:
- Cavalucci
- Ricciarelli (a great dairy-free and gluten-free dessert option)
- Mostaccioli
- Cavallucci di Apiro
- Susamielli
- Calzoncelli
- Petrali
- Papassini
- Potiza
- Kipferl alla Vaniglia Altoatesini
Learn More: For an extended explanation of each of these cookies, read Traditional Italian Christmas Cookies.
Cioccolata Calda
Origin: N/A
Make Or Buy: Make it!
Hot chocolate or cioccolata calda is a winter staple in Italy and unlike what you might be used to back home. Hot chocolate usually isn’t served at a Christmas dinner in Italy but I had to include it as it might show up at some point during the day.
Cioccolata calda is made with melted dark chocolate (sometimes milk but unlikely) and milk making it extra thick and decadent. If you order it out, be sure to ask for panna montana or whipped cream!
Bicerin
Origin: Piedmont
Make Or Buy: Order it if you are in Italy on vacation during Christmas or try making it at home (practice before the big dinner!)
Bicerin is a warm, non-alcoholic drink combining chocolate, coffee, and cream originally from Turin. Served in tall glasses to showcase the layers of ingredients, this decadent beverage is perfect for accompanying other Italian desserts at Christmas dinner.
Italian Desserts You Won’t See Served At Christmas Dinner
Old traditions die hard in Italy and this is especially true when it comes to Christmas food traditions. Below is a short list of popular international holiday foods that you are unlikely to see served at Christmas dinner in Italy:
- Gingerbread cookies
- Candy canes
- Brownies
- Bread pudding
- Eggnog
- Yule Log
- Meringue
- Peppermint desserts
And of course, after any Italian dessert, you can bet there will be coffee served, caffè corretto or a digestif!
Baking for the Holidays? You may want to check out Italian Desserts to Serve at Thanksgiving Dinner.
Learn More about Italian Christmas:
Traditional Christmas Foods in Italy
Italian Christmas Day Meal – What We Eat for Lunch or Dinner
Traditional Italian Christmas Eve Dinner
Italian Christmas Cookies to Try
Italian Desserts to Serve at Christmas Dinner
Pandoro vs Panettone – An Italian Christmas Cake Showdown
How to Cut Pandoro and How to Cut Panettone
Foods to Eat in Italy in December
My Gift Guides (Perfect for the Holidays)
Italian Food Stocking Stuffers
Christmas Gifts for Chefs
The Christmas Market in Montepulciano
Sweet Treats Italian Kids Get From The Befana
