The Ultimate Guide to Southern Desserts

ByBackyard Texas Grill

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The best Southern desserts, from banana pudding and cobbler to pecan pie, pound cake, pralines, and more old-fashioned favorites.

Here in the South, dessert isn't just something sweet you eat after supper. Dessert is how we take care of people.

  • Had a terrible day? Have some banana pudding.
  • Going through a rough patch? Somebody is liable to show up at your front door carrying a casserole in one hand and a cake in the other.
  • Got a problem you can't solve? Sit down. We'll cut a pie and talk it through.

I truly believe there are very few troubles in this world that can't be made at least a little bit better over a slice of buttermilk pie or a warm bowl of cobbler topped with a scoop of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla.

Around here, dessert is practically medicine.

Southern Desserts Might Be the Secret to World Peace

We Southerners have been known to solve the world's problems around the dinner table. And when the conversation turns to one of those topics you're supposedly not supposed to discuss in polite company, a good dessert can even help with that.

"You voted for WHO? Pass the pralines, please!"

See? World peace.

And we're all about world peace here at Backyard Texas Grill.

All kidding aside, there's something special about sitting around a table with people you love—or even people you don't necessarily agree with—and taking the time to linger.

Life tends to move a little slower here in the South. Or at least we try to make it that way when we can. We don't mind sitting around after the meal, pouring another cup of coffee, cutting another piece of cake, and talking awhile longer.

Dessert gives us an excuse to stay at the table.

Southern Desserts and Backyard Barbecue Just Belong Together

This is Backyard Texas Grill, after all, so we know a thing or two about smoky meats and big Southern meals.

After you've spent hours smoking a brisket, ribs, chicken, or pulled pork, and you've filled the table with baked beans, potato salad, macaroni and cheese, cornbread, casseroles, and all of those other Southern sides we love, there's only one question left:

What's for dessert?

Maybe it's a big pan of banana pudding that's been chilling in the refrigerator all afternoon. Maybe somebody made a Texas sheet cake. Maybe there's a peach cobbler still warm from the oven or a pecan pie waiting to be sliced.

Nothing fussy is required. It just needs to be good.

In the South, We Tend to "Put Things Up"

Southern desserts also have a lot to do with what grows around us.

My mama always kept peaches in the freezer from nearby peach orchards. And she had a pecan tree, so you could pretty much count on finding pecans tucked away in her freezer, too.

Apparently I inherited the pecan-collecting gene because I tend to do the same thing.

That's part of Southern cooking. When peaches are plentiful, we save peaches. When we've got pecans, we put pecans in the freezer. When it's berry-picking season, we pick buckets of 'em, then flash freeze them. Then somewhere down the road those treasures become cobblers, pies, cakes, muffins, cookies, pralines, and whatever else we can dream up. And trust me, we're all about dreaming up desserts, here in the South.

Some of the best Southern desserts started with ordinary ingredients that somebody's mama or grandma already had on hand.

Dessert Is a Southern Love Language

There's another reason Southern desserts mean so much to me: food is one of the ways we minister to each other.

  • When somebody is sick, we feed them.
  • When someone is grieving, we feed them.
  • New baby? We're coming with food.
  • Surgery? Food.
  • New neighbors? Food.
  • Family going through a difficult season? You guessed it. Food.

Sure, there's probably going to be a casserole involved. But let's face it: the dessert is where the healing happens.

Sometimes you don't know what to say. Sometimes there aren't any words that can fix what a person is going through. But you can bake a hummingbird cake, drop off a pan of brownies, or leave a banana pudding at their front door.

It's a simple way of saying, I thought about you. I care about you. You aren't going through this alone.

That's what Southern desserts mean to me.

So, pull up a chair. We've gathered some of our favorite Southern desserts from Backyard Texas Grill, along with favorites from our sister site, Out of the Box Baking, and a couple of recipes from Southern food bloggers we love.

We've got a lot of ground to cover—and a lot of dessert to eat.

Southern Cakes and Cupcakes

If there's a celebration in the South, there's probably a cake somewhere nearby. Birthdays, church suppers, showers, family reunions, holidays, funerals, Sunday dinners—we've got a cake for all of them.

Some are fancy and some are humble. Some start with a boxed mix and others are made from scratch. But the best Southern cakes are moist, generous, made for sharing, and usually big enough to feed whoever happens to wander through the door.

Southern Pies, Cobblers & Fruit

If cakes are for celebrations, pies and cobblers are for sitting awhile.

These are the desserts that remind me most of fruit trees, orchards, summer produce, pecans tucked into the freezer, and generations of Southern cooks who knew how to make something wonderful out of what they had. And is there anything better than warm fruit cobbler with cold vanilla ice cream melting down into it? Around here, make mine Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla and give me a big scoop.

Southern Puddings and Old-Fashioned Desserts

Some Southern desserts don't need to be sliced neatly and placed on a fancy plate. Just hand us a bowl and a spoon. Banana pudding might be one of the greatest examples of Southern comfort food ever created. Bread puddings are another wonderful reminder of the old-fashioned Southern habit of wasting as little as possible while still managing to make something delicious. And homemade chocolate pudding? That's the kind of thing that can transport you straight back to childhood.

Southern and Old-Fashioned Cookies

Never underestimate a Southern woman's cookie collection. These are the recipes that fill cookie jars, Christmas tins, church dessert tables, bake-sale trays, and platters at family gatherings. Some are old-fashioned classics. Others are simply recipes that have become part of the way we bake around here. And yes, we're including Mexican Wedding Cookies. You don't leave snowballs off a Southern Christmas cookie tray unless you're looking for trouble.

Southern Brownies and Bars

Bars are made for sharing, which makes them just about perfect for Southern hospitality. Bake a pan, cut them into squares, cover the dish, and take them wherever people are gathering—or wherever somebody needs a little cheering up. And I'm including Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars in this Southern collection for a very simple reason: people around here beg me to make them. That's good enough for me.

Southern Sweet Breads and Muffins

Southern bakers have a way of turning fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whatever else happens to be in the kitchen into something sweet enough to enjoy with coffee. Peaches, pecans, sweet potatoes, carrots, bananas—give us enough time and we'll probably find a way to bake them into a loaf or muffin. These are especially nice when company is coming because they can move easily between the breakfast table, afternoon coffee, and dessert.

Old-Fashioned Southern Candies

If you grew up around Southern cooks, there's a good chance you've seen a kitchen counter covered with homemade candy at Christmastime. Pralines, divinity, peanut brittle, chocolate-covered treats—these are the kinds of recipes that get tucked into tins, carried to neighbors, taken to church gatherings, and passed around to family. And anybody who has ever made old-fashioned divinity knows that sometimes Southern candy-making requires a little faith along with the sugar.

There's Always Room for Dessert

Maybe that's the real secret of Southern desserts.

They're not really about sugar, butter, pecans, peaches, or chocolate—though we're certainly fond of all of those things.

They're about people.

They're about slowing down long enough to sit together. They're about celebrating the good days and making the hard days a little easier. They're about taking something homemade to somebody who needs to know they're loved.

They're about keeping peaches and pecans in the freezer because Mama did it, and one day realizing you've become the person with a freezer full of pecans yourself.

They're about passing down recipes, feeding people, telling stories, drinking another cup of coffee, and staying at the table just a little longer.

So whether you're planning a backyard barbecue, Sunday dinner, family reunion, holiday meal, church gathering, or just supper with the people you love, don't forget dessert.

After all, we might have a few problems to solve.

And if things get heated?

Pass the pralines, please.

Thanks for Stopping By!

If you make any of these desserts and love them, please leave a comment or review. And before you go, why not pin some photos to your Pinterest boards?

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