13 Sweet Fillings That Will Make Egg Rolls Your New Favorite Dessert

We wouldn't blame you if you walked past the egg roll wrappers in the chilled produce section of the grocery store without thinking twice. Hidden behind all of those containers of salsa and guacamole, or perhaps shrouded behind the smaller wonton wrappers, are the large flour-based egg roll wrappers used for DIY Chinese takeout appetizers. Sure, you could buy them and try stuffing them with a range of savory fillings, including everything from vegetables to meat. But perhaps an even better use for these egg roll wrappers is for all things sweet. 

Egg roll wrappers, when stuffed and prepared correctly, can make a great vehicle for an array of sugary fillings. These rolls can be baked, air-fried, or deep-fried into a tantalizing shell that will offer a novel texture and vessel for some of your favorite sweet treats. As a home cook myself, I teamed up with Holly Nilsson — recipe developer and creator behind Spend with Pennies — to find some of the simplest and tastiest sweet filling ideas for your egg roll wrappers.

If you do a quick Google search of "egg roll dessert recipes," you're likely to come up with a lot of cheesecake-esque takes on the dessert egg roll. And, in the spirit of not reinventing the wheel, it's one that both I and Holly Nilsson from Spend with Pennies stand behind. She recommends trying cherry cheesecake egg rolls for a unifying bite of both creamy and sweet. Her recipe for this treat is rather simple — and it uses canned pie filling rather than the fresh stuff, too. "The combination of textures and flavors makes them a perfect hand-held dessert for any occasion," she says. 

Nilsson uses a piping bag to get the clean edges, and she makes sure to leave a generous border to prevent the filling from spilling over into the hot oil. Giving a wide margin and sealing the edges of the roll with water will also prevent the roll from unraveling when you go to fry it. 

While canned cherry pie filling is popular, it's far from the only filling that you have to add to your cream cheese base. Nilsson also recommends trying lemon, blueberry, or apple instead of the cherry, and pairing your creation with an array of dipping sauces — including whipped cream, chocolate ganache, or caramel sauce. 

Peaches are a fruit that was seemingly made for summer and grilling season, so it's no surprise that this fruit would make its way into a dessert egg roll, either. Cooking your peaches on the grill will help caramelize some of those sugars and impart a delicious, slightly molten texture to this stone fruit. Once you pull your fruit off the grill, you can slice it into small pieces and place them inside of your egg roll. It's important to try to avoid working with especially juicy fruit, as the extra water content may cause your egg roll wrapper to more readily tear and break. Serve "plain" (if you can say that) peach egg rolls with a créme anglaise or melted vanilla ice cream as a simple, yet complementary dip. 

The other option would be to take this dessert a step further and try peach cobbler-inspired egg rolls. You'll essentially need to make the same base that you would make for peach cobbler or peach pie by combining your fruit with spices, sugar, and butter over the stove. Like other fruit egg rolls, cornstarch or another thickening agent will be your best asset here. 

This latter filling is more decadent and cloying than just stuffing grilled peaches into your egg roll wrapper. But you'll still get the satisfying crunch of the fried wrapper juxtaposed with the soft, sweet fruit either way. 

Your Thanksgiving table hasn't seen anything quite like this in a very, very long time. Imagine how amazed your guests would be if instead of presenting a pumpkin pie with a delicately crimped crust, you presented them with a plate of piping hot, powdered sugar-dusted egg rolls. Plus, it saves you the agony of trying to perfect a buttery, flaky pie crust on top of doing all of your day-of cooking tasks. 

All you need to do is grab canned pumpkin pie filling — or all of your favorite pumpkin pie spices, canned pumpkin puree, and a little bit of sugar. Some folks will also choose to mix their pumpkin pie filling with cream cheese to give it a little more of a soft bite, while others will opt for the pumpkin-only way. You can serve these rolls with the classic Cool Whip, or get creative with a caramel dip to complement the medley of warming spices and squashy filling. 

I am a sucker for all things fair food, so it isn't a surprise that fried Snickers bars made their way onto this list. These bars of chocolate-coated euphoria pack all of the wonderful parts of eating candy, including the sugary flavor, the crunchy nuts, and the sticky caramel. If you really want to indulge in this bar's potential, you'll want to pull out your cast iron skillet, cooking oil, and egg roll wrappers. 

This sweet dessert is comparatively easy to make. The Snickers bars, as long as they're cool, won't melt everywhere, which means you can easily and carefully tuck it in the egg roll wrapper, secure the edges with water, and pop it in your frying vessel of choice. Since Snickers bars contain peanut, caramel, and chocolate, there's no wrong way to serve it. Warm up some caramel sauce from a jar, melt down some chocolate chips, or simply scoop some peanut butter from your jar of Jif and enjoy a fair snack from the comfort of your home kitchen. 

You may have heard of frozen bananas, but egg roll-wrapped bananas may be a new way to give this fruit a new life. The banana will stay pliable and soft underneath the crunchy, fried wrapper and will impart a sweet (but not overwhelmingly cloying) flavor. That being said, you can always put your own unique spin on this fruity addition by packing your egg rolls with other ingredients. Add a schmear of peanut butter to the bottom of your wrapper before tucking in the edges; this will help keep the fruit secure and also impart a subtly nutty flavor. 

Or, you can try elevating your treat by doing a play on the classic American dessert bananas Foster. A little rum, vanilla, and spices will give your banana egg rolls a boozy twist and help draw attention to the existing fruity flavor. Add a drizzle of vanilla glaze (or try something rum-infused) and serve these egg rolls piping hot for best results. 

I, as I'm sure many of you can also say, am a fiend for all things cookie dough. I never really grew out of "the batter is better than the bake" phase, so I'm always looking to get my hands on the latest cookie dough treat — whether it's in ice cream, truffles, brownies, or even just as a bowl of edible cookie dough. The cool thing about cookie dough is that you can add it to your egg rolls without worrying about it cooking; the cooking time is just enough for the outside of the egg rolls to cook, but not the inside. Moreover, you'll want to ensure that, for this reason, the raw cookie dough you use is entirely safe to eat. This means using heat-treated flour and replacing eggs with something else, like cottage cheese, to reduce the risk of ingesting foodborne pathogens. 

When it comes to a dip for these egg rolls, simple is always better. Caramel sauce would be a good pairing for sugar cookie or snickerdoodle dough, whereas chocolate sauce could elevate double-chocolate or classic chocolate chip cookie dough. 

Ditch the graham crackers for your new favorite campfire classic. You can add all of your s'mores components to the inside of your egg roll for a decadent twist on this dessert. Tuck in your chocolate and marshmallows, add a little dusting of graham cracker crumbs if you'd like, and fry up your egg rolls. Chocolate sauce or marshmallow spread would be an excellent way to hone in on the ingredients inside of your egg rolls. 

While most people know classic s'mores as the basic chocolate-and-mallow combo, you can always upgrade your s'mores by adding ingredients like crumbled bacon, fruit preserves, and more. Or, swap out the chocolates for another candy entirely (like peanut butter cups) to switch up the flavor of your recipe. This is a great project to make with kids, so long as the adults are the ones who are doing the deep frying. 

Cherry pie is one of those desserts that I can't get enough of during the summer months. It's a great way to use up those bags of cherries that I have sitting in my fridge — or, in the worst case scenario, I can always turn to canned cherry pie filling. Making cherry pie egg rolls is a great, hand-held way to enjoy these summer fruits. It's important to note that cherries are very liquidy and soft, which means that they have the potential to become very liquidy and break down egg roll wrappers. If you're making your own filling, you'll want to go heavy with the starch — like cornstarch, tapioca, or the like. You can also cook down the fruit to remove some of the moisture. 

The cherry filling will provide a robust flavor, so you won't have to think too creatively when it comes to dipping sauces. A simple vanilla sauce or melted chocolate (for a play on Black Forest cake) would be an excellent pairing.

You may think it's a bit redundant to stuff an already-baked chocolate cake into an egg roll wrapper — but it's not that revolutionary. The cake has a soft, supple texture, which will work well when paired with the crunchy egg roll shell. 

You can either make a fresh cake for this recipe, or gather up a leftover slice from last night's birthday party celebration. Crumble up the cake like you were making a batch of cake pops, and add a bit of cream cheese in as a binder. This will make the cake pliable and easy to manipulate into your rolls. As for serving, the world is your oyster. Chocolate ganache or frosting would be an excellent way to really drive home the cake-y aspect — but you may have to add a bit of milk to thin it out so that you can easily scoop it into your rolls. Chocolate cake would be a simple option, sure, but you could theoretically use any type of sponge cake, including Funfetti, spice, red velvet, or plain ol' vanilla. 

After a long day in the apple orchard, don't settle for apple crisp, pie, turnovers, or whatever apple-inspired creation you might conjure up. Instead, make a batch of apple pie egg rolls; it's a recipe the whole family will love (and it won't require a plate and utensil to eat). 

"Use softer apples, like Gala or Fuji, which cook quickly and give a tender texture. Dice them small and mix with sugar, cinnamon, and a touch of lemon juice for balance," Holly Nilsson says. Then, you can easily fill up your rolls and seal them. The crunchy, fried exterior will complement the mildly spiced, fruity interior remarkably well. Like other fillings, these rolls are best served hot, but you could always stuff them with your homemade filling and leave them in the fridge for when you are ready to eat them. "Serve these with a side of caramel or vanilla ice cream to make them even more indulgent," Nilsson suggests. 

Ferrero Rocher is a candy with an upgraded feel. So, that warrants the question: Does this candy need an even bigger upgrade by being stuffed inside of an egg roll? But alas, there are always ways to upgrade desserts to an even higher standard. So, fry away. 

To make this treat at home, you can coat the bottom of your egg roll wrapper with something sticky, like marshmallow spread, cream cheese, or — to hone in on the hazelnut flavor — a swipe of Nutella. Then, pop on your candy balls, wrap up and seal everything, and fry. The heat from your frying mechanism of choice will melt the chocolate, but it will still leave the little nutty pieces, along with the decadent chocolate leftover. You can stick with the classic candy, or try a different Ferrero Rocher flavor. A drizzle of caramel sauce or melted chocolate would really drive those sweet flavors home and give you a well-rounded, tasty treat. 

If I see Swiss rolls in a grocery store or gas station, they're an automatic add to my cart. Seriously, it doesn't get more perfect than a soft chocolate sponge encasing a swirl of whipped vanilla frosting and a milk chocolate coating. Oh wait, yeah it does — when the whole thing is wrapped up into an egg roll wrapper and fried. 

The best thing about Swiss rolls, besides their agreeable flavor, is their structure. Since they're flat on the bottom, you won't have to worry about the roll moving around too much inside of the egg roll wrapper. It will stay stationary as you rotate it in the hot oil and crisp up the wrapper. Fried Swiss rolls don't really require a dipping sauce because they're a novelty on their own — not unlike fried Snickers or other fried candy bars. The mashup of different textures and components can hold its own easily.

Deep-fried Oreos are often made with leftover pancake batter, but there's no reason why you can't find a less bready alternative by using egg roll wrappers instead. The egg roll wrappers will add a distinct crispiness to the outside of your cookies and help diversify each and every bite. 

There are several different potential avenues for marrying your cookies with your egg rolls. For one, you could just crumble up your sandwich cookies, plop them in the center of the wrap, and call it a day. But this is far too unstable to make for a successful fry. Instead, I would recommend mixing the Oreos together with cream cheese to make a play on an Oreo cheesecake. The unctuous dairy product will help the filling stick together and give this treat a slightly chewier bite. Serve with chocolate sauce or icing for a play on the creamy cookie filling.