Emily From the classic churro to silky flan to apple pie tacos — ten Mexican dessert recipes that bring colour, warmth and serious sweetness to any table.
Mexican desserts are some of the most underrated sweets in the world. While everyone is familiar with churros and tres leches, there is an entire world of Mexican baking and confectionery that most people have never explored. Flan so silky it trembles. Sopapillas so light they shatter when you bite them. Rice pudding so creamy it barely needs any embellishment at all.
These ten recipes cover the full range from the iconic to the less familiar and every single one of them is worth making. Start with the apple pie tacos if you want maximum impact for minimum effort. Work your way to the flan when you have time and patience for something truly special.
🍮 Jump to a Dessert
🌮 Apple Pie Tacos
Crispy cinnamon sugar taco shells filled with warm gooey spiced apple pie filling and drizzled with caramel sauce. The dessert that gets the most excited reactions of everything on this list.
- 6 small flour tortillas
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
- 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon
- 3 apples, diced
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 1 tbsp butter
- Caramel sauce and whipped cream to serve
- 1Brush tortillas with butter, coat in cinnamon sugar. Bake at 350°F draped over muffin tin 10 min.
- 2Cook apples with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg for 8 minutes until soft and saucy.
- 3Fill each baked shell with warm apple filling.
- 4Drizzle with caramel sauce and top with whipped cream. Serve immediately.
🍩 Churros with Chocolate Sauce
The most iconic Mexican dessert — crispy golden pastry sticks dusted in cinnamon sugar and dipped in a thick dark chocolate sauce. Impossible to make without eating one straight from the pot.
- 1 cup water, 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp butter
- 1 cup plain flour, 1 egg
- ½ cup sugar + 2 tsp cinnamon (coating)
- Oil for frying
- For sauce: 150g dark chocolate, ½ cup heavy cream
- 1Bring water, sugar and butter to a boil. Add flour all at once and stir vigorously into a dough.
- 2Cool 5 minutes. Beat in egg. Transfer to a piping bag with a star nozzle.
- 3Pipe 12cm lengths into 180°C oil. Fry 3 to 4 minutes until golden. Roll in cinnamon sugar.
- 4Melt chocolate with cream for the dipping sauce. Serve churros hot.
🎂 Tres Leches Cake
A light sponge soaked in three types of milk until impossibly moist, topped with whipped cream and a dusting of cinnamon. The most celebrated dessert in all of Mexican cooking.
- 5 eggs, 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 tsp baking powder
- Soak: 1 cup condensed milk, 1 cup evaporated milk, 1 cup heavy cream
- Topping: 2 cups whipped cream, ground cinnamon
- 1Beat yolks and sugar pale. Fold in flour and baking powder. Fold in stiff egg whites.
- 2Bake in a greased pan at 350°F for 25 minutes. Cool completely.
- 3Pierce all over with a fork. Pour three-milk mixture slowly and evenly over the cake. Refrigerate 4 hours.
- 4Top with whipped cream and a generous dusting of cinnamon before serving.
🍮 Classic Flan
Silky smooth vanilla custard with a deep amber caramel poured over the top when unmoulded. Elegant, wobbly, and one of the most impressive desserts you can make.
- Caramel: ½ cup sugar, 2 tbsp water
- Custard: 4 eggs, 2 egg yolks
- 1 can condensed milk (397g)
- 1 cup whole milk, 1 cup heavy cream, 2 tsp vanilla
- 1Cook sugar and water without stirring until deep amber. Pour immediately into ramekins.
- 2Blend all custard ingredients until smooth. Pour over the set caramel.
- 3Place ramekins in a baking dish with an inch of water. Bake at 325°F for 45 minutes.
- 4Cool completely then refrigerate 4 hours. Run a knife around the edge and invert to serve.
🍯 Sopapillas with Honey
Pillowy fried pastry squares that puff up dramatically in the hot oil, drizzled with honey and dusted with cinnamon sugar. The simplest Mexican dessert and one of the most satisfying.
- 2 cups plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp shortening or butter
- ¾ cup warm water
- Oil for frying
- Honey and cinnamon sugar to serve
- 1Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening until crumbly. Add water and knead into a soft dough.
- 2Roll out to 3mm thick. Cut into 8cm squares.
- 3Fry in 180°C oil for 1 to 2 minutes per side until puffed and golden.
- 4Drain briefly then drizzle with honey and dust with cinnamon sugar. Serve warm.
🍫 Mexican Chocolate Brownies
Dense fudgy brownies spiked with cinnamon, a pinch of cayenne and a hint of espresso for that authentic Mexican chocolate flavour that regular brownies do not have.
- 200g dark chocolate, chopped
- 175g butter
- 3 eggs
- 1½ cups sugar
- 1 cup plain flour
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp instant espresso powder
- Pinch of salt
- 1Melt chocolate and butter together. Cool slightly.
- 2Whisk in sugar then eggs one at a time.
- 3Fold in flour, cinnamon, cayenne, espresso and salt until just combined.
- 4Pour into a lined 8×8 tin. Bake at 350°F for 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely before cutting.
🍚 Arroz con Leche
Creamy Mexican rice pudding cooked slowly with whole milk, sugar, cinnamon and a strip of lemon zest. Warm and deeply comforting — the dessert that tastes like being a child in the best possible way.
- 1 cup long grain white rice
- 4 cups whole milk
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 strip lemon zest
- Pinch of salt
- Ground cinnamon to serve
- 1Rinse rice and add to a pot with milk, cinnamon stick, lemon zest and salt.
- 2Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 30 to 35 minutes until thick and creamy.
- 3Add sugar and stir to dissolve. Cook 5 more minutes.
- 4Remove cinnamon and lemon zest. Serve warm or cold dusted with ground cinnamon.
💿 Buñuelos
Thin crispy fried discs coated in cinnamon sugar — the Mexican version of a fried dough treat that appears at every Christmas and New Year’s celebration. Light, shatteringly crispy and completely addictive.
- 2 cups plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 egg
- ½ cup warm water
- 2 tbsp butter, softened
- Oil for frying
- 1 cup sugar + 2 tsp cinnamon (coating)
- 1Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Add egg, water and butter. Knead into a smooth dough. Rest 20 minutes.
- 2Divide into 12 balls. Roll each out as thin as possible into a rough circle.
- 3Fry in 180°C oil for 1 minute per side until golden and crispy.
- 4Drain and immediately coat in cinnamon sugar while hot.
🧃 Mango Paletas
Creamy frozen mango popsicles with a hit of lime and chili powder. The Mexican summer essential that is both refreshing and genuinely delicious with or without the chili.
- 3 cups ripe mango, diced (fresh or frozen)
- ½ cup coconut milk or whole milk
- Juice of 1 lime
- 3 tbsp sugar or to taste
- Pinch of chili powder and salt (optional)
- Tajin for the rim (optional)
- 1Blend mango, milk, lime juice and sugar until completely smooth. Taste and adjust sweetness.
- 2Pour into popsicle moulds. Insert sticks.
- 3Freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight until completely solid.
- 4Run briefly under warm water to unmould. Dip in Tajin if desired and eat immediately.
🥞 Cajeta Crepes
Thin delicate crepes filled with cajeta — the Mexican caramel sauce made from goat’s milk — and folded into elegant triangles. Simple, sophisticated and endlessly impressive.
- For crepes: 1 cup flour, 2 eggs, 1½ cups milk, 2 tbsp butter, pinch of salt
- For filling: 1 cup cajeta (Mexican goat’s milk caramel)
- To serve: whipped cream, chopped pecans, powdered sugar
- 1Whisk crepe batter until smooth. Rest 15 minutes. Cook thin crepes in a buttered pan 1 minute per side.
- 2Spread each crepe with a generous spoonful of cajeta.
- 3Fold in half then in half again into a triangle.
- 4Arrange on a plate. Dust with powdered sugar, add whipped cream and chopped pecans.
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