Seder House Rules: Your Search for a Passover Dessert Ends Here

Seder House Rules: Your Search for a Passover Dessert Ends Here

There are a lot of restrictions around what you can eat during Passover and we're here to help! Along with a few dessert ideas, we have the key to finding recipes that don't break the rules.

Editor's note, April 7: The holidays will sure be different this spring, but we're feeling the need for some celebratory foods whether we're gathering with loved ones in person or via Zoom. Here's to kitchens and hearts that are as full as they can be right now. We'll get through this together. —Elaine Johnson, Yummly

Along with budding trees and chirping birds, Passover is upon us. Passover (or Pesach) Seder is a meal for joy and reflection. However, if you've hosted a Seder before, you know that there's a rigorous ritual that goes with that joy. And if this is your first Seder, you have a bit of learning to do — especially if you're planning dessert. But don't worry: We have you covered, and studying is minimal.

Navigating The Rules

We won't go into the why, but the following is a list of the ingredients you might find in dessert recipes that are off-limits for the Seder table.

Off Limits For Passover
WheatRiceCorn
OatsPeanutsSesame Seeds
RyePoppy SeedsSoybeans
SpeltMilletBarley

That's a lot to work around. But if you use the Yummly filtering tool, you can exclude these ingredients to narrow down our catalog of desserts to the ones that are Seder-friendly even if they're not made specifically for Passover. (You can even use it for everyday dietary restrictions.)

To get you started on the kinds of recipes you can find and explore on Yummly, we picked out a few recipes that won't break any rules for Passover. We did include some desserts that include dairy, so if you have brisket (or any meat) for your dinner, they may not work.

Winter Citrus Pavlova

Winter Citrus Pavlova

Winter Citrus Pavlova by Broma Bakery
Pavlova is an airy dessert from a land Down Under (it originated in New Zealand, but Australians love it, too). It's meringue in cake form with a whipped-cream topping, so it's gluten-free (but not dairy-free). This one calls for citrus fruit, but if you want to make it with seasonal produce, rhubarb could elevate this to an ephemeral treat to match the meal.

Chocolate Matzo Mousse Cake

Chocolate Matzo Mousse Cake

Chocolate Matzo Mousse Cake by Breaking Matzo
This recipe magically transforms matzo into cake! The secret to turning crackers into dessert is wine — the crackers are soaked in it for about two minutes so they soften without losing their structure. The crackers are then layered with the traditional egg, cream, and chocolate mixture that forms chocolate mousse. It's a no-bake delight to end your Seder.

Pear and Almond Tart

Pear and Almond Tart

Pear and Almond Tart by Joy of Kosher
This recipe uses almond meal for the crust and margarine in place of butter to keep it comfortably kosher. The filling is a puree of almonds, egg, and margarine which is topped by sliced pears — Bosc pears are great for baking because they hold their shape and as luck would have it, they're still in season until the end of April.

Easy Meringue Cookies

Easy Meringue Cookies

Easy Meringue Cookies by Love Texas
If you're called upon to make a last-minute Seder dessert and can't run to the store, it's time for Passover cookies. You just may have the five ingredients on hand for these meringue cookies: egg whites, cream of tartar, sugar, vanilla, and a touch of food coloring. Easy and delightfully light and sweet, they're perfect for a celebratory spring dessert. If all that's not enough to win you over, they take only 10 minutes to prepare and take about an hour in the oven.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Flourless Chocolate Cake by Yummly
A flourless chocolate cake belongs on every table, not just the Seder table. If you've never made a flourless chocolate cake before, it doesn't require a lot of work or expertise; whip the eggs to lift the chocolate to a cake-like consistency and you have a winner to end your dinner. This recipe does call for butter, but you can use kosher margarine if your main dish is a meat dish.

Strawberry Rhubarb Fool

Strawberry Rhubarb Fool

Strawberry Rhubarb Fool by Rock Recipes
Despite the name, this is a fool-proof dessert for any occasion. It's a super simple recipe that only involves pureeing strawberries and rhubarb to be folded into whipped cream for a spring treat. If you're taking the strict route for recipes that are kosher, a non-dairy whipped topping can substitute for the whipped cream in this dessert.

Lemon Sorbet

Lemon Sorbet

Lemon Sorbet by The Kitchn
This four-ingredient dessert is as kosher as it is delicious. All you need are lemons, sugar, and water to make this sorbet happen. And if you're thinking "But I don't have an ice cream maker!" it's ok, you don't need one. You can make this in a baking pan in two to three hours with a little stirring along the way.

Coconut Macaroons

Coconut Macaroons

Coconut Macaroons by Skinnytaste
The coconut macaroon is the quintessential kosher cookie for Passover. All you do is make little piles of shredded coconut mixed with egg whites, sugar, and flavoring on a cookie sheet and then slide it into the oven for a half-hour and they reappear as classic Passover cookies. They're so easy to put together, you might just want to enter them into regular rotation on your cookie calendar.

Lemon Almond Cake

Lemon Almond Cake

Lemon Almond Cake by Divalicious Recipes
Flourless cakes aren't limited to chocolate and this lemon almond cake is an exquisite example. Made with almond meal, lemons, eggs, and erythritol, this dessert stays within the confines of kosher rules (and keto diet rules) and makes an excellent sugar-free, gluten-free, and guilt-free option.

Haroset Cake with Zabaglione

Haroset Cake with Zabaglione

Haroset Cake with Zabaglione by Eating Well
We couldn't very well have a list of Passover desserts and exclude charoset — an important piece of the Passover tradition. The apples and walnuts of the charoset are held together with broken matzo and eggs and sweetened with brown sugar and dessert wine. But to make this cake a superlative Seder dessert, it's topped with zabaglione sauce, which is egg yolks, sugar, and wine whisked together for a fancy dessert that's kosher for Passover.

Strawberry Souffle

Strawberry Souffle

Strawberry Souffle by We are not Martha
This perfectly pink dessert is also perfectly Passover-friendly. With just eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, and strawberries these individual souffles are ready in 30 minutes. It's a can-do, cute, kosher confection that's so good you might want to try it again next year (or even next week!).

Hungry for more?

Dessert recipes for Passover aren't limited to the ones we featured — there are thousands more to choose from.

3-Ingredient Brownies (Whole30 + Paleo) Recipe3-Ingredient Brownies (Whole30 + Paleo) Recipecinnamon, crunchy almond butter, cocoa powder, bananas
Chocolate Walnut Macarons with Salted Caramel RecipeChocolate Walnut Macarons with Salted Caramel Recipecream of tartar, walnuts, salted caramel, superfine sugar, powdered sugar and 2 more
Chocolate Pots De Creme (Vegan & Paleo) RecipeChocolate Pots De Creme (Vegan & Paleo) Recipealmond milk, sea salt, vanilla extract, raw cashews, raw cacao powder and 2 more
Vegan Coffee Cashew Milk Ice Cream RecipeVegan Coffee Cashew Milk Ice Cream Recipeunsweetened cashew milk, pure vanilla extract, almond essence and 4 more
Mini Key Lime Pies (Paleo) RecipeMini Key Lime Pies (Paleo) Recipewalnuts, sea salt, lime juice, coconut oil, honey, unsweetened dried coconut and 3 more
Raw Vegan Fudge Truffles RecipeRaw Vegan Fudge Truffles Recipemedjool dates, raw cacao powder, walnuts, agave syrup