Escape the Summer Heat With These 13 No-Bake Desserts (Featuring Candy!)

If there are two things in this world we love, it’s summertime and baking delicious desserts. Unfortuantely, the two do not go well together. Just turning on that oven can make the kitchen unbearably hot. That means turning up the AC, big time, which means a big time spike in your energy bill. And who wants that?

Yes, in many cases the desserts are worth the downside. But there are alternatives. You can have delicious desserts without having to flip on that oven. Interested, you say? That’s what we thought.

Have a gander at these 13 no-bake dessersts. The only bad part is choosing which one you’ll make first.

Peanut Butter Puffs Bars

As a child of the late 80s and early 90s, I distinctly remember the introduction of Reese’s Peanut Butter Puffs cereal. The moment my sister and I saw the commercial we demanded — in no uncertain terms — that Mom put it on the grocery list. Mom, who knew how to pick her battles, acquiesced. Dessert for breakfast it was.

Eventually we got sick of the peanut-butter-flavored sugar puffs and moved onto the next cereal fad. (Or we just went back to our old faithful, Cinnamon Toast Crunch.) Erin from Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts has repurposed those Reese’s Puffs for a delectable no-bake dessert. They’re wonderfully crunchy and full of peanut butter goodness.

Check out the recipe at Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts.

Golden Oreo Truffles

If you look at that picture and think anything other than, “OMG, I have to make those.” we seriously question your dedication to sweetness. Sure, they won’t help much with your dieting needs — it’s impossible to eat fewer than a dozen in a sitting, in our experience — but these Oreo truffles will make you forget about the word “diet”.

The craziest part: they require only four ingredients! How in the world can something so delicious be so simple? To be fair, there is one complicated part: combining the cream cheese and Oreo’s. Sally prefers a stand mixer, which sadly not everyone owns. A hand mixer could help, but chances are you might need some serious elbow grease to make these. Believe us, though: they will be easily worth the effort.

Find the four-ingredient magic at Sally’s Baking Addiction.

Butterfinger Pie

The part of this recipe we love the most: there aren’t any leftover ingredients. It calls for 12 oz. total of Cool Whip, 8 oz. cream cheese, and 24 Oreo cookies. You can find packages with exactly that amount. (NOTE: In the case of Oreos you’ll typically get more than 24, but you’ll make up the difference snacking on them while you make this.) Everything else, including the peanut butter, is likely something you have in the pantry.

Michelle from Brown Eyed Baker instructs you to use 10 Fun Size Butterfinger candy bars, and with good reason. She notes that the pie is great for using leftover Halloween candy. Apparently her kids do not have the same reaction to Butterfingers as I did, which was to hide them in a drawer so no one could get to them. You can pretty easily replicate this recipe with four or five full-sized bars.

Find the recipe at Brown Eyed Baker.

Deep-Dish Peanut Butter Snickers Pie with Salted Caramel

Do you have one of those friends who sticks to a diet no matter what? You could be at the most decadent restaurant in town, but they’ll still order a burger with no bun. Yeah, you know the type. They might seem to possess superior discipline, but there is a way to break them. It’s exceedingly simple, actually. Just show them a picture of this pie and watch them break every facet of their diet.

The only downside: they might hog the whole thing, leaving very little for you. It’s amazing what sweets-deprived people will do when presented with this pie. Maybe it’s the Snickers topping. There’s really nothing better. That is, until you get to the salted caramel sauce that brings everything together. Averie, the creator of this masterpiece, uses a lot of low and no-fat ingredients. When dealing with something this, why skimp? Go full-fat!

There’s a challenge here: can you scroll past the delicious pictures to get to the recipe? You can only find out by going to Averia Cooks.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Rice Krispies Treats

When I was growing up, my sister and I always made Rice Krispies treats in the summer. First, it kept us occupied, giving our poor mother a break. Second, it gave us something to chomp on when we wanted something sweet. Third, it was something tasty that didn’t require Mom to turn on the oven. If only we’d known about this recipe. I don’t think we’d have ever made regular Rice Krispies treats ever again.

The combination of the creamy peanut butter with the peanut butter cups makes this one of the most peanut-buttery desserts on this peanut-butter-heavy list. Actually, we recommend using even more peanut butter cups than prescribed. You really can’t have too many. Also, we wonder if melted marshmallows might work better than the corn syrup. Just a thought, and a throwback to the old days of making Rice Krispies treats.

Find the recipe over at Six Sister Stuff.

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

What is this? Oatmeal? That doesn’t sound like a very delectable treat. Hold on just a second there, bucko. We’re talking no-bake desserts here, which makes cookies pretty difficult. We have pies and bars and cheesecakes and truffles, but cookies are a rarity. Aren’t cookies baked by definition? No, we argue they are not. You just have to get creative. These chocolate oatmeal cookies are as creative as it gets.

They’re surprisingly simple, too. Just bring the butter, sugar, and cocoa to a boil with the milk. Then you throw in everything else. Once they’re cool, you’re left with a delicious and portable snack. And yeah, they rank among the healthier desserts on this list, if that’s your thing.

Find the whole, simple recipe at One More Moore.

Nutella Cheescakes

Once you’re done staring at that photo — it really is a marvel — you can get started on making these simple Nutella cheesecakes. Seriously, you don’t need much to get going; just a dozen Oreos for the crust. Maybe you have that many in the pantry…but we won’t blame you if you don’t!

Other than that, you need just the basics: cream cheese, Cool Whip and (of course) Nutella. Since you’re only using 2/3 of a cup, you’ll have plenty left over. To eat out of the jar. With a spoon. Don’t worry: there is no judgement here.

Get started by heading to My Baking Addiction.

Twix Cheesecake Pie

If you’re a cookies and caramel person (who isn’t?), you’ll love this Twix cheesecake pie. We’re actually glad that Tracey at The Kitchen is My Playground went with a generic cookie pie crust, rather than including instructions for a custom Oreo one. Still, you could very well do that, and you would be pleased with the results. She also makes the caramel ice cream topping optional, to which we say: in whose world? Microwave up a jar of that and drizzle it all over your cheesecake pie. You deserve it!

We strongly suggest you check out the recipe at The Kitchen is My Playground.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Kit Kat Crunch Bars

You know we love a blog when it appears twice in a roundup post. We actually try to avoid that. Spread the love, you know? But when searching for some Kit-Kat no-bake desserts we just couldn’t turn away from this one. So here it is, another decadent recipe from Averie.

This recipe really has it all. It only starts with the Kit-Kats. Averie brings some more crunch with Rice Krispies, which really spice up the base. There’s also plenty of peanut butter — about a cup and a half, if you interpret “heaping cup” the way we do. Add in some sugar, and you’re set. Just don’t turn around, or someone might snatch them all up.

Again, you can get the recipe at Averie Cooks, if you can bring yourself to scroll past all the pictures.

Kit Kat Cups

Once we read the recipe, we looked back to the post title, and thought, “What gives?” Yes, it’s nice that there are only three ingredients in these babies, but where are the Kit Kats?!?!?!?!?! No, these Kit Kat cups do not have Kit Kats in them, which steamed us at first. Until we made them, that is. Now we’re begging for forgiveness.

You might not think that Ritz crackers go well in a dessert. You would be mistaken. The truth is that Ritz crackers are relatively sweet. Let one sit on your tongue and it might taste like sweet butter. So wrapping them in chocolate sounds like a great idea upon further consideration. Best of all, this will take you all of half an hour, and that includes time in the fridge to set them.

Enjoy the greatness over at HeathersDish.

Robins Eggs Cheesecake

If a dessert recipe is good for Easter, chances are it’s good for any time of year. After all, Easter might be the second-greatest holiday for candy. You can’t beat Halloween, but Easter has all kinds of associated candies. You have your chocolate bunnies, your jelly beans, and, if you’re like us, your Robins Eggs — those delicious malted milk balls.

Bless you, Barbara, for creating these mini cheesecakes with Robins Egg toppings. They do take a little work: there’s a lot of setting aside to set. But once you have the finished product you’ll wonder why anyone would confine these treats to a single time of year. Enjoy them any time.

Get the whole recipe at Barbara Bakes.

Milky Way Brownie Bites

Wouldn’t you believe it: There just aren’t many no-bake desserts using Milky Way bars. While we love Milky Way, we get it. The entire bar is pretty much no-bake itself. Which — wait a minute. Can’t we just include a Milky Way bar recipe in this roundup? Yes, yes we can.

(Note: We’re cheating a little here, since you have to bake the brownies. To circumvent this, we suggest just buying a pan of brownies.)

This one is a bit involved, and you’ll have to melt some stuff in a double boiler. Sure, you could use a microwave. But everything melts so much more evenly in a double boiler. If you don’t have one, you can just use a metal mixing bowl. Set it above a pot of boiling water, and bam, instant double boiler. Seriously, once you do it that way you’ll never go back to melting in the microwave.

Get the whole recipe at Crazy for Crust.

Tootsie Roll Acorns

We finish this roundup with a simple treat to end all simple treats. We love Tootsie Rolls, but have always thought they lacked something. A treat that soft could always use some crunch. Well, Tootsie Pops, duh, right? Not so fast. While they are certainly great, and it does take only three licks to get to the center, sometimes you don’t want a sugary fruit-flavored crunch.

Nilla wafers, though? Yes, that sounds about right. Add in some chips, both chocolate and butterscotch, and you have just the tastiest treat. The only twist in this recipe is that it calls for a culinary torch. We’re sure you can find a suitable alternative. Also, the microwave actually makes sense in this recipe, since you’re just softening the Tootsie Rolls, rather than melting them.

Check it out at Amy’s Healthy Baking.