20 Traditional Easter Desserts for Your Post-Church Lunch

Macaroon nests are as darling as they are delicious. These great cookies can be made the day before your Easter lunch. Let them cool completely before storing in a plastic or glass storage container. Place parchment paper between layers to keep candies from sticking to the cookies above. 

Just as Easter hops up on the calendar, spring's best strawberries start popping up in farmers' markets and grocery stores. Take advantage of those juicy, sweet berries by making strawberry pie for Easter lunch. Make the pie a day early, and keep it cool. Just before serving, top with fresh whipped cream.

Related: 12 Beautiful Cakes to Make with Fresh Strawberries

These portable pre-portioned desserts can be made up to three days before Easter lunch. They travel well, too, in case your Easter lunch is at someone else's house this year. For a whimsical presentation, tie ribbon in Easter egg colors around each jar, or tape personalized name tags on each jar and use them as name cards at each place setting. 

Cupcakes are a wonderful Easter dessert, and these cheery lemon cupcakes are ideal for the celebratory holiday. To keep the cakes from drying out and the frosting firm before lunchtime, store them in air-tight containers in the refrigerator.

Related: Pucker Up for Our Top 12 Sweet/Tart Lemon Desserts

It's called the "Best Ever" for good reason: "This carrot cake is the absolute best that I have ever made," write Allrecipes community member DESSERTMAKER2. "I had many compliments on this." This light and fluffy carrot cake needs to cool completely before you frost it, so it's smart to make this in advance. Just store it in a cake carrier to prevent air making the frosting hard or the cake dry.

Related: How to Make the Best Carrot Cakes Ever

Pound cakes are naturally dense and moist, which makes them great make-ahead desserts for Easter. Leave the pound cake wrapped tightly in plastic wrap until just before lunch. Then, slice the cake and arrange on a platter with fresh fruit. Sprinkle the whole arrangement with powdered sugar before setting it on the buffet.

Related: How to Make Delicious Pound Cakes and Butter Cakes

No time to bake a pound cake from scratch? Pre-made pound cake does the job here. If you can spare 30 minutes for prep time, you can whip up this simple dessert before you head off to your Easter service. It needs to sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Related: Browse our collection of trifle recipes.

Homemade banana pudding and a fluffy meringue topping take a classic dessert to the next level. You can refrigerate this pie for up to two days. Just insert wooden toothpicks into the topping halfway between the edge of the pie and its center. Loosely cover the toothpicks with clear plastic wrap.

Related: Find the best banana pudding recipes here.

In-season rhubarb adds a subtle tartness to sweet coffee cake. You can bake this cake up to a few days before Easter. Once it cools, wrap the uncut cake with clear plastic wrap so that it's tight enough to cover the entire cake. Store it on the counter till you're ready to serve it on Sunday. 

Related: 12 Rhubarb Recipes That Aren't Pie

Saturate this top-rated cake with cream of coconut and condensed milk before frosting it. The the cake will absorb the liquid overnight, just in time for Easter lunch. 

Related: Find more popular coconut cake recipes here.

A homemade, chocolate cookie crust takes this classic Easter dessert over the top. The pie needs to freeze for at least two hours in order to set, so you can easily make it the night before your Easter lunch and freeze it overnight. 

These bright and zesty cookies will add beautiful pastel color to the dessert spread. Of course, the best part about them is they take just four ingredients to make: lemon cake mix, rice cereal, butter, and an egg. 

Pistachio's naturally green hue fits right inline with any Easter celebration. For a real showpiece, coat the cream cheese frosting with crushed pistachios. To store frosted cake, chill it in the fridge uncovered for about 15 minutes to allow the frosting time to harden, then cover with plastic wrap. Allow it to sit out at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving (or the duration of your service). 

Pound cake is as traditional a dessert as they come, but add citrus to it and you're sure to attract quite the crowd at the potluck. Reviewer Lisa Pozderec says, "Tons of compliments!! I will continue to make this cake for every special occasion." Pound cake can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in an airtight container for several days before serving. Add the glaze shortly before serving. 

This sheet pan tart was made for serving a crowd and should be stored in the fridge until ready to serve. A whole wheat and almond crust is topped with a lightly-sweetened basil custard and fresh apricots. 

These single-serve tarts are sure to get all the "ooh's" and "aah's," especially if you sprinkle each one with fresh berries and powdered sugar, as recipe creator and Allrecipes Allstar Bibi suggests. 

Here's how recipe creator Laura describes this stunning dessert: "White cake filled with raspberry pastry cream, iced with white chocolate buttercream, and garnished with white chocolate shavings on the sides and fresh raspberries on the top."

These holiday-appropriate cookies feature fresh carrots, crunchy pistachios, and crystalized ginger for a bit of a kick. 

Take standard lemon bars up a notch with the addition of fresh raspberries and a crumb topping. "They taste great at room temp, but are even better cold!" says recipe creator and Allrecipes Allstar Kim. "Store in the refrigerator."

This old-fashioned banana-pineapple spice cake is always a crowd pleaser, especially when paired with a rich, cream cheese frosting.