Walnuts are a fantastic ingredient for a variety of desserts. They have a mildly nutty flavor that can make all the difference to your sweet treats.
If you want to include walnuts in your baking, then it’s a good idea to toast the nuts before adding them to your dough. This will give your dessert a stronger nut flavor.
In this article, we list our 16 best walnut desserts that are quick and easy to make at home.
1. Walnut Cake
Walnut cake is one of the best way to use up your leftover walnuts. You can make this nutty cake recipe as a walnut loaf or as a traditional round cake.
The buttery flavor of the walnuts combines beautifully with the sweet vanilla frosting on top. It’s a soft and spongy cake that you can serve for special occasions or as a special dessert.
Plus, if you are lucky enough to have some cake left, then you can easily freeze the rest and enjoy it later.
Make sure to cut the walnut cake into pieces and then put them into sealed bags or containers.
2. Honey Walnut Squares
These tasty walnut bars are a great way to get your kids to eat more nuts. The buttery shortbread base goes perfectly well with the delicious topping of walnuts and honey.
These nutty squares make a great sweet dessert for weekend dinner or you can also serve them as finger dessert at your parties.
Inspired by traditional pecan bars, you can vary this recipe easily by adding any of your favorite nuts. Plus, it only takes a few minutes to whisk them together.
3. 15-Minute Chocolate Walnut Fudge
Traditional fudge is difficult to make. You need to watch the temperature, allow the mass to cool and then stir.
Luckily, this super fast chocolate fudge recipe with walnuts is much easier. You just need to use high-quality chocolate to get the best taste and flavors.
The type of chocolate also affects the texture of your fudge, so make sure to pick a good baking chocolate.
4. Ginger-Walnut Tube Cake
There is nothing better than a warm piece of chocolate cake on a cold winter afternoon. This tube cake brings together nutty flavors with spicy ginger.
The moist chocolate cake is great on its own or you can also drizzle some lemon glaze over it to add some extra sweetness.
The recipe also calls some freshly brewed coffee in this delicious cake. This makes it perfect as a breakfast treat or as a dessert with a cup of espresso.
5. Candied Walnuts
Turning walnuts into a dessert couldn’t be easier than this. All you need is some leftover walnuts and brown sugar.
These caramelized walnuts only take a few minutes to make and they are amazingly versatile.
Add them to any other sweet desserts or into your savory salad. This being said, you can also just enjoy them on their own as a snack.
Their small size makes these delicious sugared walnuts perfect as a party food.
6. Soft Walnut Meringue With Blackberries
Walnuts are not the typical ingredient of a meringue but you will be surprised how well they go together.
This shallow meringue has a soft texture that almost melts in your mouth. As you can make the tray as big as you like, you can easily feed a crowd with this dessert.
While meringue is usually incredibly sweet, the nutty flavor of the walnuts with the sharp blackberries soften the sweet taste.
If you don’t like blackberries, then you can also use blueberries, raspberries, strawberries or any other fruit that you prefer.
7. Walnut Blondies
These tasty walnut blondies filled with walnuts are buttery and rich.
You only need some basic ingredients, including sugar, butter, flour, sat, vanilla, baking powder and chopped walnuts.
While these walnut bars resemble pumpkin pie in texture, they are just the perfect companion for a cup of tea.
8. Authentic Hungarian Walnut Rolls
Sweet walnut rolls are a staple dessert in Hungary around Christmas. However, they are so delicious that you can eat them all year round.
Made with a traditional recipe, Hungarian rolls are filled with walnut and gooey sugar. They are rich on the inside and lightly flaky on the outside.
If you are familiar with other Hungarian sweet foods, then you will find that these walnut rolls use exactly the same cream cheese base as Hungarian apricot kolaches.
9. Date Walnut Dessert
Dates and walnuts are a great pair for a dessert. They have a similar taste, yet they are so different in texture.
This walnut and date recipe is a traditional Persian dessert known as Ranginak.
While the small parcels are filled with dates and walnuts, it uses a lot less sugar than some other desserts.
This means that you can only enjoy a couple of pieces before feeling full.
The advantage with this Persian date dessert recipe is that it uses only a small number of ingredients and you can whisk everything together in just a few minutes.
As a no-bake dessert, you don’t even need to put the oven on.
10. Walnuts Wrapped In Persimmons
If you want to try something unusual, then this Korean dessert known as Gotgamssan is a great option.
You only need two ingredients: walnuts and dried persimmons. The instructions are equally easy. You just need to squeeze the prepared walnuts into the soft fruit.
While persimmons are super tasty on their own, you can turn them into a snack or dessert when you combine them with walnuts.
The slice fruit and nut pieces go very well together with tea or coffee. You can even give them as a gift.
11. Apple Walnut Galette
The magic ingredient of a galette is the right type of puff pastry. It makes your filling of apples and walnuts stand out by giving the dessert a crunchy texture.
What’s so special about this fantastic walnut dessert is that it only takes 20 minutes to make.
It’s so versatile that you can whisk it together for special occasions or just as a weeknight treat.
Plus, you can make this galette any tray size you like. Use up some leftover apples and walnuts during the summer and bake a dessert that everyone can enjoy.
12. Walnut, Sherry And Honey Semifreddo
Semifreddo is a type of cold mousse that holds its shape. It usually also contains some amazing flavors, such as this honey and walnut dessert.
The twist in this recipe is the sherry which gives the nuts and sweet honey even more flavor.
This being said, you can also leave out the sherry and make a child-friendly dessert for all the family to share.
13. Cranberry And Walnut Pinwheels
These walnut and cranberry pinwheels are the perfect Christmas cookies. The sweet and rich walnut and fruit filling is so rich that you can enjoy them any time of the day.
You will only need some basic ingredients, including chopped walnuts, orange zest, honey, dried cranberries, eggs, butter and pie crust.
As you can make this walnut dessert recipe with store bought pie crust, it’s quick to make in just a few minutes.
14. Easy Turkish Baklava
Turkish baklava is one of the most famous Turkish dessert. It is becoming slowly more popular across Europe and the US.
Baklava is made of flaky, thin butter filo pastry sheets that are filled with nuts and other sweet treats. Then these little parcels of delight are covered with baklava syrup.
While this sounds very complicated, you can make them easily at home in your own kitchen.
You don’t have to stick to the recipe but fill your baklava with dried fruit, marzipan, pistachio paste or other sweet treats.
Baklava is a fantastic finger food for Christmas and summer garden parties.
15. Flourless Walnut Fig Cake
Flourless cakes are always a favorite because they taste great and you can enjoy them on a gluten-free diet.
This flourless walnut cake with figs uses ground walnuts as a flour substitute. This gives the cake a truly unique texture.
While you can get walnut meal in grocery stores, it’s so much nicer to grind your own fresh walnuts in a powerful blender or food processor.
16. Walnut Cookies
If you want to start with a simple walnut recipe for desserts, then this is a great choice.
These delicious, festive cookies are perfect for Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving and any other time of year when you want to offer a sweet treat.
The filling is made up of walnuts and Nutella which makes the cookies an instant favorite with kids.
Frequently Asked Questions
Walnuts are perfect for sweet and savory flavors. You can pair walnut with sesame cayenne, sea salt, coffee, caramel, vanilla and dark chocolate.
Yes, walnuts are perfect for baking cakes and cookies. These nuts have a mild flavor with a high oil content.
This means that you can toast them much faster than other types of nuts. You can also use raw walnuts in all your baked goods.
You can enhance the walnut flavor in your baking if you toast the walnuts before you add them to your dough.
Just place the walnuts flat on a baking tray and put them into the oven for 15 minutes. Make sure to check the nuts regularly so they don’t get burned.
Final Thoughts
Walnuts are so much more than just a nut. You can add them to savory and sweet foods for more flavor and texture.
They work great in desserts when you combine them with fruit, honey or other sweet ingredients.
Cooking is great for your mental, physical, and emotional health. What’s the worst that could happen? Find a recipe that you like the sound of and cook it along with me. You might even unlock a new passion!
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