Who said nachos had to be savory? I had one of my best kitchen breakthroughs trying to use up some leftover corn tortillas, and honestly, it changed my life. We have all had those late-night cravings where you want something sweet but also crunchy, right? Well, these incredible Dessert Nachos With Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips are the answer! They take ten minutes to bake, and when I first served them to my family, my usually quiet nephew actually yelled, “These are better than the real ones!” We piled them high with chocolate and strawberries, and boom—instant party. Trust me, you are going to make these again and again.
Why You Will Love Making Dessert Nachos With Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips
Seriously, this recipe is my go-to when I need a showstopper dessert but can’t spend hours in the kitchen. It hits all the right notes—sweet, crunchy, chocolatey, and fruity—without any fuss. You just have to try it!
- Lightning Fast Prep Time: You’re looking at maybe 15 minutes of prep before these go into the oven. Honestly, that’s less time than it takes to decide what movie to watch!
- The Ultimate Crunch Factor: Who needs fried dough when you have perfectly baked, crisp, buttery cinnamon sugar chips? They are addictive, I’m warning you now.
- Minimal Ingredients, Maximum Flavor: We use pantry staples—tortillas, sugar, butter—and load them up with your favorite toppings. It always tastes gourmet, even though it’s dirt simple.
- Totally Customizable: Don’t like strawberries? Swap them for bananas! Not a chocolate chip person? Try white chocolate! These dessert nachos are built to fit whatever you have on hand.
Essential Ingredients for Dessert Nachos With Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips
This is where the magic starts! Don’t let the simplicity fool you; gathering the right components is key to getting that perfect sweet crunch. It really only breaks down into two main groups: the chips themselves and the heavenly things we pile on top. You’ll notice we keep the chips super simple, which lets our toppings really shine through.
For the Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips
This base needs to be crisp and perfectly seasoned. Remember, every piece of tortilla needs a hug from the butter before it gets its cinnamon sugar coating. That melted butter is non-negotiable for sticking power!
- You’ll need exactly 12 corn tortillas. Cut them into wedges—I usually aim for about 8 triangles per full tortilla.
- Get yourself 1/4 cup of regular granulated sugar.
- One tablespoon of ground cinnamon—don’t skimp here, this is the flavor hero!
- 1/4 cup of butter, melted down. Use real butter; it makes a difference in the flavor profile when baking.
For the Toppings
Once those chips are golden and crisp, it’s time to pile on the good stuff. The fresh fruit cuts through the richness, which is what makes this dish addictive instead of just heavy.
- A cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips.
- One cup of fresh strawberries, sliced thin.
- About 1/2 cup of whipped cream—use the canned stuff for speed, I won’t tell anyone!
- Finally, a drizzle of 1/4 cup of caramel sauce. I always warm mine a tiny bit so it flows like a river over the chips.
Step-by-Step Instructions for Perfect Dessert Nachos With Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips
Okay, this is the fun part, and it moves fast! We have to get those chips perfectly golden and crunchy before we can even think about the toppings. The key here is patience during the baking, even though you’re eager to move on to the chocolate part, which I completely understand! Just follow these steps, and you’ll have the crunchiest sweet chips imaginable.
Preparing and Baking the Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips
First things first: get that oven warmed up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. While it’s heating, take your tortillas and cut them into those nice wedge shapes—I get about 8 per tortilla. Now, for the coating: whisk your sugar and cinnamon together really well in a wide, shallow bowl. You want that mix totally uniform!
Next up, dipping! You need to brush both sides of every single wedge with that melted butter, and then toss them gently in the cinnamon sugar. Don’t be shy about coating them!
When you arrange them on your baking sheet, please, please promise me you won’t overlap them. That’s my biggest baking secret: arrange them in a single layer! If they touch, they steam instead of crisping up. Bake these beauties for about 8 to 10 minutes. Pull them when they look golden and smell like heaven. Let them cool just a touch, because we need them warm, not scalding, for the next step.
Assembling Your Dessert Nachos With Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips
Once the chips have cooled just slightly—we want them warm enough to melt the chocolate but cool enough to handle—transfer them to a big serving platter. This is officially your nacho base!
Start your layering! Sprinkle those chocolate chips evenly over the warm chips so they get nice and gooey. Then, artfully scatter your sliced strawberries on top. Follow that with generous dollops of whipped cream everywhere. We need cream in every bite, right?
My final touch is the caramel. As I mentioned before, gently warming your caramel sauce makes it so much easier to drizzle artfully across the whole platter. If you want to see a really amazing caramelization technique, you can check out my recipe for amazing caramelized peaches—the same slow, careful heating process works wonders for sauces too!
Tips for Success When Making Dessert Nachos With Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips
Success with these sweet chips really comes down to managing expectations and knowing a few quick tricks. The most important thing I want you to know is that while baking your own cinnamon sugar tortilla chips is amazing, it’s totally fine to cheat sometimes! If you are in a huge rush, running to the store for pre-made cinnamon sugar chips works perfectly well—just skip right to the assembly part.
Another thing I always harp on is fruit swapping. Strawberries are my first choice because they hold their shape well, but please don’t feel locked in! If you have some beautiful raspberries or even some sliced bananas lying around, use them up. Speaking of bananas, if you make my irresistible banana bars, you know how quickly bananas can get brown, so make sure any bananas you use here are freshly sliced right before topping the nachos.
Oh, and one super key tip: The chips must be baked until they are truly crisp. If they are floppy when they come out of the oven, they will be limp once they hit those melting chocolate chips. Give them that extra minute or two if you need it!
Creative Variations for Your Dessert Nachos With Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips
Honestly, once you master the chip base, the sky is the limit! These dessert nachos are just a starting point, a blank canvas for your sweet cravings. I love shaking things up based on what I feel like indulging in that day. It keeps the occasional leftover tortillas from staring at me judgmentally from the pantry.
Here are a few ways I’ve totally transformed these babies from a simple sweet snack into a showstopper:
- Spice It Up: Forget just cinnamon! When mixing your sugar, throw in about a quarter teaspoon of cayenne pepper. It adds the tiniest little kick right at the end that cuts through the sweetness beautifully. It’s unexpected but truly gourmet.
- The Nut Butter Drizzle: If you think chocolate chips and whipped cream are the only necessary sauces, you haven’t lived! Warm up a bit of peanut butter gently—maybe even thin it out with a drop of vanilla extract—and drizzle that on. It pairs unbelievably well with the cinnamon chip crunch. This is a perfect match if you are obsessed with chocolate and peanut butter combinations, trust me.
- Tropical Twist: If strawberries aren’t your thing, try swapping them out entirely for some flaked, toasted coconut and diced fresh mangoes. That warm, baked chip next to cold, juicy mango? Perfection!
- Sauce Swap: Caramel is great, but sometimes you need something richer. Melted white chocolate or even a quick homemade dulce de leche makes for an amazing, decadent layer right before you add your cream.
The point is, don’t be afraid to experiment with the toppings. The chip part is stable, so feel free to get a little wild with what you pile on top!
Serving Suggestions for Dessert Nachos With Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips
These dessert nachos are rich enough to be a standalone dessert, but serving them with a cool drink just takes them over the top. Because they are so warm and spicy from the cinnamon, you want something that cuts through that richness a little bit. Don’t worry about making a fussy side dish; we are all about ease here!
If you’re serving these in the evening, they pair exceptionally well with a grown-up, bubbly beverage. I recently made a batch and served them alongside my favorite creamy root beer rum cocktail. The fizz and the spice are an amazing match!
For something simpler, just two scoops of vanilla bean ice cream served right next to the platter is always a winner. The coldness against those warm chips? Perfection!
Storage and Reheating Instructions for Leftover Dessert Nachos With Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips
Now, let’s talk leftovers. I’m not going to lie to you—these are absolutely, 100% best enjoyed the moment they come out of the oven. That beautiful cinnamon sugar chip crunch fades fast once it meets moisture, even just the steam from the chocolate!
If you really must store any components, keep the fully baked tortilla chips in an airtight container completely separate from the toppings. Store the fruit and whipped cream in the fridge, obviously. If you have leftover chips the next day and they’ve gone a little soft, you can try to bring back some crispness by spreading them on a baking sheet and heating them at 350 degrees for just about four minutes. But please, enjoy them fresh!
Frequently Asked Questions About Dessert Nachos With Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips
Can I make the cinnamon sugar tortilla chips ahead of time?
You definitely *can* make the chips ahead, but they are happiest right when they are crisp! If you do make them early, keep them in a very tightly sealed container at room temperature. Even with the best container, they will lose some of their great crunch after about 12 hours because the sugar pulls moisture from the air. Try to bake them the same day you plan to serve your **dessert nachos**!
How long do the chips stay crispy after I assemble the dessert nachos?
That’s realistic thinking! Once you add the chocolate chips, fruit, and whipped cream, the clock starts ticking on that crunch. For the absolute best texture, you need to eat these right away—within 10 to 15 minutes. That gives the chocolate just enough time to melt slightly, but the **cinnamon sugar chips** should still have plenty of snap.
Can I use an air fryer instead of the oven for the chips?
Oh, yes! I love using my air fryer for anything that needs a quick crisp, and these chips are perfect for it. If you want some inspiration for other air-fried tasty treats, check out my recipe for crispy air fryer churros—the technique is similar! Arrange the buttered, sugared wedges in a single layer in the air fryer basket and cook at 350 degrees for about 5 to 7 minutes, checking often until they look done.
What if I want to use a different kind of tortilla?
Corn tortillas are my absolute standard because they get that sturdy, slightly airy crispiness, which is perfect for this **sweet snack**. While you *could* try flour tortillas, they tend to puff up more like pita chips and might not get the same robust crunch as their corn cousins. Stick with corn for the classic experience!
Estimated Nutritional Information for Dessert Nachos With Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips
I always say that tracking nutrition for a dessert platter piled high like this is tricky business, but here is a rough estimate based on the ingredients for one serving. Remember, this is just an estimate. Your actual numbers will vary a lot depending on how generous you are with the whipped cream and caramel drizzle!
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 450
- Sugar: 45g
- Fat: 25g (Saturated Fat: 12g)
- Protein: 6g
- Carbohydrates: 55g
Please take these numbers with a grain of salt—or maybe a grain of cinnamon sugar! These are just guides, and the real joy of eating these incredible Dessert Nachos With Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips is focusing on how delicious they are.
Print
Cinnamon Sugar Dessert Nachos
- Total Time: 25 min
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
A simple recipe for sweet dessert nachos using cinnamon sugar coated tortilla chips.
Ingredients
- 12 corn tortillas
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1 cup sliced strawberries
- 1/2 cup whipped cream
- 1/4 cup caramel sauce
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cut the corn tortillas into wedges, about 8 per tortilla.
- In a small bowl, mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon.
- Brush both sides of the tortilla wedges lightly with melted butter.
- Toss the buttered wedges in the cinnamon sugar mixture until coated.
- Arrange the coated wedges in a single layer on a baking sheet.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until crisp and lightly golden. Let them cool slightly.
- Arrange the warm chips on a serving platter.
- Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the chips.
- Top with sliced strawberries and a dollop of whipped cream.
- Drizzle with caramel sauce before serving.
Notes
- You can use store-bought cinnamon sugar tortilla chips if you prefer not to bake your own.
- Substitute other fruits like bananas or raspberries for strawberries.
- Warm the caramel sauce slightly before drizzling for a smoother flow.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 10 min
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 450
- Sugar: 45
- Sodium: 150
- Fat: 25
- Saturated Fat: 12
- Unsaturated Fat: 10
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 55
- Fiber: 3
- Protein: 6
- Cholesterol: 35
Keywords: dessert nachos, cinnamon sugar chips, sweet snack, tortilla dessert, easy dessert