30 Mexican Desserts That Won't Challenge You As Much As Flan—Unless You're Into That (2024)

Flaky, chocolatey, rich and creamy, these pop tart-inspired pastry pockets delicious toe the line between breakfast and dessert. Plus-the chocolate dough comes together very easily in a food processor, making these super easy to whip up!

Get the Dulce De Leche Pastry Pockets recipe.

Chocoflan’s beautiful contrasting layers of chocolate cake and flan are totally mind-blowing. During the bake, the batters switch places, which can seem like magic. The end result is a distinctly layered dessert with moist chocolate cake as the foundation, a creamy set flan on top, and a caramel drizzle to crown it all.

Get the Chocoflan recipe.

Mexican hot chocolate is very much unique. It’s rich in chocolate, not too sweet, and the added spices will surprise yet comfort you. Inspired by that classic drink, these brownies are reminiscent of those iconic flavors with a little something extra.

Get the Spiced Hot Chocolate Brownies recipe.

A tres leches (which means "three milks" in Spanish) cake is a sponge cake that contains three different types of milks to make it extra moist and tasty. It's basically the original poke cake, and you're going to be obsessed.

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The secret to this sweet and savory scoop is chamoy, a sauce made of pickled fruits and chiles that is delicious on pretty much everything. If you can't track it down, we've provided an alternate recipe for a spicy strawberry swirl using Tajin.

Get the Mangonada Sorbet recipe.

We don't often feel like getting a deep fry going, but when you have an churro recipe this delicious, it's absolutely worth it. They only take a few minutes to fry and will actually still taste good at room temp, making them a great party dessert!

Get the Homemade Churros recipe.

Conchas are probably the most recognizable of all Mexican pan dulce. Pan dulce means sweet bread in Spanish—think of these little breads as the brioche of Mexico. They've got a delicious sugary topping, often flavored with vanilla, chocolate, or café con leche (so have them for dessert or breakfast).

Get the Concha Bread recipe.

Traditionally a pillow-shaped deep-fried dough, sopapillas are the Mexican, cinnamon-sugar topped cousins to puff pastry. Naturally, it follows that sopapilla and cheesecake are a match made in heaven: crispy, sweet dough sandwiching creamy, smooth cheesecake filling is a combination that can't be beat.

Get the Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars recipe.

Champurrado is like the best kind of hot chocolate you could have on a cold winter day. Unlike the plain, watery version you make with the powdered stuff, this hot chocolate is thick, rich, and decadent, thanks to masa harina (yep, the stuff usually used to make corn tortillas). Instead of tasting like a Choco Taco, though, the masa lends a delicately sweet corn flavor and gives the champurrado a delightful richness.

Get the Champurrado recipe.

In the heat of summer, nothing satisfies quite like a fruit Popsicle, or paleta. This classic strawberry version is big on fruit flavor and not too sweet.

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Ultra-creamy with a rich caramel sauce, a slice of flan just might be one of the most luxurious desserts there is. The classic baked custard often served in Latin America and Spain is a forever-favorite here at Delish—it’s a recipe we reach for again and again to wow at dinner parties and holiday dinners alike.

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Homemade caramel is delicious, but it's not the easiest. We love the simplicity of dulce de leche, and in our opinion, it's just as tasty as classic caramel! All you need is a can of sweetened condensed milk and a little time.

Get the Dulce de Leche recipe.

Similar to a snowball cookie, polvorones are often called Mexican wedding cookies, though where that name came from is a bit unclear. What is crystal clear is that they're melt-in-your-mouth delicious and worthy of any holiday cookie spread.

Get the Polvorones (Mexican Wedding Cookies) recipe.

In Mexican culture, capirotada, or Mexican bread pudding, is a popular casserole-style dish that evokes religious significance during the Easter holiday. The ingredients are symbolic of Christ, his body, his blood, the cross, the nails on the cross, and the holy shroud. TMYK!

Get the Capirotada recipe.

We are obsessed with churros and love making them at home, but sometimes we don't have the time to fry up a fresh batch. These cookies are the perfect solution. Caramel (or dulce de leche?) gets sandwiched between puff pastry and then tossed in cinnamon sugar for a simple and fast yet completely addicting treat.

Get the Churro Cookies recipe.

Pillowy soft and fragrant with anise and orange flower water, this Mexican sweet bread is eaten during the weeks around Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead). The sugar-coated loaf is typically decorated with a skull or crossbone shape, the crossing of the bones meant to represent the four directions of the Aztec calendar.

Get the Pan De Muerto recipe.

If Mexican hot chocolate is good, spiced Mexican hot chocolate PIE is even better. This filling's light and fluffy, with a little bit of heat.

Get the Mexican Hot Chocolate Pie recipe.

We hate when recipes call for just a tablespoon or two of booze. This cheesecake calls for a generous pour—enough so that you can actually taste the RumChata once the cheesecake is baked.

Get the RumChata Cheesecake recipe.

Made with tequila, triple sec, sweetened condensed milk, Cool Whip, and lots of lime juice, it tastes like a creamy version of a frozen margarita. In other words, it's amazing.

Get the Margarita Pie recipe.

The first thing we will say about these snowballs, also known as Mexican Wedding Cookies, is that you shouldn't eat them while wearing your Sunday best. The powdery confectioners' sugar that makes these snowballs "snowy" and delicious can end up dousing you in sugar with every bite, but it's SO worth it.

Get the Snowball Cookies recipe.