25 Best Southern Dessert Recipes To Try!
Do you love desserts that wrap you in warmth and comfort?
Southern desserts have that special charm.
Think of the gooey delight of pecan pie, the sweet tang of peach cobbler, or the rich layers of chess pie.
These 25 best Southern desserts capture the essence of home-style baking at its finest.
Even though I didn’t grow up making these treats, I’ve come to adore them, especially after my first bite of a decadent Chocolate Cobbler.
Whether you’re a long-time fan of Southern sweets or just curious about these beloved classics, you’re in for a delicious journey.
Each of these recipes brings a taste of Southern hospitality right into your kitchen. Let’s dive into these soulful, mouthwatering desserts together and savor every bite!
25 Best Southern Dessert Recipes To Try!
1. Hummingbird Cake
Hummingbird cake is like carrot cake – only better!
It’s lightly spiced and full of banana, pineapple, and coconut. Then the whole thing gets covered with a tangy cream cheese frosting for good measure.
This cake is crazy tasty and super moist, not to mention irresistible.
2. Banana Pudding Recipe
3. Southern Sweet Potato Pie
Having grown up above the Mason-Dixon line, I didn’t have sweet potato pie every Sunday. I know, so sad!
It’s similar to pumpkin pie, but usually a little lighter, sweeter, and less spiced. So if you’re not such a big fan of pumpkin spice mix, this will be the pie for you.
Plus, sweet potatoes are always available and way easier to work with!
4. Patti LaBelle’s Peach Cobbler
Peach cobbler is a Georgian classic, and you really can’t go wrong with any recipe. If it’s your first time making it, Queen Patti has you covered.
You’ll use store-bought pie dough, but it’s a little different from your average cobbler.
For this recipe, you’ll essentially make a peach pie, bake it for 15 minutes, and then add a whole new layer on top.
Crazy, but delicious!
5. The Best Southern Pecan Pie
When it comes to pecan pie, there are a few ways to go. Do you add in bourbon? Bacon? Chocolate? How about all of the above?
Pecan pie is sweet, buttery, and wonderfully nutty. Just don’t expect to get by with low-fat ingredients. You’ll need lots of corn syrup and real butter for this!
6. Banana Foster
The first time you make this, it might take 15-20 minutes.
Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be whipping it up in minutes for everything from a pancake topping to a sweet treat with ice cream after dinner.
The key to getting the best flavor is to use dark brown sugar and dark rum. The flavors will mellow out with the sweet bananas, but you’ll get extra caramel notes.
7. Paula Deen’s Ooey Gooey Butter Cake
As the name would suggest, this recipe is loaded with butter. Would you expect anything less from Ms. Deen?
Full of butter and cream cheese, this cake is super moist and super soft. Don’t expect to make this and stack it – it’ll fall into one tasty mess.
8. Old-Fashioned Raisin Cake
This recipe is very much like a British fruit cake, using raisins, brown sugar, warm spices, and a simple buttery batter.
I would usually suggest you soak your raisins in tea (or rum) before baking.
However, his recipe actually has you boil them with the butter, sugar, and spices. It makes them lovely, plump, and bursting with flavor.
9. Louisiana Crunch Cake
If you’ve never made a bundt cake before, I highly recommend you start with this recipe.
It has both sour cream and buttermilk inside, so it’s extra decadent.
This cake gets the “crunch” from a delightful sugar and coconut topping that will caramelize as the whole thing bakes.
10. Southern Sweet Tea Lemon Cake
Sweet tea cake is probably the most southern of all these recipes, and I don’t think I’ve ever had it as good anywhere up north.
If you’re a sweet tea lover, this cake will knock your socks off! It’s in the cake and the glaze, making every bite nostalgic and tender.
11. Old Southern Chocolate Pecan Sheet Cake
I know that one of the first sheet cakes came out of Dallas, and they’ve been a southern staple ever since.
I love how easy they are to put together, and you won’t need to worry too much about decorations!
This cake is super chocolatey and tender, but it’s the glaze that stands out. It’s sweet, rich, and full of heavenly pecans!
12. Mississippi Mud Cake
For me, a good mud cake should be loaded with chocolate and have an almost brownie-like texture.
This recipe is all that and more, full of rich cocoa powder and lots of marshmallows.
Once the cake is baked and the marshmallows have melted, you’ll spread over a decadent chocolate frosting.
It won’t be a clean slice, but it won’t matter. It’ll be devoured in seconds!
13. Beignets
These New Orleans donuts are classic and perfect. I’ve never had a bad batch, and I’ve been there multiple times!
The best thing is you don’t really have any scraps with this recipe. Instead of wasting dough by cutting out circles, these get cut into squares. More donuts and more smiles!
14. Southern Buttermilk Chess Pie Recipe
The filling for this pie is a tangy custard made with lemon and buttermilk. It’s sweet, but not overly so.
It’s almost like a thick lemon tart, but with a more unique texture from the cornmeal in the mix. I like it with a big dollop of freshly whipped cream.
15. Chocolate-Mayonnaise Cake
Yes, you read that right. This cake is full of mayo, and it’ll blow your mind.
Mayo is basically eggs and oil, right? So doesn’t it make sense that it will make your cake crazy-moist?
I don’t know about you, but I don’t always have sour cream in the house, but I do always have mayo.
The two are almost interchangeable and will give you a delicious chocolate cake all in one bowl.
16. Louisiana Bread Pudding
Remember those bananas from above? This is the perfect recipe to make them for!
This bread pudding is a lot like any other recipe you may have seen, but it does insist on using French bread.
It’s thicker, crunchier, and will hold its shape far better when soaked in the custard and baked.
That being said, feel free to use whatever bread you have leftover in the house. Just be sure it’s nice and stale.
Check Recipe Here!
17. Strawberry Cobbler Recipe
The trick to a great cobbler is the fruit filling. You want something juicy, sweet, and colorful!
As good as an apple cobbler is, you can’t deny how amazing these strawberries look bubbling up at the edges.
I love how simple this recipe is and that you just pile it all in and bake. The cobbler mix will bake around the fruit, leaving pops of color all over the top.
Check Recipe Here!
18. Punch Bowl Cake Recipe
This southern trifle is made using beautiful layers of cake, pudding/custard, and fruit.
To make this Instagram-worthy, you’ll need to make clean layers that stand out.
I like to use whipped cream to help add a nice white break in between each different flavor.
Of course, you can use the custard, too, if you have enough!
Check Recipe Here!
19. Kentucky Transparent Pie
A cross between chess pie and sugar pie, this recipe calls for brown and white sugar. This will ensure it’s wonderfully sweet with a nice, caramel flavor.
I just love the sweet and sticky filling, and if you happen to add a little bourbon to the mix, all the better!
Check Recipe Here!
20. Southern Butter Pecan Pound Cake
Pound cakes should be buttery, moist, and deliciously rich. And this butter pecan pound cake is just that – and more!
Between the toasted pecans in the batter and the maple-spiked glaze, it’s dreamy, to say the least.
Check Recipe Here!
21. Tennessee Mountain Stack Cake
I can’t lie; there are a few rules that come along with making this.
For example, you must start with dried apples, and it needs to sit in the fridge for at least 24 hours.
If you feel like you’re up for the challenge, you won’t be sorry! This cake is such a special treat and not something you see every day.
Check Recipe Here!
22. Key Lime Pie
When it comes to Key lime pie, I do get a little obsessed. Lime is one of my favorite flavors (sorry, lemons), and I could eat a whole creamy, zesty pie to myself.
So, what makes this the best? It starts with a brown sugar and graham cracker crust. But it’s the filling that will have you reaching for seconds.
Be sure to get real Key limes or Key lime juice for the most authentic flavor, and don’t forget the zest!
Check Recipe Here!
23. Coconut Layer Cake
Being totally white, this baby really stands out.
The cake itself is full of sweetened cream of coconut and buttermilk for added moisture.
Then it’s covered in a tangy cream cheese frosting and copious amounts of sweetened shredded coconut over the top.
I love the look of this all-white cake, but I can’t help but think a pineapple or mango filing would take it to the next level.
Check Recipe Here!
24. Chocolate Cobbler
Chocolate cobbler? What?!
This self-saucing southern dessert is the epitome of death by chocolate! It’s fudgy, gooey, rich, and totally irresistible.
I would serve this right out of the pan, letting people dig in with spoons. Top with some chocolate shavings for a bit of extra creaminess.
Check Recipe Here!
25. Applesauce Cake
I’m sure you’ve used applesauce in a cake before, but it’s usually as a substitute, right?
This takes it a bit further, making the cake super moist and tasty in one go. The fluffy cake is full of dried fruit and chopped nuts and is bursting with warm fall spices.
This would be perfect for breakfast or as a mid-morning snack with a cup of coffee.
Check Recipe Here!
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