#no-bake
18 viral recipes tagged #no-bake.
-
Tiramisù — Classic Italian Coffee Dessert
Italy's most famous dessert: layers of espresso-soaked savoiardi under a cloud of mascarpone cream, dusted with bitter cocoa. No baking, no gelatine — just a silky zabaglione-style cream, good coffee and an overnight rest in the fridge. 'Tiramisù' means 'pick me up' — and it does.
italiandessertno-bake -
Brigadeiro — Brazilian Chocolate Fudge Balls
Brazil's essential party sweet: a simple fudge of condensed milk, cocoa and butter cooked until thick, cooled, rolled into balls and coated in chocolate sprinkles. No birthday (festa) is complete without them. Three ingredients, endlessly loved — soft, chewy, deeply chocolatey little bites.
braziliandessertno-bake -
Edible Cookie Dough
Soft, spoonable, brown-sugar-forward cookie dough built to be eaten raw — no eggs, with the flour heat-treated so it's genuinely safe. It tastes like the bowl you weren't supposed to lick, only better.
no-bakeegglessmake-ahead -
Cream Cheese Fruit Dip
This cream cheese fruit dip whips a block of cream cheese with marshmallow creme into a cloud-soft, tangy-sweet dip that clings to every strawberry and apple slice. Beating the cream cheese completely smooth before anything else joins it is the trick to a lump-free texture, and a splash of cream keeps it scoopable straight from the fridge. It comes together in about ten minutes and only gets better after a short chill.
dessertno-bakeparty -
No-Bake Energy Bites
These no-bake energy bites are chewy little peanut butter and oat balls studded with mini chocolate chips and boosted with fiber-rich ground flaxseed. Everything comes together in one bowl with no oven and no cooking, so you just stir, roll, and chill until firm. They land sweet but wholesome, and they hold their round shape thanks to the natural peanut butter and honey that bind the oats.
snacksno-bakemeal-prep -
Rice Krispie Treats
Rice Krispie Treats are the ultimate no-bake American classic: crisped rice cereal bound in melted butter and marshmallow, then cut into chewy, crackly squares. Loading the pan with extra marshmallows—most melted smooth, a handful folded in whole—gives you a soft, gooey center with melty pockets instead of a dense, hard bar. A minute of browned butter plus salt and vanilla keeps them from tasting flat and one-note sweet.
dessertno-bakeamerican -
No-Bake Cheesecake
A no-bake cheesecake is a chilled dessert with a buttery graham cracker crust and a creamy, tangy filling that sets in the fridge instead of the oven. The texture lands between a classic baked cheesecake and a mousse: dense and smooth, yet light enough to melt on the fork. Whipping the cream separately and folding it into softened cream cheese is what gives it that airy-but-sliceable body, no water bath or cracked top to worry about.
dessertno-bakecheesecake -
No-Bake Oatmeal Cookies
These no-bake oatmeal cookies are chewy chocolate-and-peanut-butter mounds that set on the counter instead of in the oven. A quick stovetop boil dissolves the sugar and cocoa into a glossy fudge that grips every oat flake, so the cookies firm up soft in the center with a light snap at the edge. The method works because that single rolling boil concentrates the syrup just enough to set the cookies as they cool, no baking required.
dessertno-bakecookies -
Shrimp Cocktail
Shrimp cocktail is the ultimate make-ahead appetizer: plump, sweet shrimp gently poached in a seasoned broth, then shocked in an ice bath so they snap with a cold, firm bite. Poaching instead of hard-boiling keeps the shrimp tender rather than rubbery, and chilling them thoroughly locks in a clean, briny flavor that plays against a bright, horseradish-spiked cocktail sauce. It comes together in about an hour and looks far more impressive than the effort it takes.
appetizeramericanseafood -
Homemade Mascarpone Cheese
Mascarpone is Italy's silkiest fresh cheese — a thick, spoonable cream with a gentle sweetness and none of cream cheese's tang. This version needs just heavy cream and a squeeze of lemon juice: warming the cream to 85°C lets the acid tighten its proteins into a lush, velvety curd, and an overnight drain through cheesecloth turns it dense enough to hold a peak. It costs a fraction of store-bought and tastes noticeably fresher in tiramisu, frostings, or simply spooned over berries.
italiancheeseno-bake -
Peanut Butter Fudge
Old-fashioned peanut butter fudge with a dense, melt-away texture and deep butterscotch-peanut flavor, made on the stovetop in about 20 minutes of hands-on work. Boiling brown sugar, butter, and milk for a full two minutes builds the classic candy structure, while beating in peanut butter and sifted powdered sugar off the heat keeps the fudge smooth and creamy instead of grainy. No candy thermometer required — just a timer and a sturdy spoon.
americandessertcandy -
Coffee Jelly
Coffee jelly is the beloved Japanese kissaten dessert: glossy, wobbly cubes of lightly sweetened coffee gelatin served under a cloud of softly whipped cream. Because the coffee is never boiled after the gelatin goes in, the cubes set crystal-clear with a clean, bittersweet espresso-like flavor instead of a dull, stewed one. It takes about 15 minutes of hands-on work — the refrigerator does the rest.
japanese-dessertno-bakemake-ahead -
Jello Shots
Jello shots are the classic American party dessert-drink hybrid: wobbly, brightly flavored gelatin spiked with vodka and set in individual two-ounce cups. The trick is balancing the liquid — a full cup of boiling water dissolves the gelatin completely, then equal parts cold water and chilled vodka keep the alcohol from cooking off while guaranteeing a firm, sliceable set. The result is a sweet, jiggly shot that tastes like the fruit flavor first and sneaks the booze in behind it.
partyno-bakemake-ahead -
Chocolate Éclair Cake
This no-bake icebox dessert stacks graham crackers with a fluffy vanilla pudding filling and caps it all with a glossy chocolate glaze, so every forkful tastes like a bakery éclair without the pastry work. As it chills overnight, the crackers drink up moisture from the filling and soften into tender, cake-like layers you can slice cleanly. A quick homemade ganache-style topping sets soft rather than stiff, so it cuts without cracking.
no-bakemake-aheadpotluck -
Watergate Salad
Watergate salad is the pastel-green potluck classic: a fluffy, no-bake blend of pistachio pudding mix, crushed pineapple, mini marshmallows, pecans, and whipped topping. The trick is stirring the dry pudding mix straight into the undrained pineapple first, so the juice dissolves and thickens it before anything fluffy goes in — that keeps the salad billowy instead of weepy. An hour in the fridge lets the marshmallows soften and the pistachio flavor bloom.
no-bakepotluckretro -
Ice Cream Sandwich Cake
This no-bake freezer cake stacks two layers of store-bought ice cream sandwiches with ribbons of fudge, caramel, and crushed chocolate cookies, all blanketed in fresh whipped cream. Because the sandwiches are already a perfect ratio of soft chocolate wafer to vanilla ice cream, every slice cuts into neat, bakery-style stripes with zero churning or baking. A quick mid-assembly freeze keeps the layers from sliding, so the finished cake slices clean instead of squishing.
no-bakefrozenmake-ahead -
Keto Chocolate Mousse
A dense, silky chocolate mousse that skips the sugar, the eggs, and the stove entirely — just whipped cream folded into a cocoa–cream cheese base. The cream cheese does double duty here: it stabilizes the mousse so it holds its swirl for days, and it adds a faint cheesecake tang that keeps all that cocoa from tasting flat. Fifteen minutes of active work, one hour of chilling, about 4 grams of net carbs per glass.
ketolow-carbno-bake -
Scotcheroos
Scotcheroos are the Midwest potluck classic: chewy, no-bake peanut butter crispy rice bars capped with a glossy layer of melted chocolate and butterscotch. Instead of marshmallows, the cereal is bound with a quick corn syrup and sugar mixture enriched with peanut butter, which keeps the bars soft and fudgy-chewy rather than sticky. The one trick that matters is pulling the syrup off the heat the instant it reaches a boil — that is what keeps them tender instead of tooth-breaking.
no-bakedessert-barspeanut-butter