4 Easy recipes for a homemade wedding dessert bar

Instead of giving your guests only one kind of cake on your wedding day, why not feature a glamorous dessert bar, instead, stocked up with your favorite goodies?

Who said you had to serve just cake on your big day? Why not serve cupcakes, cookies and doughnuts, too? Not only are these dessert bars super trendy on the wedding scene this year, but they are easy and budget-friendly. Skip the catering cost, though, and make your own desserts with these easy, delicious recipes.

Yields 6 doughnuts

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• Dash of salt
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

For the powdered topping: 

• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (about 2 tablespoons)
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• Cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray a doughnut pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy with an electric mixer. Add egg and mix to combine.
3. In another bowl, whisk the flours, baking soda and a dash of salt together. Add milk and vanilla to the flour and stir to combine. Add the butter mixture to the dry mixture and stir.
4. Fill each doughnut cavity about 2/3 full with batter. For a more “professional” looking doughnut, pour the batter into a piping bag or squeeze bottle and use to fill the doughnut pans.
5. Bake the doughnuts for about 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown.
6. Mix the cocoa powder, powdered sugar and cinnamon together. Dip the doughnuts into the powdered sugar while warm and place on the wire rack.

Serves 6

Ingredients: 

• 2 regular cake doughnuts or pound cake
• 1 cup raspberries
• Whipped cream (in a can)

Directions:

1. Using the shooter glass as a template cut out small pieces of the doughnut or pound cake and slightly crumble into the bottom of the shooter glass. Top with whipped cream and raspberries. Add another layer of cake crumbles and whipped cream and serve.

Recipe adapted from Land O’ Lakes

Yields about 20 cookies

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1-1/3 cup pink and blue sprinkles (or your wedding color sprinkles)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Beat the butter and sugars together until creamy. Add vanilla and flour and mix with a spoon to combine.
3. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and place on a greased cookie sheet about an inch apart. Bake for about 12 minutes or until golden brown. Place the cookies on a wire cooling rack to let cool for about 1-2 minutes.
4. Immediately dip the shortbread cookies into the pink sprinkles on the top of the cookie. Sprinkle with blue sprinkles and set aside. (You only want the top of the cookies to have sprinkles.)

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

Serves 12

Ingredients:

For the bars: 

• 1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 2-1/2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
• Dash of sea salt
• 6 whole eggs
• 4 egg whites
• 2-1/4 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup lemon juice
• White chocolate shavings or lemon zest for garnish

For the glaze: 

• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions:

1. Line a 9 x 13-inch glass baking dish with nonstick spray. Mix the crackers, the butter and the sugar. Press the crust into the baking dish. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and bake for about 15 minutes.
2. To make the filling, mix the whole eggs, 1-3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, lemon juice and 1-1/2 tablespoons lemon zest. Pour over the crust and bake until filling is set, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool.
3. For the meringue, whisk the egg whites and 1/2 cup white sugar together until a stiff peak forms. Using a flat spatula spread the meringue over the filling. Bake for about 8 minutes (still at 350 degrees F).
4. Let cool completely. mix the glaze by whisking the sugar and lemon juice together. Spread the glaze over the merignue.
5. Freeze the bars for at least an hour. Then cut into bite size pieces and enjoy!

More wedding recipes

Royal wedding fruitcake
Wedding themed sugar cookies recipe
Wedding cake alternatives