41 No-Bake Desserts to Not-Bake Tonight
The outside temperature is creeping up the dial—which means your kitchen temperature is also on the rise. You wouldn’t dare turn on the oven. Time for some no-bake dessert recipes. But let’s paint another scenario: When you don’t have an hour to wait for a layer cake or pecan pie or chocolate chip cookies or some other last-minute dessert to cool? It’s time for a no-bake dessert. Or, when you just can’t deal with a complicated project, but a sweet treat is necessary: It’s time for a no-bake dessert. In essence, combine the phrases no-bake and dessert recipes, and you’ve got sweet, sweet magic.
Below you’ll find our best options for satisfying your sweet tooth, no preheating of any machinery required: That means no baking, no toasting, and no roasting of any food items, so you can keep your cool.
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Photograph by Isa Zapata, food styling by Pierce Abernathy, prop styling by Olga Grigorenko1/41Vegan Chocolate Mousse With Sesame Brittle
This ultra-chocolaty mousse, one of our favorite vegan no-bake desserts, is egg-free and dairy-free. Craving something airy to dollop on top? Coconut whipped cream to the rescue.
Photo by Emma Fishman, food styling by Kat Boystova, prop styling by Allie Wist2/41Classic Banana Pudding
Take it from Adrian in Columbus, Georgia: “Probably made this about 5 to 6 times now for various cookouts and summertime events; literally always a hit. I’ll keep making this banana pudding forever and ever.” Amen.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Judy Kim, Prop Styling by Stephanie De Luca3/41Spiced Marshmallow Popcorn Bars
This easy dessert idea takes the Rice Krispie treat—molten marshmallows have the ability to bind ingredients together like nothing else—and replaces the puffed rice with popcorn. Brilliant.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, food styling by Micah Morton, prop styling by JoJo Li4/41Brown-Sugar-Braised Pineapple
A big pinch of salt gives this sauce a butterscotch-like flair. We like the fruit with store-bought vanilla ice cream, but you could pair it with another flavor, like mocha or strawberry—or spoon it over pound cake, plain yogurt, or oatmeal.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling ing by Pearl Jones5/41A Giant Panna Cotta
This jiggly, wiggly dessert is also bigly. That is: It’s a large-format version of classic panna cotta, which is usually served in individual portions. Your party guests will love it—and so will you because there’s less to clean up.
Photograph by Bre Furlong, Food Styling by Emilie Fosnocht6/41Earl Grey Tea-ramisu
We call this no-bake recipe tea-ramisu because, in this riff on classic tiramisu, the ladyfingers are soaked in floral, citrusy Earl Grey tea instead of punchy espresso.
Photograph by Shawn Michael Jones, Prop Styling by Gerri Williams, Food Styling by Micah Morton7/41Glazed Funnel Cake With Fruit Confetti
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Prop Styling by Sean Dooley, Food Styling by Kendra Vaculin8/41Chocolate Magic Shell
Once you’ve gotten the hang of classic DIY Magic Shell, try experimenting with other flavors, such as tahini and white chocolate.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, food styling by Pearl Jones, prop styling by Marina Bevilacqua9/41Yogurt-Berry Paletas
Care for a little experiment? Make two blueberry compotes: one as is and another with a dash of whole coriander seeds. Then swirl each into half the yogurt mixture and freeze. The seeds will look like little sprinkles embedded in the pops—and make them taste more blueberry-y than those without.
Photograph by Scott Semler, Food Styling by Judy Kim, Prop Styling by Stephanie Yeh10/41Ginger-Lime No-Bake Cheesecake Bars
Like most cheesecake recipes, even though this one doesn’t involve baking, it’s fairly time-consuming. Plan accordingly—or cut some corners like reader Jonnidee from Arizona, who skipped the homemade lemon curd and used store-bought instead.
Photograph by Emma Fishman, food styling by Caroline Hwang, prop styling by Elizabeth Jaime.11/41Lush Vanilla Berry Pudding
Creamy pudding, fluffy whipped cream, crunchy wafers, and juicy summer berries: This no-bake dessert comprises all the best parts of banana pudding, pivoted for the anti-banana brigade.
Photograph by Emma Fishman, food styling by Caroline Hwang, prop styling by Elizabeth Jaime.12/41Milky Shaved Ice With Strawberries
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Spencer Richards, Prop Styling by Marina Bevilacqua14/41Chocolate Paradis With Almond Praline
Photograph by Scott Semler, Food Styling by Judy Kim, Prop Styling by Stephanie Yeh15/41Strawberry-Pretzel Ice Cream Pie
Celebrate strawberry season times three: with a layer of the best store-bought strawberry jam, scoops of your favorite strawberry ice cream, and a tumble of fresh berries.
Alex Lau16/41BA’s Best Key Lime Pie
Okay, you do need to turn on the oven, but only for the graham cracker crust—and if you purchase a premade one, we won’t tell. The rest can be done on the stovetop and the countertop. (Same goes for this peanut butter pie.)
Photograph by Emma Fishman, food styling by Pearl Jones, prop styling by Stephanie Yeh17/41Guava-Grapefruit Possets
Photograph by Emma Fishman, food styling by Susie Theodorou, prop styling by Aneta Florczyk18/41Ginger-Raspberry Icebox Cake With Caramel Cream
It’s hard to find a cake recipe that doesn’t involve baking, but not when you consider the category of summer desserts called icebox cakes. Usually made with some combination of cream, fruits, nuts, and wafers and placed in the refrigerator to firm up, this one relies on ginger cookies and fresh raspberries.
Photograph by Chona Kasinger, prop styling by Callie Meyer19/41Tibok-Tibok
The eggless pudding Tibok-Tibok (which translates to “heartbeat” in Tagalog) has an extra-rich chocolate flavor because it uses both Dutch-process cocoa powder and melted bittersweet chocolate.
Photograph by Scott Semler, Food Styling by Judy Kim, Prop Styling by Stephanie Yeh21/41Dark Chocolate-Espresso Ice Pops
Photograph by Scott Semler, Food Styling by Judy Kim, Prop Styling by Stephanie Yeh22/41Raspberry-Cardamom Yogurt Semifreddo
Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Sue Li, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski23/41Salted Chocolate Halva
In this no-bake recipe, we say the dried edible flowers (such as cornflowers or roses) are optional. But, when they make the dessert look like a Vogue-worthy, sophisticated version of Funfetti: Are they really?
Photo by Heidi's Bridge24/41Frozen Margarita Pie
Are you an orange-liqueur-in or orange-liqueur-out kind of margarita drinker? This creamy lime pie skips it, but a splash won’t hurt if you go the other way.
Photograph by Emma Fishman, food styling by Pearl Jones, prop styling by Stephanie Yeh25/41Coconut-Mango-Lime Barfi
One bowl, no-bake, and make-ahead-friendly? This South Asian dessert is all of those things—and it’s also chewy, tangy (thanks, mango purée), and fruity too.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Pearl Jones, Prop Styling by Beth Pakradooni26/41Tiramisù-y Icebox Cake
“What’s the difference between an icebox cake and an ice cream cake?” you ask. The former comprises layers of whipped cream, cookies or cake, and other elements that meld into a sliceable dessert. The latter...well, it has ice cream.
Photo by Peden + Munk28/41Bittersweet-Chocolate Truffles
This is a fun chocolate dessert for a dinner party. Set a bowl of chocolate ganache on the table with some spoons so guests can play a little game: Drag the spoons across the chocolate to make curls, toss the curls in cocoa, and then toss the cocoa-dusted curls into an open mouth.
Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Kat Boytsova29/41Chocolate-Almond Fridge Fudge
They may look like no-bake chocolate brownies, but these delectable little fudge squares are made with an ingredient that replaces dairy to create a no-bake vegan dessert. (Pssst…it’s avocado.)
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Thu Buser, Prop Styling by Gerri Williams32/41Raspberry Jell-O Salad
Important: To avoid a lumpy whipped topping, the cream cheese must be at room temperature. (Too cold and it won’t be smooth; too warm and the cream won’t whip.)
Photograph by Scott Semler, Food Styling by Judy Kim, Prop Styling by Stephanie Yeh34/41Root Beer Float Granita
Here the classic diner pairing of vanilla ice cream and root beer gets the granita treatment. By freezing the mixture in a baking dish and scraping it periodically with a fork, you’ll yield a refreshingly icy treat with a melt-in-your-mouth texture.
Photographs by Laura Murray, food styling by Simon Andrews, prop styling by Sophie Strangio36/41Cookies and Black Sesame Cream
It takes only five ingredients to make this ice cream, and while we chose chocolate wafers as our cookies for the mixture, you could also use Oreos or any chocolate cookie your heart desires.
Alex Lau37/41Lime Custards with Lychees
As the title says, there are no eggs in this custard; you just have to simmer heavy cream, sugar, and lime zest for five minutes, strain it, and chill it.
Photo by Heidi's Bridge, styling by Molly Baz39/41Chocolate Nutella Pudding
It’s hard to beat Nutella, but if you’re not down with palm oil, jam brand Bonne Maman released a chocolate-hazelnut spread that uses sunflower and rapeseed oils instead and works just as well here.
Alex Lau40/41Pretzel and Banana Truffles
A little bit salty and a little bit sweet, these “truffles” are a little bit like those chocolate-peanut butter no-bake cookies everyone loves. They are guaranteed to become your new favorite no-bake dessert.
Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott41/41Salted Black Licorice Caramels
A good no-bake dessert can save the day when you realize you forgot to get so-and-so a host gift. Case-in-point: homemade candies. Prefer classic sea salt caramels? We’ve got you.
