No time to prepare a fancy dessert or too hot to turn on the oven? Go with a no-bake recipe! Choose from tasty treats made with baking chocolate or freshly picked fruit. Our favorite no-bake desserts look impressive on a plate and use wholesome, plant-based ingredients. Create a scrumptious dessert without needing professional tools (or an oven!). These no-bake recipes are short on heat, but big on flavor.

Cheesecake 

No-bake cheesecake is a classic dessert with a touch of elegance. A buttery graham cracker crust and smooth filling taste delicious on their own, but feel free to get creative and include decadent toppings. To create the crust, you need graham crackers and melted plant-based butter with some sugar.

The filling combines cream cheese with sugar and sour cream. Heavy whipping cream keeps the cheesecake light and airy while lemon and vanilla give it a deeper, brighter flavor. It’s easy to create a vegan chocolate ganache with chopped chocolate bars or dark baking chocolate and chilled coconut milk or cream. A touch of vanilla extract will create an even creamier flavor.

Top your cheesecake with fresh fruit slices or strawberry sauce. If you want to make your cheesecake plant-based, swap regular cream cheese and sour cream for quality vegan products. Non-dairy milk is another easy substitution, and a vegan cheesecake recipe featuring cornstarch will help hold the dessert together.

Lemon Bars 

Lemon bars offer a beautiful, bright flavor. They add personality to a spring or summer celebration, but they’ll also make for a refreshing after-dinner treat. Our favorite lemon bar recipes include a crumbly crust and a flavorful lemon filling. We like this vegan lemon bar recipe with a shortbread crust and delicious lemon curd. The shortbread crust includes almond flour and maple syrup or agave. Vegan butter adds a rich taste and helps add moisture and helps to form the shortbread. The lemon filling uses fresh lemon juice and lemon zest. Cornstarch helps to create a nice, thick curd. You’ll finish off the curd with sugar and vegan evaporated milk. Chill the bars in the refrigerator. The hardest part will be waiting patiently for that tangy lemon flavor!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

If you thought you couldn’t make a decadent chocolate dessert without baking, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with no-bake chocolate peanut butter bars! We recommend this vegan and gluten-free chocolate peanut butter bar recipe made with natural peanut butter and pure maple syrup. Coconut oil and vanilla extract add depth to the vegan chocolate, along with sea salt and almond flour.

After mixing the ingredients together for the peanut butter layer, you’ll fold in bits of chocolate and press an even layer into your baking pan. This portion will chill in the freezer while you make the chocolate layer. Once prepared, the chocolate will go on top, and you’ll freeze the bars for at least an hour. Once they chill and set, they’ll be ready to serve and enjoy. If you would like to add salty crunch and texture to your no-bake dessert, make it a pretzel peanut butter bar. Press a mini pretzel on top of each slice for a creative touch and a salty-sweet flavor.

Chocolate Fudge 

Chocolate fudge is an old-fashioned dessert everyone should try at least once. Its rich, fudgy flavor comes from non-alkalized cocoa powder with whole milk and butter. You’ll flavor the fudge with sea salt and granulated sugar. If you’d like, you can add a hint of vanilla. To make your fudge at home, grab a saucepan and a wooden spoon. You’ll cook your fudge ingredients, then flavor and cool them to room temperature. Finally, you’ll beat the mixture with a wooden spoon and spread it in a pan to set overnight. Once it’s completely cool, you can cut it into small squares to store or serve.

If you prefer to make plant-based chocolate fudge, it’s simple to create a delicious vegan recipe with most of the same ingredients. You still need cocoa powder and pure vanilla extract along with sea salt. In your vegan recipe, you’ll switch out your granulated sugar for powdered sugar and use vegan butter and plant-based milk instead of dairy milk. The process is the same as with traditional fudge and the taste is just as delicious. It’s so easy to make a big batch that you can share with friends.

No-Bake Chocolate Truffles

If you love the taste of chocolate ganache, you must make these no-bake dark chocolate truffles! They’re a rich, ganache-filled treat rolled in cocoa powder just like the French classic you get on holidays and special occasions. We love this recipe for no-bake chocolate truffles because the ingredients are 100% vegan.

To make these no-bake chocolate truffles, all you need are a few kitchen tools and vegan ingredients. Gather extra dark, high-quality chocolate bars to use in your recipe, along with full-fat coconut milk and non-alkalized cocoa powder. Vanilla extract helps to add flavor, but you can always use almond extract instead. Now grab a heat-proof bowl and a small saucepan. You’ll also need a spatula and a cookie scoop, along with shallow dishes and plastic wrap. Melt your dark chocolate bars by chopping them into pieces and placing them in your heat-proof bowl. Heat the coconut milk in your saucepan until simmering and pour it over the chopped chocolate.

You’ll let it sit for a few minutes and then add your vanilla extract and until the mixture appears glossy. Cover it with plastic wrap, and then immediately place in the fridge to chill and set for at least two hours. When your truffles are completely cooled, you can roll them in cocoa powder. Enjoy these heavenly bites chilled or at room temperature.

Chocolate Mousse 

Chocolate mousse is the perfect no-bake treat for a hot day. It also makes an elegant-looking dessert for serving at a lunch or dinner party. Our favorite chocolate mousse features bittersweet dark chocolate and a smooth texture. You can make your vegan mousse creamy with non-dairy milk and aquafaba. Create depth of flavor with vanilla extract and a pinch of sea salt.

To make the mousse, melt the bittersweet dark chocolate in a double boiler and cool to room temperature. Next, whip the aquafaba and fold a third of the mixture into the melted chocolate. Pour your oat milk over top of the aquafaba and chocolate. Combine the ingredients together to create a smooth ganache. Now fold the rest of the aquafaba into the ganache.

Pour into glass serving cups or ramekins and chill for at least three hours. Once completely chilled, feel free to top off with a garnish. Some of our favorites include roasted cacao nibs and shaved coconut. It also tastes great to top the dark chocolate mousse with berries or chopped nuts.

Create a Tasty No-Bake Treat 

No-bake desserts are fun and easy to whip up in your kitchen. Whether you need to make something fast or want to create a cool and refreshing treat, no-bake recipes are sure to satisfy everyone. Try making a unique dessert or choose a recipe that lets you practice new techniques. Whatever recipe you choose, you’ll love the way it tastes!