If you love your sweet treats but the thought of switching on your oven in this heat makes you want to melt into a sad puddle, we have just the thing for you: No-bake desserts.
These no-bake treats don’t take more than a few minutes to put together, and the most cooking you’ll be doing is stirring sugar or melting butter over the stove. Perfect for the inescapable heat, we say.
Another beauty of these recipes is that they make use of rather common food items that you are likely to own, so there’s no need to run out to get any hard-to-find ingredients that you’ll use only once before tossing away. Seasonal fruits like berries are the exception but you can substitute them for what’s available at your local supermarket.
Ahead, check out 10 gorgeously delicious no-bake recipes that we’ve put together for you to try your hands on. We promise there’s way more than no-bake cheesecakes in this round-up but we did find one that’s a definite must-try. Plus, it passes off more like a pie than a cheesecake!
1. Caramel Shortbread Pie
We promised you the best no-bake cheesecake ever, and here it is: Caramel Shortbread Pie. There’s something really hearty about a good old buttered shortbread. Paired with a cup of ice-cold Milo, it’s really the perfect dessert to enjoy on a hot summer’s day.
Adding caramel into the mix with a no-bake pie made out of these buttery, sugary goodies? Oh-so-heavenly. The rich crumbliness of the shortbread crust pairs like a dream with the equally rich but smooth caramel cream filling. This is pure magic for your taste buds on a hot afternoon, we say.
Get the recipe here.
2. Blackberry Ice Box Cake
Fancy a no-bake cake that’s not cheesecake? Yup, it exists! This one utilises a clever little trick: store-bought pound cake that you are likely to have in your freezer for comfort bingeing.
With all the ingredients ready, it’s just a matter of re-constructing a cake layer by layer, simply by using berries and jam for the fruit filling, and heavy cream and powdered sugar for the cream layers. So clever, and it comes together so beautifully too.
Tip: If blackberries aren’t in season, you could substitute them with fresh strawberries or blueberries and use strawberry or blueberry jam instead.
Get the recipe here.
3. Nutella Oat Crunch No-Bake Cookies
No-bake cookies have a bad rap for being a wee bit hard to set, resulting in wet, sad excuses for cookies. Not to worry though, this recipe yields perfectly chewy and chocolatey cookies that are absolutely anything but sad.
The best part has to be the bit of crunch from the cornflakes nestled inside, making for a wonderful surprise as you pop these babies into your mouth. Serve this alongside a cup of hot coffee, and you’ll get the best tea break combo ever.
Get the recipe here.
4. No-Bake Apple Crumble Cups
Does a sweet treat that tastes healthy automatically mean that it is healthy? Well, a dessert is still a dessert but we’ll leave that open to discussion.
While you debate that, you can whip up a batch of no-bake apple crumble cups topped with stewed apples. We promise we won’t tell anyone that the apple top is just concealing layer upon layer of heavenly sugared oat crumble.
Get the recipe here.
5. Chocolate Truffles
We’re not sure if homemade chocolate truffles definitely taste better than store-bought ones, but we can guarantee that they’re 100% more satisfying. This recipe yields decidedly decadent truffles made up of three types of chocolate with a creamy milk chocolate centre, a crispy dark chocolate shell with white chocolate drizzled all over. It’s the perfect posh post-lunch nibble, don’t you think?
Get the recipe here.
6. Chewy Peanut Butter Popcorn Bars
No, you’re not looking at your regular no-bake dessert bars. These are popcorn bars, which, if you ask us, are next-level awesome because popcorn has a universal appeal that promises extra fun with the extra crunch, no matter your age.
Making these bars is really simple: pop some corn, mix it up with corn or sugar syrup to make it stick, mix it up some more with vanilla essence and peanut butter, and press it all together in a pan.
Get the recipe here.
7. Peaches and Cream Pie
Does anything embody summer any more than peaches and cream? This summer staple sure is a winner when we are blessed with year-round tropical heat!
The trick to getting that perfect shortcake crust that will crumble in your mouth like heaven? You’ll want to do your best to crush the shortbread as finely as you can. A rolling pin over the shortbread in a zip-lock bag or a food processor will both work well for this.
And if you don’t fancy putting in so much work into making the sugared peaches from scratch, pop open a can of peaches and drain them well for a quick fix!
Get the recipe here.
8. No-Bake Coffee Date Walnut Slice
Turns out, the answer to our earlier question on whether desserts can ever be healthy is a resounding yes. With an ingredient list that gets five stars for being so clean and superpowered, you will feel zero guilt when you reach for slice after slice of this no-bake dessert.
Our hands-down favourite ingredient has to be the coffee-soaked Medjool dates, which sound like a match made in taste heaven (think honey-sweet dates paired with aromatic coffee). No secret tips here, you’ll just need a decent food processor to blitz all the ingredients together.
Get the recipe here.
9. Mini Lemon Meringue Pie
Yes, trust us when we say that you can make meringue pie without an oven. This recipe is a no-bake version that only requires minimal stovetop cooking to put together your lemon curd and meringue. As for the crust, which seems like it has to come right out of an oven? A simple matter of blitzed up graham crackers or digestive biscuits will do the trick!
Granted, meringue pies require a few more steps from bowl to plate, but this is about the easiest and quickest way to make this yummy treat without working up a sweat. Make these in cupcake tins for bite-sized treats that you can attempt to limit.
Get the recipe here.
10. Frozen Cappuccino Cups
If even iced coffee isn’t cutting it for you these days to beat the sweltering heat, there’s always the option of frozen cappuccino cups to cool yourself down. These creamy frozen treats are just the right amount of cold and sweet to beat the sleepy heat!
Plus, all you need is 15 minutes to put these fabulous no-bake desserts together and you’ve got yourself something delicious to hit that sweet spot.
Get the recipe here.
If you want to try your hand at making some desserts using only your microwave, check out these 25 recipes right here.
LATEST PRIVILEGES
