No-Bake Desserts – Recipe Roundup

When it is too hot to turn on your oven, but you still want a sweet treat, this No-Bake Desserts Recipe Roundup has a delicious variety of frozen sweets, creamy pudding, easy dessert bars, and no-bake cakes.

No-Bake Desserts For Summer

Let’s face it – sometimes it’s just too flipping hot out to turn on the oven!  But that shouldn’t mean you can’t have a delicious dessert.  Even when the thermometer reaches 100 degrees, making dessert is still easy to accomplish without having to turn on the oven.

This No-Bake Desserts Recipe Roundup has a great variety of sweet treats that are easy to make and require your fridge or freezer to do all of the heavy lifting.  And while there are a few recipes that may need a little help from your cooktop – like the pudding recipes – most of the recipes in this roundup only need a couple mixing bowls to get you started.

Flavors Highlighted In The No-Bake Desserts Recipe Roundup

Considering it is summer, most of the recipes in the roundup feature seasonal fruits and classic flavors of summer:

• Berries and Cherries
• Sweet Corn
• Chocolate
• Vanilla
• Lemon
• Lime
• Orange
• Watermelon

So, to kick things off, we start with my favorite kind of dessert – Smooth and Creamy Custards and Puddings.

No-Bake Cakes, Cheesecake, and Bars

Not every cake has to be baked.  Though, you may have already figured that out given this is a No-Bake Desserts Recipe Roundup. 🙂  One of the common ingredients in most of the no-bake cakes on the list is cream cheese.  No-bake cheesecakes offer the perfect foundation to make a cake that has layers of flavors and textures.

• Creamy Filling – Whether it is cream cheese, whipped cream, or a combination of both, the technique to make these no-bake cakes will ensure you have a sturdy cake to slice.
• Fresh Fruit Flavors – Whenever I can impart fresh fruit and flavor into a dessert, I will.  Especially when we get to work with the bright and vibrant seasonal fruits!
• Cookie Crust – I guess it wouldn’t be a cake without some kind of crust, or cake-like texture.  So whether it is a graham cracker crust or cookies layered between creamy filling, these cakes all have some kind of ‘crunchy’ texture.

Helpful Kitchen Tools To Make No-Bake Desserts

Even though the no-bake desserts in this roundup don’t require the oven, you still need a few kitchen essentials to assemble your delicious dessert.  Below is a list of some of my go-to kitchen tools and accessories I use to make these desserts.

A few helpful cake pans and tools you may want to gather to make your no-bake desserts:

• 6-Inch Springform Pan
• 4-Inch Springform Pan
• 6-Inch Square Cake Pan
• 6-Inch Round Cake Pan
• Serving or Parfait Glasses
• Hand Held Mixer
• Mixing Bowls

Ice Cream And Frozen Treats

Not only do you not need an oven for the recipes in this roundup, you also don’t need an ice cream maker!  The homemade ice cream in this line-up is all no-churn with only a few ingredients required.  And to give you a little diversity with the ice cream, there are dairy and dairy-free recipes.

I have found the easiest way to make no-churn ice cream is to combine two two key ingredients:

• Heavy Cream
• Sweetened Condensed Milk

This, of course, is for dairy ice cream.  And after a few test batches and a couple sugar coma’s later, I landed on great substitutions to make creamy, not-icy, dairy-free ice cream:

• Unsweetened Canned Coconut Milk – I cannot reiterate enough, this is the full fat, coconut solids you find in a can of coconut milk.  Not carton coconut milk!
• Dairy-Free Yogurt – This adds a creamy texture, and a little extra sweetener.
• Sweetener – You can go refined sugar-free, or vegan with your sweetener.

Refreshing Beverages

I realize a cool beverage may not be your typical post-BBQ dessert, but these drinks are worthy enough to make a list of light and refreshing summer treats.  A couple lemonade recipes and a couple frozen drink recipes, and you have yourself a beverage that will help cool you down on those 100 degree days!

Ingredients You May Need For No-Bake Desserts

I gave you a small, helpful list of kitchen tools to make these desserts, so it only seems fitting I provide a short list of key ingredients in all of the recipes in this no-bake dessert roundup.  Nothing too fancy, but worthy of putting into a list just in case you need to make a run to the grocery.

• Fresh Seasonal Fruit
• Cream Cheese
• Heavy Cream
• Unsweetened Canned Coconut Milk
• Dairy-Free Yogurt
• Eggs
• Unflavored Gelatin
• Sugar / Powdered Sugar
• Chocolate / Chips
• Cookies / Graham Crackers

There are a few desserts left off the No-Bake Desserts Recipe Roundup, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t perfect for summer.  Should you find yourself with a cooler morning (or evening), and a hankering to turn on the oven, below are some of my favorite summer dessert recipes.

More Summer Dessert Recipes

• Chocolate Stone Fruit Cobbler – Mini Dessert
• Strawberry Shortcake Mini Cake – Gluten Free
• Cherry Almond Galette For Two
• Peach Mousse Trifle