The Easiest Desserts You’ll Make This Season

Cool Whip is your secret weapon this holiday season for stress free treats the whole family will enjoy!

The holiday season brings a lot of things — twinkle lights, gathering with family, nostalgia wrapped in ribbon and garland, and the type of weather that makes you want something warm in your hands and something sweet on your plate. It also brings a long list of expectations: cookies for school events, desserts for work potlucks, something festive for church gatherings, and a treat for that neighbor who always shows up with a tin full of baked goods like she lives inside a Hallmark movie. (And good for her — truly. But the rest of us are tired.)

Every year, I promise myself I’ll slow down, enjoy the moments, and keep it simple. But somehow the season multiplies itself. One party becomes three, one dessert becomes five, and suddenly the kitchen looks like a flour bomb went off and the dishwasher is running its fourth cycle before noon.

So this year, I’m choosing ease. I’m choosing sanity. I’m choosing Cool Whip — because in the Midwest, Cool Whip is not an ingredient, it’s a personality trait.

Today I’m sharing three of the easiest desserts you’ll make this season — two classic, one fresh twist — all using Cool Whip as the hero. Whether you’re trying to cut sugar, cut costs, or just cut your prep time in half, these recipes will help you say yes to dessert without saying no to your peace of mind.

Why Cool Whip Is a Midwest Holiday Staple

Where I grew up, Cool Whip has always been part of the holiday language. It shows up with the same reliability as casseroles and snow flurries. Someone always brings a pie with a Cool Whip top, someone brings a fluff salad, and someone else (usually an aunt in a sparkly sweater) has a Tupperware container that she claims is “just a little something she whipped up.”

Cool Whip is:

• Affordable
• Easy to keep on hand
• Kid-and-grandparent approved
• Beginner friendly
• And—let’s be honest—always tasty

And while I love balancing classic recipes with healthier pressure cooker soups or DASH-friendly dinners, there is something so comforting about a dessert that feels like childhood and doesn’t require measuring every dry ingredient in your pantry.

Dessert #1 — Soft & Festive Cool Whip Crinkle Cookies

If the holiday season had a theme song, these cookies would be the chorus. They are:

• Only three ingredients
• Soft and chewy
• Perfectly crackled and powdered
• And so festive it looks like you put effort into them (without actually doing that)

Ingredients

• 1 box white cake mix
• 1 tub Cool Whip (8 oz), thawed
• 1 large egg
• Food coloring (red & green)
• Powdered sugar for rolling

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F, mix the cake mix, Cool Whip, and egg until sticky dough forms. Tint with holiday colors, roll in powdered sugar, bake for 10–12 minutes, cool on the pan.

These cookies are stress-free holiday baking at its best. No mixer needed, no butter softening, no crying in the kitchen because the dough turned into cement. Kids can help. Teenagers can make these themselves. And if you need something last-minute for a party — these start to finish in under 20 minutes.

Dessert #2 — Ice Cream Sandwich Tiramisu (The No-Bake Crowd Pleaser)

This dessert is one of those Midwest miracles: it tastes like something elegant, looks layered and impressive, and yet requires the absolute bare minimum of effort.

Ingredients

• 1 box ice cream sandwiches (usually 12)
• 1 tub Cool Whip
• Chocolate or caramel drizzle
• Crushed peppermint, Oreos, or holiday sprinkles
• Optional: instant coffee or cocoa powder for a “tiramisu twist”

Instructions

Line an 8×8 or 9×13 pan with parchment. Lay ice cream sandwiches in a brick pattern to form the bottom layer. Spread Cool Whip across the top. Sprinkle with crushed candy or drizzle sauce. Repeat layers if your pan allows. Freeze two hours before slicing.

Holiday Party Peppermint Version

Swap the chocolate for crushed peppermint candy and a few drops of peppermint extract folded into the Cool Whip. It instantly becomes a Christmas dessert without turning your kitchen into a baking competition stage.

The “Coffee House Tiramisu” Take

Dust the Cool Whip with cocoa powder, add a small drizzle of espresso or chilled coffee over the sandwich layer, top with shaved chocolate. People will think you bought it — or went through the trouble of ladyfingers and mascarpone. We’ll keep this secret between us.

Low-Sugar Option

Use:

• Sugar-free ice cream sandwiches
• Sugar-free Cool Whip
• Cocoa powder instead of chocolate drizzle

Still good. Still “dessert.” Still counted as participation in the potluck rules of engagement.

And it slices like a dream — which gives you plating credibility with zero effort.

Dessert #3 — Frozen Peppermint Cool Whip Squares (Light, Creamy & Festive)

This one is light, refreshing, and perfect when the table is already full of rich desserts and people want “just a bite of something minty.”

Ingredients

• 1 tub Cool Whip
• 1/2 cup crushed peppermint candy or candy canes
• 1 package soft chocolate cookies or graham crackers
• Optional: 1/2 package cream cheese (for a firmer square)

Instructions

Mix Cool Whip with crushed peppermint (and cream cheese if desired). Layer cookies in your dish, add Cool Whip mixture, freeze, slice.

It’s nostalgic, it’s pretty on a plate, and it tastes like the holidays without taking control of your entire afternoon.

Saving Stress in the Kitchen This Season

Holiday cooking is emotional. It’s wrapped in tradition, wrapped in memory, wrapped in the desire to make things special and memorable. But doing that shouldn’t mean sacrificing your sanity — or your entire weekend.

Here are a few thoughts I’ve learned to embrace:

• Easy does not mean lazy
• Shortcuts are tools, not confessions
• Some recipes are meant to feed the heart, not impress the internet
• You’re allowed to choose convenience when the calendar is full

Cool Whip is shelf-stable in the freezer, flexible in recipes, and forgiving — which is more than I can say about half the things on my December to-do list.

And yes — I love whole foods, healthy swaps, and making intentional choices. But I also believe that food is connection, and desserts often open doors that conversations can’t.

If using Cool Whip means:

• You show up to the gathering
• You don’t stress for three hours
• You sit with your family instead of hovering over a mixer
• You get to enjoy your own party for once

Then yes — it’s the right ingredient.

Final Thoughts: Give Yourself Permission

If there’s one theme this season, let it be this:

You’re allowed to make things easier.

The people who love you aren’t keeping score on how many ingredients are in the dessert. They care that you’re there — laughing, breathing, sharing, being part of it.

So try the Cool Whip Crinkle Cookies.

Layer that Ice Cream Sandwich Tiramisu.

Freeze those peppermint squares.

Choose ease.

Choose joy.

Choose connection.

From my Midwest kitchen to yours — here’s to the easiest, sweetest, stress-less holiday season yet. 🎄✨