5 No-Bake Summer Desserts When You Don’t Want To Light The Oven

They're so scrumptious they'll please both adults and kids alike.

By
Published August 02, 2024
Five colorful ice cream sodas with turquoise background
Photography by Linda Xiao (Prop Stylist: Maeve Sheridan; Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne)

Some of the simplest summer desserts stem from your own imagination — a mélange of peak summer berries for a refreshing colorful fruit salad or make-your-own-sundaes with assorted flavors and add-ins or create ice-cream sandwiches by lightly grilling brioche buns, filling them with any flavor and layering with strawberries. On the hottest summer days, I combine vanilla ice cream with quality orange sorbet, bringing me back to childhood memories of cooling off with a Creamsicle.

Leave your oven off and try these five no-bake recipes that will please your guests and refresh their palates.

Grilled peaches with drizzle

Grilled Peaches

Serves 6

6 ripe but firm peaches, skin on, halved, pits removed

Olive oil for brushing peaches before grilling

Sugar, butter and cinnamon, combined to taste

1. Brush peaches lightly with olive oil. 2. Grill on high heat until caramelized and golden.

3. Drizzle with butter mixture. Serve immediately.

Note: You can substitute honey for butter. Top with ice cream or ricotta cheese or add raspberries for a mock peach melba. Dot with fresh mint for color and accent.

Peanut butter fudge

Easy Peanut Butter Fudge

Adapted from Lidey Heuck, New York Times Cooking.

Yield: 50 pieces

2 sticks unsalted butter

1 cup smooth peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1. Grease an 8-inch-square pan with butter. Line with buttered parchment paper.

2. In a medium saucepan, heat butter and peanut butter without simmering, stirring until smooth (3-4 minutes).

3. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and salt.

4. Scrape the mixture into a large bowl. Gradually add and whisk the confectioners’ sugar until smooth.

5. Transfer the mixture to the pan, smoothing the top.

6. Press plastic wrap to the surface. Chill until set, at least 2 hours.

7. Cut into 1-inch squares and serve.

Chocolate Mousse Bars

Chocolate Mousse Bars

Recipe by Samantha Seneviratne.

Serves 24

Crust:

18 graham crackers

1 stick unsalted butter

2 tablespoons sugar

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Filling:

1-pound semisweet chocolate

3 cups heavy cream, chilled

2 teaspoons instant espresso

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Crust:

1. Line 9x12 baking pan with parchment paper with a 2-inch overhang.

2. Crush graham crackers into fine crumbs in a food processor or plastic bag.

3. In a medium bowl, mix crumbs, butter, sugar and salt.

4. Spread crumbs into prepared pan, pressing into an even layer.

5. Store in freezer.

Filling:

1. Place chocolate in a medium bowl.

2. In a small saucepan, heat 1 cup of cream, espresso powder and salt until hot but not boiling. Pour the mixture over the chocolate and let it stand for 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and whisk until smooth. Cool completely.

3. Whisk 2 cups of cream into stiff peaks using a mixture with a whisk attachment.

4. Add chocolate mixture and fold. Pour over a prepared crust, spreading into an even layer. Cover with plastic wrap. Chill for 2 hours until firm. Cut into squares. Serve plain, with ice cream or whipped cream.

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Sweet Corn Pudding

Recipe by Eric Kim.

4 Servings

The summer corn season is much too short. Make the most of it by serving it for dessert with recipes harking back to Cuba and Latin America.

3 ears fresh corn on the cob, shucked, cut into 3-inch pieces

3 cups whole or unsweetened oat milk

½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped, reserving seeds

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 large egg yolks

1. Combine corn, milk, vanilla bean and seeds, and salt in a medium saucepan.

2. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.

3. Immediately reduce heat to low. Cover partly with lid and gently simmer, stirring occasionally so milk doesn’t boil over, until fragrant with corn, 30 minutes.

4. Remove corn cobs and enjoy later as a snack.

5. You should have about 2 cups of corn milk. Add more, if needed.

6. In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, cornstarch and egg yolks.

7. Add about ¼ cup of the hot corn milk and whisk vigorously until smooth.

8. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and egg yolks.

9. Add cornstarch mixture to the large pot of corn milk and bring to a simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly until pudding thickens and bubbles, about 4 minutes

10. Remove vanilla bean.

11. If you have any lumps, pass the pudding mixture through a sieve set over a bowl, discarding any solids.

12. Spoon pudding into individual bowls and enjoy warm. If you prefer chilled, first press parchment paper over the pudding surface to avoid forming a skin. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Ice cream soda with cherry syrup

Ice Cream Sodas

Adapted from Melissa Clark.

Serves 6

1 bottle syrup (U-Bet chocolate highly recommended, or any fruit flavor)

2 bottles seltzer

2 pints ice cream

Fresh whipped cream or Cool Whip (optional)

1. Pour one to two inches of syrup into each tall glass.

2. Stir in seltzer until glasses are ¾ full.

3. Top with a scoop of ice cream such as chocolate syrup with vanilla (black and white), cherry syrup with almond and pineapple syrup with coconut.

4. Pass around straws.

Note: Instead of using syrups, you can offer a choice of sodas, such as root beer paired with vanilla ice cream (root beer float).

Do YOU have a favorite no-bake summer dessert? Let us know in the comments below.

Candy Schulman’s essays, health, and travel pieces have appeared in AARP, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Next Avenue, Oldster, Parents, Travel & Leisure, among others. She is a creative writing professor at the New School in New York City and a private writing coach. Learn more at www.candyschulman.com.