Homemade desserts can be intimidating. A lot of them involve baking, which is really a cross between engineering and chemistry, no matter how easy some people make it look.
Or they take up more time than many of us have. This list of easy dessert recipes gives you plenty of quick and simple dessert solutions.
Note: cupcakes are one type of dessert that’s quick and easy to make, and we’ve got your cupcake recipes right here. But your sweet tooth probably can’t survive on nothing but cupcakes.
So here’s a collection of easy dessert recipes that don’t require much work from you – most of them are fast, too.
Easy Dessert Recipes
1. Banana Coffee Ice Cream Sundae – just a little sophisticated ice cream dessert I like to throw together once in a while.
2. Rolo Pretzel Turtles – It’s made out of Rolo candies! This is the dessert some of you have been waiting for all your lives!
3. Silky Chocolate Pudding – SmittenKitchen has a fantastic recipe that’s not too heavy or rich – or sweet. But don’t worry – the calories are there!
4. M & M’s Cheesecake Squares Recipe – little individual-sized cheesecake squares with M & M’s between the crust and the cheesecake itself.
5. No-bake Vanilla Cheesecake with a Thin Mint crust – uses Thin Mint type cookies (like the ones Girl Scouts sell) to make the crust
6. Cinnamon Coffee Bars – these aren’t for having with coffee, they’re actually made with coffee! Chewy, gooey deliciousness.
7. Pumpkin Streusel Squares – easier than pumpkin pie, but similarly tasty and fun
8. Fried Cinnamon Strips – inspired by churros, a type of “Mexican donut” sold by street vendors
9. Easy Fudge Brownies – just a very simple brownie recipe that’s quick and easy
Related: Homemade Butter Mints Recipe
10. Amaretto Mousse – uses amaretto liqueur, but you could use any other liqueur you want, and the results will be very predictable. Yum!
11. Pistachio Ambrosia – ambrosias are a long time standby of busy people. It’s just a fruit salad with nuts, chilled with a creamy topping
12. Easy Peach Cobbler – an authentic peach cobbler recipe that’s easy and quick enough to make on the fly
13. Apple Plum Streusel – Golden Delicious apples and plums baked in together
14. Butterfinger Cheesecake Bites – cooks Butterfinger candy bars into little individual-sized cheesecakes
15. Coconut Peach Crunch Pie – a peach filling pie topped with a coconut crust
16. Self-frosting Chocolate Fudge Cake – if only all cakes were as smart as this one!
17. Easy Coffee Cake Recipe – if you can bake at all, out of a box, you can make this cake.
18. Southern Style Rice Pudding – not many steps for this traditional Southern favorite
19. Dirt Dessert – made in a flower pot so it actually looks like you’re serving guests dirt from a potted plant!
20. Double Lemon Delight – a wonderful recipe for lemon cookies
21. Basic Vanilla Cake – like it says, basic, but a classic
22. Easy Southern Banana Pudding – a traditional American dessert, using Nilla wafers and sliced bananas to dress up what would otherwise just be instant putting
23. Easy Butterscotch Dessert – Butter. Nuts. Some other stuff, and you can throw this all together easy-peasy
24. No-bake Peanut Butter Squares – makes some use of the microwave to avoid baking.
25. Death by Chocolate – super intense chocolate flavor will shock you
26. Easy Chocolate Fondue Recipe – whip up a simple fondue chocolate recipe, then dip anything you like in it
27. Fifteens – graham crackers, cherries, marshmallows and coconut shavings
28. Vanilla Sugar Cookies – quick and easy, with a light and wonderful taste
29. Baklava – easy, but authentic and delicious
30. Easy Ice Cream Dessert – basically, you’re making your own cookies and fudge ice cream out of whatever ice cream flavor you like
31. Almond Bark Drop Cookies – white chocolate almond bark, marshmallows and peanut butter make a surprisingly great cookie!
