The holidays are a magical time of year to celebrate the festive season and indulge in delicious treats. Some of the best holiday cookies and desserts are those created by top cruise line chefs. These culinary geniuses know how to create special treats to delight any palate.

If you'd like to make something sweet to thrill your family and friends, check out these five amazing cruise line holiday cookie and dessert recipes:

Warm Chocolate Melting Cake - Carnival Cruise Line

Ingredients:
6 oz. dark chocolate
6 oz. butter
4 eggs, room temperature
3 oz. sugar
2 oz. flour

Directions:
1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl.
3. Mix the eggs and sugar separately and whisk for a few minutes, then add the flour.
4. Add the egg mix to the melted chocolate and butter. Mix well.
5. Pour the mixture into a greased mold or 4 individual ramekins.
6. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 14 minutes.
7. Serve with a scoop of ice cream, fruit garnish and chocolate shavings if desired.

Grandma’s Vanillekipferl Cookies - Master Chef Rudi Sodamin, Holland America Line

Ingredients:
Cookie:
5 oz butter
7.4 oz flour
2.8 oz ground hazelnuts or almonds
2.8 oz powdered sugar
1 egg

Topping:
2 oz powdered sugar
3 tablespoons vanilla sugar*
*To make your own vanilla sugar: Place 1 1/2 to 2 cups of sugar in pint jar. Put a clean vanilla bean in the jar, cover and shake well. Let stand for a few days, shaking the jar occasionally, before using the sugar. As you use the sugar, replace with fresh sugar.

Directions:
1. Sieve the flour into a heap on a pastry board or into a large bowl.
2. Cut the cold butter into small pieces and mix with the flour.
3. Add powdered sugar, ground almonds or hazelnuts and the egg.
4. Rinse hands with cold water and quickly knead mixture into a crisp dough.
5. Chill dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
6. Form thumb-thick size rolls from the dough.
7. Cut roll into 1 cm wide pieces, roll and form crescents.
8. Bake crescents at 350° Fahrenheit for 10-15 minutes, or until very light-gold in color.
9. Roll the crescents in a mixture of powdered sugar and vanilla sugar while still hot.

Pavlova – Royal Caribbean International

Ingredients:
Strawberry Syrup:
1 cup strawberries, quartered
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons water

Meringues:
4 egg whites, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Garnish:
Whipped cream
6 strawberries, halved
Mint sprigs
6 chocolate cigarettes
1 ounce pistachio, chopped
18 strawberries

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 300 F
2. In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients for the strawberry syrup and bring to a boil over medium heat.
3. Lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the berries are soft and the syrup is thickened.
4. Remove from heat and strain through a fine strainer into a clean container.
5. Let cool, cover and refrigerate.
6. To make the meringues, place the egg whites in a stainless steel or glass bowl and using a hand-held mixer, beat on medium speed until soft peaks form.
7. Gradually add the sugar a little at a time until stiff peaks form.
8. Fold in cornstarch and lemon juice.
9. Using an ice cream scoop, create 6 balls of meringue and delicately transfer onto a pre-greased baking sheet
10. Gently tap the top of each meringue to create a flat surface.
11. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool on a wire rack.
12. To serve, place each meringue on a chilled dessert plate.
13. Top each meringue with a scoop of whipped cream, a couple half strawberries, a mint sprig and a chocolate cigarette.
14. Finish each one with a drizzle of strawberry syrup.
15. Sprinkle with chopped pistachios and garnish with strawberries.

Linzer Short Cookies - Master Chef Rudi Sodamin, Holland America Line

Ingredients:
1 cup of almonds, toasted and grounded
2 cups of flour, sieved
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2 sticks of butter, softened
2/3 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 lemon, fine zest
2 cups of raspberry preserve

Directions:
1. In the bowl using the paddle, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy approximately 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract, egg yolks and lemon zest. Beat in the ground nuts. Add the flour cinnamon and salt just until incorporated. Divide the dough in half and shape into two rectangles about 1/2 inch thick. Wrap the two rectangles of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour.
2. Remove one rectangle of dough from the refrigerator. On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough until its about 1/4 inch thick. Using a 2- to 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut out the dough. Place the cookies about 1 inch apart on a lined baking sheet. Use a smaller cookie cutter, 3/4 to 1 inch, to cut out the centers of half of the cookies on the baking sheet. You will be sandwiching two cookies together and there will be a small ‘window or cut out’ on the top cookie so you can see the jam underneath.
3. Reroll any scraps and cut out the cookies. Remove the other half of dough from the refrigerator and roll and cut out the rest of the cookies. Back the cookies at 350 F for 12-14 minutes or until they are very lightly browned. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
4. While the cookies are cooling, place the raspberry preserve in a small saucepan and heat gently until it has thickened slightly and cool down.
5. To assemble cookies: Place the cookies with the cut-outs on a wire rack and lightly dust the tops with the confection sugar.
6. On the surface of the full cookie spread with about a 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of jam. Place the cut-out cookie on top and gently sandwich them together. Using a small spoon, fill the cut-out with a little more jam.

Apple Cranberry Tart – Viking River Cruises

Ingredients:
7 oz. almond paste
9-inch pie pan lined with pie dough
1 cup fresh cranberries
5 medium McIntosh apples, peeled, cored and sliced
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon, divided
½ cup rolled oats
½ cup flour
½ cup dark brown sugar
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, very cold
¼ cup sliced almonds

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Place almond paste between two sheets of waxed paper and roll out to an 8-inch circle. Transfer to pie pan, pressing gently with fingers to cover bottom of pie dough.
3. Place cranberries, apples, sugar and ½ tsp of cinnamon in a bowl, and toss gently to combine. Spread the mixture over pie dough.
4. Place remaining cinnamon, oats, flour and brown sugar in a small bowl. Cut butter into small pieces and blend into oat mixture until crumbs form.
5. Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over top of fruit.
6. Bake in oven for 50-60 minutes.
7. Sprinkle with sliced almonds about 45 minutes after the start of baking.
8. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.