55+ No-Bake Desserts to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth

Meghan Splawn

updated Jun 16, 2022

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Credit: Brittany Conerly
Strawberry Oreo Icebox Cake

As we head into summer, it’s all about keeping things simple in the kitchen. With all of the allures of the outdoors beckoning us outside, you’re not always going to want to spend hours watching over your baked goods in the oven. In fact, during summer, turning on the oven can feel less than appealing as temperatures start to mount. This is where no-bake desserts come to the rescue.

Making simple no-bake desserts is such a pleasure. Whether you’re whipping up a batch of pudding or stacking up an icebox cake, no-bake desserts are the most satisfying of victories. You made it all the way to dessert without breaking a sweat! Here are more than 55 of our absolute favorite no-bake recipes, from cookies to puddings to pies.

Cookies, Bars, & Balls

These no-bake cookies, bars, and balls are incredibly easy to throw together, and they happen to taste delicious. These recipes are perfect for gifting friends and loved ones without having to over extend yourself in the kitchen.

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Easy No-Bake Chewy Granola Bars

We are big believers that homemade granola bars are superior to store-bought. You get more bang for your buck and you can tweak a recipe to fit your family’s needs.

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No-Bake Salted Chocolate Oatmeal Bars

A mash up of Rice Krispies Treats & granola bars, with a double layer of marshmallow coated oats with a dense slick of salted chocolate through the center.

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Banana Pudding Bars

A humble ode to its namesake, these bars are the kind of everyday treat you can whip up on a whim. This recipe harnesses banana flavor from banana chips rather than fresh bananas so that you can make this recipe ahead without the vanilla pudding discoloring.

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Coconut Snowballs

Sweet, yet not overwhelmingly so, these coconut snowballs have just the right balance of tender butteriness and textured coconut. They’re quick to assemble, require no baking, and are delightfully rich.

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Frozen 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter-Pumpkin Bites

You only need 3 ingredients for these frozen treats: chocolate-covered pretzels, pumpkin purée, and peanut butter!

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No-Bake Sesame Coconut Ginger Cookies

Moist and naturally sweet with gingery bite, these cookies contain just five ingredients (four if you don’t count salt) and couldn’t be easier to make.

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No-Bake Tahini-Date Energy Balls

These tahini energy balls have a flavor that's nutty and just sweet enough without crossing the line into dessert territory.

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No-Bake Peanut Butter Protein Cookies

These cookies are packed with high-protein ingredients like peanut butter, and naturally sweetened with banana and just a bit of maple syrup. A little chopped dark chocolate is mixed in — just for good measure.

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No-Bake Sunflower-Oat Bars

Vegan and gluten- and nut-free, these tasty no-bake bars are the perfect on-the-go breakfast or snack.

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Frozen Grapes and Granola Yogurt Bark

Yogurt bark is the most fun you'll have eating yogurt for breakfast. Topped with grapes and clusters of granola, it's like a sheet pan parfait.

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Yogurt Pretzel Bark

Take everything you love about yogurt-covered pretzels and turn them into this strawberry-filled yogurt bark. It's the perfect after-school snack.

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Bark

White and dark chocolate get swirled together to form the base (so pretty!), and a confetti of cookies, chopped walnuts, and mini chocolate chips is scattered on top. This is an easy homemade gift and a gorgeous addition to any dessert tray.

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Crock-Pot Chocolate Candy

The recipe is as simple as layering, melting, stirring and cooling: salty peanuts, sweet German chocolate, semisweet chocolate chips, and white almond bark are layered into the base of the slow cooker, where they melt into gooey, chocolate-y goodness for three hours.

Trifles, Puddings, and Jello Molds

Trifles! Puddings! Jello molds! Oh my! These desserts tend be a bit overlooked, but from classic butterscotch pudding to glow-in-the-dark jello shots, we have a feeling these recipes might just change that.

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Chocolate Trifle

This tiered dessert is equal parts elegant and easy, thanks to store-bought pudding, whipped cream, cake, and crushed cookies.

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Beginner's Guide to Layered Jello Molds

With a vibrant fruit layer bursting with juicy flavor and fresh fruit, and a rich and creamy layer made sweetened condensed milk, you’d hardly think we’d be talking about a jello mold, but we are.

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We don’t think that jigglers should be reserved just for the kiddos, and here’s why: You can set nearly any liquid into a gelled state with very little effort and serve layered juicy, fruity squares of flair for your next book club, cocktail party, or even a playdate.

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Quick Strawberry Trifles

If you’re ever cleaning out your fridge, freezer, and pantry, keep a trifle in mind. You don’t need cake scraps. Leftover birthday cake slices? Half a batch of brownies? Sugar cookies? Those will all work with a little fruit and whipped cream.

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Sparkling Fruit Jello Mold

This stunning, sparkling jewel of a jello mold is simply flavorful sparkling wine set with gelatin and studded with fresh fruit. It will make every guest at your brunch table ooh and ahh in delight.

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Peach-Rooibos Tea Fruit Gummies

Why is it that fruit gummies are marketed almost exclusively to kids? To remedy that, here’s a homemade gummy recipe with a tasty tea twist for grown-ups.

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Coconut Panna Cotta

Luscious, creamy, and velvety aren’t words we always associate with dairy-free desserts, but this coconut panna cotta is all that and even more. Lightly sweetened and set with just enough gelatin to make it stand, this dessert is supple and luxurious — like the best puddings — and almost effortless to make.

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Jello and Gummy Candy Fishbowl

Above all the things that jello desserts are — easy, tasty, and cool — they are without a doubt the most fun that any dessert can have. Case in point? This fish bowl jello mold.

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Glow-in-the-Dark Jello Shots

You might think that this requires some spooky alchemy, but the secret ingredient is so simple and easy: tonic water, which contains quinine that lights up under UV light.

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Red, White, and Blue Jello Mold

This red, white, and blue gelatin mold is full of real fruit juice and fresh fruit, and there's not a single box of flavored gelatin in sight.

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Quick & Easy Banana Pudding

Banana pudding is cool comfort food for a crowd. You likely have most of the ingredients on hand, it hardly heats up the kitchen, and a big batch takes just as little time as a small batch.

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Pumpkin Dessert Lasagna

This dessert lasagna has layers of gingersnap cookies, a spiced cream cheese mousse, and pumpkin pudding enrobed in a spiced whipped cream. The whole of it is drizzled with a quick caramel sauce so each bite is a magical mix of delicious flavors and textures.

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Peanut Butter & Chocolate Graveyard Dirt Cake

This recipe requires making two different puddings, but the hard part is being patient enough to wait for it to chill in the fridge.

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Vegan Chocolate-Almond Chia Pudding

This vegan chocolate pudding has a base that includes a double dose of almonds, cocoa powder, and maple syrup as the sweetener. Toasted coconut makes a fun garnish, but some fresh raspberries, pomegranate seeds, or a dollop of coconut cream would also be amazing.

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The Best Chocolate Avocado Pudding

This chocolate avocado pudding is as chocolatey and luscious as any other pudding, and it’s even richer-tasting, more unctuous, and even more chocolatey.

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Classic Banana Pudding

A classic Southern banana pudding made with a custard-based vanilla pudding, sliced bananas, Nilla wafers, and a whipped cream or meringue topping.

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Banana Pudding Sundaes

There’s one fatal flaw of an ice cream sundae that keeps it from being fodder for front porch fare: it melts! A simple solution is to swap the ice cream for cool creamy vanilla pudding and build a beautiful little parfait that can be eaten on the front porch, stoop, or balcony without fear of ice cream puddles.

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Vegan Chocolate Pudding Cups with Coconut Cream

There is a time and a place for desserts to be fussy and time consuming. However, weekday treats should be fast, easy, and completely delicious. Enter these vegan chocolate pudding cups.

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Butterscotch Pudding from Scratch

Keep your pie, your layer cake, your tiramisu, and your tortes. When it comes to dessert, there is one old-fashioned showstopper that we know will win hearts and minds every single time — and that is butterscotch pudding, made from scratch.

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Red, White, and Blue Trifle Go to Recipe

Pies

These pies are the perfect desserts for summertime. They look so impressive that people probably won’t even know that there was no baking involved.

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This sweet pie is made with a handful of basic ingredients you probably already have tucked away in your pantry.

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Chocolate Cream Pie

Oreo crust, a thick layer of creamy chocolate pudding, a dollop of light-as-air whipped cream, and a sprinkling of shaved chocolate make this silky-smooth chocolate cream pie an absolute dream.

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Creamy Pumpkin Cheesecake

The lively, familiar spices of classic pumpkin pie are balanced by the creamy goodness of a New York-style cheesecake.

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Easy No-Bake Cheesecake

This no-bake cheesecake is impossibly smooth without a hint of graininess, perfectly creamy and tangy, and complete with a buttery graham cracker crust.

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No-Bake Cream Cheese Pie with Summer Fruit

This pie is the ultimate summer dessert. It’s indulgent, yet light. It’s casual and simple, yet it doesn’t necessarily come off that way. It fits right in on the dessert table of your backyard barbecue, yet can hold its own at a dinner party.

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No-Bake Fat Elvis Peanut Butter & Banana Pie

There are very few cravings as strong as the combination of peanut butter and chocolate. Combine it with pretzels, bananas and salty goodness and what do you have? A no-bake Fat Elvis pie, that’s what!

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No-Bake Sheet Pan Lemon Yogurt Tart

There are few desserts quite as delightful as those bursting with bright, lemony freshness. That’s precisely why we’re big fans of this yogurt-filled play on lemon cream pie.

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No-Bake Berry Cheesecake Verrines

While this recipe does require a few minutes spent over the stove, it is completely worth it. Served in individual glasses, this creamy cheesecake custard is paired with a strawberry-raspberry gelee, all atop a graham cracker crust.

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Classic Banoffee Pie

Make no mistake — this British classic is a sweet slice, one that will make you fall back in love with toffee flavors and ripe bananas.

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Slow Cooker Cheesecake by Martha Stewart

A Most people associate Crock-Pots with thick, hearty stews or fork-tender cuts of meat. But the same principles that allow the flavors of a stock to build also apply to desserts made in the slow cooker. This cheesecake by Martha Stewart is the perfect example.

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Slow Cooker Chocolate Lava Cake

The slow cooker might seem like a peculiar choice, but the magic of this machine’s slow and even heating is that it delivers a moist and tender chocolate cake with a velvety molten center.

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Neapolitan Ice Cream Pie with Rice Krispies Crust

Layers of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream fill this cool, creamy, and playful pie.

Icebox Cake

Icebox cakes are the ultimate no-bake win. You get the best parts of a baked cake without nearly as much effort. Sounds like a win to us!

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Peach Delight Icebox Cake

Prosecco and mascarpone elevate this classic icebox cake and make it the perfect easy dessert for summer.

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Strawberry Oreo Icebox Cake

In this easy no-bake dessert, Oreo cookies and sweet strawberry slices are layered with cookies-and-cream whipped cream.

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No-Bake Strawberry Icebox Cake

This icebox cake is just as simple as it gets, inspired by the buckets of strawberries at the markets in late spring. It has layers of graham crackers, barely sweetened whipped cream, and sliced fresh strawberries. It’s rich, but it’s hardly sweet at all. It is cool, creamy, and killer good. We promise.

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Matzo Icebox Cake

This ice matzo icebox cake is inspired by the iconic black and white cookie, which boasts the perfect balance of chocolate and vanilla and looks visually striking, too.

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No-Bake Boston Cream Pie Strata

It looks and tastes like a dessert casserole, but it spends no time whatsoever in the oven. It is an icebox cake composed of layers of graham crackers and fresh, homemade vanilla pudding, topped with fudge frosting.

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Key Lime Icebox Cupcakes

A cheesecake-meets-key-lime-pie filling makes these no-bake cuties the perfect light and refreshing dessert.

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Icebox Cake

The most over-the-top ode to peanut butter & chocolate comes to life in this stunning no-bake cake. If you love Reese's cups or buckeyes, this is for you.

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Easy Rainbow Icebox Cake

All the flavors you know and love from icebox cake — soft, chocolatey wafers and cool, lightly sweetened whipped cream — are made more magical with a little food coloring and sprinkles.

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Mango Coconut Icebox Cake

Whipped cream—heartened up by cream cheese, and sweetened by cream of coconut (the secret ingredient!)—is layered with graham crackers and fresh sliced mango. Rum is optional but we wouldn’t do without it, personally.

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Lemon Cream Icebox Cake

This lemon cake is super simple: Whip cream with fresh lemon zest and lemon juice, then layer it together with lemon curd, and graham crackers. It’s intensely lemon-flavored, but the nutty, browned-butter taste of the graham crackers supports the brightness of the lemon.

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Famous Chocolate Icebox Cake

This classic chocolate icebox cake is the perfect recipe for switching things up from your usual birthday cake. They're so simple and the end result is so delicious.

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