Oh hello SO: I wonder if you have any good ideas for fun group desserts for a family-reunion-type setting. Here are the ideas our group has done so far:
• Sundae bar: ice creams, toppings
• Cookie bar: many different kinds of cookies
• Candy bar: many different kinds of candy
• S’mores
The candy bar was THE BEST/FUNNEST when we had a ton of little kids who went WILD over all the options. Now that everyone is older, the idea seems to have lost its shine. Sundae bar feels infinitely appealing, and we always do it. S’mores is another always-do. Cookie bar (Milanos! Oreos! wafer cookies! maple-leaf cookies! Keebler fudge-stripes! fudge-dipped Nutter Butters!) was fun once and will probably be fun again, but was not quite as fun as hoped.
In general it seems we favor highly-customizable displays, where everyone can take exactly what they want from a wide selection. But that is not a necessary preference to comply with, as we collect ideas.
It helps if the idea is make/buy-ahead-able and transportable, and/or doesn’t take up too much fridge/freezer space. We are in a rental house and we don’t usually know the fridge/freezer space ahead of time; and I don’t think any of us want to spend much of our precious vacation time making food.
We are talking SMALLISH reunion in this case—like 12-16 people. But feel free to suggest for smaller or larger groups: these comment sections are for ALL of us.
If you are just looking for something that works as well as ice cream sundaes, but is not ice cream sundaes, what about pudding? I think pudding gets forgotten about, but it is delicious. And probably better for adding fruit to than ice cream is. And those that are so inclined can make pretty parfait looking things, which is harder to do with ice cream.
We like doing a bake-off. Get 4 brownie mixes and some mix ins and baking tins. On teams, the contestants add fruit, jam, marshmallows, chocolate or other candy, nuts, sprinkles, etc. whatever sounds fun. Then everyone is a judge, and ranks the combos, but also, everyone wins because it’s delicious!
This has been great for keeping kids occupied too.
You could do bar cookies (everyone bring their own. They are usually freeze able so you can make them ahead and bring them with you). But I’d probably just swing back on the hits and just change it up. Instead of sundaes do DIY ice cream sandwiches. Instead of cookies do mini pastries. OR look into services at your destination and everyone chip in a have a catered dessert table!
Oh, DIY ice cream sandwiches! Brilliant. That’s basically cookie bar and ice cream bar simultaneously.
Banana boats are a favorite from my Girl Scout days! We cooked over the fire, but could easily do on a grill or in an oven. Split a banana long ways and top with all your favorite sundae toppings (chocolate chips, marshmallows, caramel, etc.) and roast/bake until warm and melty! Could top with whipped cream or other cold toppings after.
Ooo. I like pudding idea.
I was going to say buy 3 dozen plain/glazed doughnuts and let people put toppings on them.
Or a sweet + salty where half the group brings sweet (chocolate, marshmellow, etc) and half brings salty items (pretzels, pringles, popcorn, nuts) and then you can mix and match.
Hm. Crepes with different fillings.
Various pies?
You may already be doing this, but we love a s’mores bar with variations on the classic ingredients. The biggest hits are always roasted peeps (the outside caramelizes) and peanut butter cups instead of chocolate, but they also make all sorts of crazy marshmallows these days that have fun shapes and change color. It’s really fun with extremely minimal preparation.
Could you do a chocolate fondue with different things to dip? I think you can keep the chocolate sauce warm in a slow cooker/crockpot. I saw one idea with melted Toblerone which would be fantastic!
That was my thought! Chocolate fondue bc the dipping options are so varied! Cookies, marshmallows, FRUIT – a little bit of something for anyone!
Icecream sandwich bar combines cookie bar and icecream sundae bar for something new – possibly even includes some candy bar elements depending what you choose to include. And anyone who is not keen on icecream sandwiches can just do the icecream or cookies or candy.
I looked up the cost of a chocolate fountain just out of curiosity, and it turns out you can get one on Amazon for like $35. So maybe that could be a worthwhile investment.
Ooooh or what about a hot chocolate bar? Make a big batch of hot chocolate and put out a variety of toppings: whipped cream, marshmallows, flavored syrups, etc. Well, maybe not in summer. You could do something similar with milkshakes, though!
We bought one of those basic chocolate fountains when my daughter declared she wanted a “chocolate party” for her third birthday. It was easy and all of us had a great time dipping a wide assortment of things. BUT it was so messy. Chocolate was absolutely everywhere. And it really wasn’t just because we had little kids. It kinda splashes? And also everyone spills chocolate pulling their stuff out of the flow. So, factor in willingness to do clean up and definitely buy a disposable tablecloth.
Similar idea to the chocolate fountain, but without the need to purchase a contraption: get a bunch of different dessert dips (caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, Nutella, marshmallow fluff) and an assortment of things to dip (fruit, cookies, graham crackers, pretzels, marshmallows) and let everyone go to town.
Our go-to is meringue nests, generally with fruit and yogurt but you could do cream, custard, ice cream, similar toppings to the sundaes
This is probably boring, but sometimes boring is fun when you’ve haven’t done it in a while: pies. Offer a fruit pie, chocolate pie, citrus (like lemon meringue or key lime) pie, and maybe another fruit pie (one with crumbles, one with pastry top), ice cream, whipped cream, and maybe ice cream toppings for those who don’t like pie (hot fudge, caramel, crushed oreos, etc). Will you give us a dessert report after the event?
I kind of feel like the cookies and candy could be incorporated into the sundae bar!
Build your own brownies sundaes?
Dessert waffles. You can just use Eggos, with various toppings: ice cream, whipped cream, whipped cream cheese, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, berry sauce, maple syrup, sprinkles, chocolate chips, fresh berries, canned peaches — the sky’s the limit!
Cupcake bar? Naked cupcakes, variety of frostings, sprinkles, cookie crumbles, etc?
Dirt and worms station! Have chocolate and vanilla pudding bases (usually it uses cool whip and cream cheese to make a thicker consistency). Then, people can scoop on their own toppings. Crushed Oreos, crushed golden Oreos, nilla wafers, gummy worms, crushed chocolate of different varieties, other gummy candy, fruit, nuts, sauces. Very customizable.
Oh! My mom-in-law makes crepes on Christmas. Then you create your own with nutella, bananas, strawberries, whipped cream, sugar, and brown sugar. You could add jam, other fruits, and more!
What a fun tradition.
What if everyone brought their favorite dessert, different types of cakes (in cupcake form), decorate your own cupcakes/cookies, different types of Italian pastries, a dessert from around the world
Maybe you can make something as part of the party? Make cookies/cupcakes together that you eat later?
Another thought is keep the dessert simple (or one of the favorites) and maybe do fun appetizers? At work, we’ve done a favorite dip party and favorite appetizer party. Both of those were huge hit.
Cakewaffles!
Bake cake mix in a waffle iron. Top with your desired cake toppings.
You can make a few different flavors pretty easily by separating the cake batter and adding additional flavorings/ingredients to only one half.
We did a decorate your own cupcake table with a group of neighborhood kids and it was a huge hit. I ordered cupcakes from the grocery store bakery with white frosting and put out the box of sprinkles, etc we use for Christmas cookie decorating and some candies bought for this purpose. They meticulously decorated their cupcakes, took pictures and then happily devoured them… And now I’m thinking decorate your own cupcake will be my contribution to our family reunion buffet.
I like the brownies with mix-ins idea, and the cupcake bar. The only thing I can think of that’s at all different is maybe one of those fruit-cookie layered dip things, like cream cheese/brown sugar/cool whip/ toffee bits, with fruit and plainer cookies to dip, or different variations on the layers. The way all the adults and adult kids went bananas for the gummies on our camping trip this year makes me think candy could come back around though?
This is making me hungry – I like the favorite dip idea; who doesn’t love a good dip? But that chocolate fountain…and a cupcake decorating party? Appetizers. I love appetizers. Why don’t we all have a ‘reunion’ of our own – Swistle Meet Up – and do this. All of it. /delicious/ /fun/
Pie nachos. Cut the pie crust into triangles before baking and have all sorts of different fillings available: baked apples, pumpkin pie filling, lemon pie filling, cherry pie filling. Whipped cream, ice cream as extra toppings
We did this once for Pi Day in March and it was amazing. Really should do it again sometime
Going off of Wendy’s pie nachos, they have those mini Keebler graham crusts that are delicious. The current favorite dessert in my house is one of those with canned pie filling. You could have those on the side of the pie nachos.
It sounds like you want a TABLE of desserts. And I know you said freezer space was an issue. But honestly, for a large group without tiny children, the nostalgia factor of popsicles is so fun. Most adults rarely eat a popsicle and definitely not the frozen red dye sugar ones. Freezies, the red white and blue rocket ones, the generic box of pink orange and purple. Whenever someone brings popsicles to one of our gatherings it’s a hit.
Little Debbie treats galore, all the kinds. So easy for everyone to bring their favorite, its pre packaged and it brings backs that 1980’s nostalgia. Who can resist? How can you pick just one? Star crunch, Nutty Bar, Swiss Cake Roll…so many choices and none are the wrong one.
I just made an apple crumble/cobler for larger group for a camping trip, and I think this could easily turn into a Customizable Dessert Table.
A few “hot fruits with spices”: apple, peach, mixed fruit. (For the camping trip, I started with FREEZED DRIED fruits and then added water and heated.)
A few cold (easily prepared!) toppings; don’t worry, the hot fruit makes the whole dessert stay warm: granola, raisins, nuts. If you wanted to make it REALLY customizable, you could leave the spices as add-ins, too: cinnamon, brown sugar, etc.
Vanilla ice cream (or if you wanted options: regular cream and/or whipped cream too.)
I came here to suggest a cupcake bar — different base flavors and frostings! All sorts of toppings! You could even do mini cupcakes for more options! but now I’m all in on the idea of a waffle bar.
Put out all the ingredients for dessert-style trail mix so people can mix up their own bowl. Nuts, m&ms, pretzels, chocolate dipped pretzels, toffee peanuts, cereal, oyster crackers, teddy grahams, etc. Lots of salty and sweet options so people can customize.
We did a dirty soda bar at my daughter’s grad party and it was so fun, there are so many options – soda, lemonade, sweet creams, candy sticks, cut fruit, boba, fun drinks and straws.
We did a caramel apple bar for the faculty and staff at my kids’ school. Bought a ton of apples, set out a couple of those slicers where it cuts the whole apple into slices and cores it at once. People would slice their apple and arrange the slices on a plate. We had squeeze syrups out: caramel, chocolate, white chocolate, caramel chocolate. Toppings like chocolate chips, marshmallows, nuts, M and Ms. Little messy for fingers but a unique dessert!
I recently went to a barbecue and someone brought a “candy salad,” which was a giant bowl of loose candy (gummy worms, raisinets, skittles, M&Ms, various sour candies, etc.) and served it with a stack of dixie cups and it was the best! Everyone loved it.