Love citrus desserts? Nothing brings more bright, juicy flavors and vibrant colors to sweet desserts than oranges. It’s such a versatile fruit, and its floral notes pair so well with so many other flavors that the possibility of incorporating it into beautiful desserts is endless.
From the zest to its juice to sometimes the whole orange for presentation, we have some incredible orange desserts that use this popular fruit in the most delicious ways.
And because oranges are available at the grocery store all year round, you can make them anytime and for any occasion.
What’s more, there are hundreds of orange variations to explore, so remember to check out our guide to the top 10 varieties of oranges you should try.
Now, let’s discover some irresistible orange desserts everyone can make.
1. Orange Glazed Yogurt Muffins
These deliciously crumbed citrusy yogurt muffins are made with good-for-you ingredients. And although delicious on its own, feel free to top them with a glaze as the recipe suggests. It makes these muffins taste amazing!
2. Orange Cranberry Greek Yogurt Muffins
Fresh squeezed orange juice and fresh cranberries come together in this easy bake, making these muffins a lovely coffee or tea companion and healthy enough to enjoy for breakfast.
3. Orange & Dark Chocolate Marble Loaf
This beautiful marble loaf cake pairs orange and chocolate, one of my favorite flavor combinations. It’s an incredibly easy bake using orange zest and fresh juice to infuse sweet and tangy flavors with dark chocolate and a touch of vanilla.
4. Bright Citrusy Italian Orange Cake
Whether you make this classy orange cake for a special occasion or a laidback brunch, this dessert will brighten everyone’s day. It’s such an easy bake, too, yet it looks like you bought it from a fancy bakery. The slices of candied oranges will surely impress your guests, and every bite is deliciously moist and wonderfully citrusy.
5. Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes
Oh, you’re going to love these crowd-pleasing cupcakes. Cake flour and simple ingredients make moist sour cream baked goods infused with fresh, zesty flavors and topped with orange buttercream. Each bite is light, refreshing, and perfect for summer or winter.
6. Chocolate Orange Tartlets
Are you looking for the perfect dessert for your next tea party or gathering? Then try these fancy-looking tartlets. Orange curd fills up homemade tartlet shells, while luscious dark chocolate ganache creates the perfect topping. You can also make the tartlet shells and orange curd in advance to make your party planning so much easier.
7. Blood Orange Posset
Juicy blood oranges shine in this amazing orange dessert, and everything comes together in as little as 25 minutes. A posset is a sweetened and thickened cream over a gentle bubble infused with the citrusy flavors of blood oranges. It’s then set overnight in the fridge to create a decadent creaminess served in pretty individual glasses. It’s the perfect luxurious make-ahead dessert.
8. Orange Bars
Orange bars are a lovely twist to the classic lemon bars. Orange juice and zest flavor the filling of this dessert and bake perfectly in a rich, buttery crust. It’s a super easy bake with beautiful flavors, and any leftovers are stored easily in the fridge or the freezer.
9. White Chocolate Orange Creamsicle Truffles
When life gives you oranges, make orange truffles. This no-bake treat is for all the orange lovers who don’t mind having it wrapped up in white chocolate. These cute-looking orange desserts are eaten cold straight out of the fridge or freezer and have that wonderful popsicle look. These look amazing on a dessert tray.
10. Orange Charlotte Cake
This no-bake cake is definitely a beautiful centerpiece to impress your guests on special occasions. It’s a modern take on the classic European Charlotte cake, which is made with ladyfingers lining a cake mold, a custard or mousse filling, and fruit. This upside-down cake is set in the fridge and comes with a lovely orange mousse and a beautiful design of arranged orange slices—perfect for those who want to give the oven a rest and love an easy dessert.
11. Dark Chocolate Orange Shortbread Bars
Here’s a wonderful combination of sweet, citrusy, and dark bitter chocolate flavors. A buttery shortbread is filled with a lovely orange marmalade and then topped with a crunchy dark chocolate topping. It’s a unique treat you can easily customize into a vegan orange dessert.
12. White Chocolate Cranberry Orange Cookies
This list is not complete without a cookie recipe. And who can resist the wonderful bursting flavors of orange, cranberry, and drizzles of white chocolate? They’re meant to be enjoyed straight from the oven, all warm and gooey.
13. Candied Orange Slices
Sugar-coated candied dried oranges are the perfect holiday gift, or use them to decorate the amazing desserts you plan to bake this season. They also taste great when dipped into chocolate. It’s an easy dessert, but you have to factor in some time to let the candied orange slices dry. So, it’s definitely a make-ahead treat but so worth making.
14. Orange Cream Scones
Can you believe it only takes 40 minutes to make tender orange scones?
Fresh, citrusy orange flavors are packed in these flaky bakes and topped with a sweet homemade orange glaze. Who can say no to that?
15. Blood Orange Tart
This showstopper dessert gets extra credits because it also comes with a gluten-free option. It’s another blood orange delight transformed in a rich, buttery curd baked in a tender almond flour tart crust. It’s decorated with crème fraiche and orange wedges for a stunning look.
16. Orange Brownies
These moist desserts come in beautiful orange flavors and are every bit chewy and fudgy. It also has a glaze infused with fresh orange juice and zest and is a lovely reimagination of fudgy chocolate brownies.
17. Orange Mascarpone Cheesecake
This stunning creamy orange dessert features a crunchy hazelnut graham cracker crust, an orange cheesecake filling, silky chocolate ganache, and candied oranges for garnish. Some chilling time is involved, so make it ahead for any planned occasions or upcoming holidays.
18. Melt In Your Mouth Italian Iced Orange Cookies
Soft and orangy, these Italian cookies are a fun, bite-sized dessert and look irresistible. They are coated with a luscious, zesty icing made from melted butter and cream cheese. Garnish them with a bit of extra orange zest for an adorned look.
19. Orange Sorbet
A three-ingredient orange dessert has never looked this sophisticated. Fruit juice, water, and sugar make a perfect sorbet with an ice cream maker. Don’t fret if you don’t have one because you can still turn them into beautiful granitas without any special equipment, just a freezer.
20. Mandarin Orange Macarons
If this is your first time making macarons, don’t feel intimidated because this recipe comes with all the tips and tricks to ensure you get these on your dessert table as pretty as they look in the pictures.
They are beautifully filled with piped buttercream, complementing those citrusy flavors. If you feel inspired, gift them to those who can use some sunshine in their life.
21. Easy Mandarin Orange Dessert
You need another orange dessert in your recipe repertoire that comes together with three simple ingredients and looks stunning. Mandarin oranges in light syrup, vanilla-flavored instant pudding, and whipped topping turn into a delightful, sweet bite that’s easy to customize. All you need is some pretty glasses for serving.
22. Mandarin Orange Cream Puffs
If you are familiar with cream puffs, you know that most of the flavor in these buttery pastries comes from the filling. It’s hard to resist a bright floral taste that deliciously balances sweet and tangy notes, but that’s exactly what these orange-curd-filled cream puffs promise. Topped with a vanilla creme mousseline, these tiny treats are the cutest bites to serve.
23. Homemade Orange Curd
A good homemade orange curd quickly turns into refreshing yogurt parfaits or show-toping mini trifles when you crave something sweet. But since it freezes well for up to 2 months, why not make more in case you need to layer cakes, fill up tarts, or top your cheesecake, pancakes, waffles, or scones with a touch of refreshing sweet and tangy delight.
24. Chocolate And Orange Mousse Domes
The classic orange and dark chocolate flavors come together once more in pretty chocolate mousse domes with a chocolate shortcrust base. An easy-to-make chocolate mirror glaze makes them extra fancy and a satisfying bite.
25. Orange Cream Eclairs
I love eclairs, but I love them even more when they are not too difficult to make and don’t require any special kitchen tools. As a bonus, you can make the dough before baking and freeze it to prep ahead. They’re like delicious orange creamsicles in a pasty form and impressive to serve.
Here you have it, a wonderful list of beautiful orange desserts from super easy to recipes that require a little more attention. But each one will satisfy you and your guests with vibrant, sweet, and tangy flavors.
Psst….love more citrusy desserts, then check out my 27 Lovely Lemon Dessert Recipes.
25 Irresistible Orange Dessert Recipes Bursting With Citrus Charm
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1/2 cup milk *I used 1%
- 1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice *1 large orange should produce enough
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1.5 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 Tbsp orange zest *zest of 1 large orange
- 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 37 g about 1/4 cup lily’s dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and spray a regular 9×5 loaf pan with some cooking spray
- In a large bowl whisk the eggs and mix in the brown sugar. Add in the apple sauce, milk, orange juice and vanilla and mix well.
- Stir in the flour, baking powder and orange zest and mix well.
- Divide the batter into 2, in one bowl add the cocoa powder and stir well and in the other bowl fold in the chocolate chips.
- Pour half of the chococlate chip batter into the loaf pan, then top with 2/3 of the cocoa powder batter, using a knife swirl the two batters together, top with remaining chocolate chip batter and then the remaining cocoa powder batter and swirl again.
- Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, let cool then cut into 10 equal servings
- The loaf is best stored in the fridge after day 1 and it will freeze well.
Notes
Smart Points- green- 4 using WW recipe builder
Points Plus- 3 using PP calculator
Nutritional info per serving…. Calories 115…Fat 2.7g….Sat fat 1.1g…Carbs 18.6g…Fiber 1g…Sugar 3.8g…Protein 4g using My Fitness Pal *Includes all ingredients even any zero point foods