20 Healthy No-Bake Desserts That Are Simple and Delicious

Written by Michael Matthews

Chocolate Monkey Tails

If you love bananas, you’re in luck. The best healthy sweets start by sticking the fruit in the freezer, and there are countless ways to turn them into your favorite no-bake desserts.

Blending a frozen banana will give it a texture like ice cream, or putting them on a stick will turn them into popsicles.

Once you dip them in a nutty chocolate coating, roll the bananas in ice cream toppings like chopped nuts, sprinkles, and shredded coconut before sticking them in the freezer.

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Cheesecake-Stuffed Strawberries

For an alternative to chocolate-covered strawberries, don’t think outside the box – consider what can go inside those fresh berries.

Often cutting the top off of a strawberry will leave a little space inside, and if not, you can cut out some of the middle with a paring knife. Add sweetened cream cheese, and finish with graham cracker crumbs for the perfect bite.

In case you miss the chocolate, you can still drizzle some over the top, or experiment with making a chocolate cheesecake filling.

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Butterscotch Oreo Popsicles

These are real pudding pops. So while you’re not going to turn on an oven for this no-bake dessert, the mixture will need to be cooked in a saucepan on the stove.

This recipe starts the way many great homemade desserts do: by browning butter. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt half a stick of butter until it starts to bubble. Once the foam on top starts forming on the top, that means the fat is beginning to caramelize. Quickly transfer it to another container before it burns.

Now you have a great base for butter sauces, cookies, and anything butterscotch.

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Milk Chocolate Panna Cotta

Panna cotta is a quick pudding of cream, a touch of sugar, and gelatin – and like whipped cream, it’s guaranteed to improve everything it’s paired with, including chocolate.

This one uses Greek yogurt to achieve the luxurious texture without the fat, then adds a bar of chopped dark chocolate for irresistible flavor.

Panna cotta takes less than a half hour to make, not including the chill time, yet it tastes like a gourmet dessert.

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Giant No-Bake Protein Cookie

Sometimes the only thing that’ll make your day is a really big cookie. Yet one of those oversized bakery cookies can contain hundreds of calories.

If you’re going to fit a large snack into your meal plan, you need to make sure that cookie has some nutritional value – not just butter, sugar, and flour.

This giant cookie delivers big with the macros you’d want in a bowl of protein oatmeal. And you can reduce the added sugar to a teaspoon, if desired, by adding a few drops of liquid stevia.

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Death by Chocolate Icebox Cake

A simple refrigerator cake is made from thin, crispy chocolate cookies and whipped cream. This one takes the concept to another level by adding more than one type of chocolate. There are four, to be exact: chocolate graham crackers, chocolate mousse, dark chocolate ganache, and chocolate whipped cream.

It’s every bit as rich and decadent as a chocolate layer cake but without the need to bake or decorate. You don’t even have to make the whipped cream from scratch; if you’d rather grab a second container of Cool Whip, stir in cocoa powder.

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No-Bake Trail Mix Cookies

These five-ingredient cookies look like a million bucks, but they come together quickly with a food processor. And as sweet as they are, none of that sugar is processed.

These healthy cookies use a paste made of dried figs and raisins for the base, which gets mixed with cooked quinoa. You can also include any seeds and nuts that you would toss into a bag of trail mix. Shredded coconut on the outside stops these cookies from being too sticky to take on a hike.

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Lemon Cake Batter Truffles

Bite-sized cakes tend to start with a whole baked cake that’s cut down to size. But these cake truffles don’t require any baking.

The recipe still begins by beating together butter and sugar. Then cake mix, flour, lemon zest, and vanilla extract get mixed in to make the truffles instead of cake batter. A touch of milk makes them the right consistency for rolling into balls to coat with either white chocolate or almond bark.

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Apple Cinnamon Chia Seed Pudding

One of the easiest puddings to make from scratch doesn’t require gelatin, and you don’t have to cook the mixture over the stove to thicken it. Instead, chia seeds soak up most of the liquid and take on a texture like little tapioca pearls.

Most chia seed puddings are prepared cold and chilled in the fridge to set, but in this one, milk is heated before being stirred into the seeds. Top with anything you’d add to a bowl of oatmeal: fresh fruit, chopped nuts, raisins, or peanut butter.

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No-Bake Coconut Delights

If you love coconut macaroons, try this no-bake dessert made with shredded coconut and coconut oil. Aside from that, all you need are a few ingredients to boost the flavor, including vanilla extract and your sweetener of choice.

These are so good that they hardly need the drizzle of chocolate on top, but it’s worth the effort if you take the time to melt it. If you’d rather cut to the chase, mixing in a couple tablespoons of cocoa powder and 1/4 cup of cream cheese will turn these into chocolate coconut cheesecake bites.

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Roasted Blueberries & Cream Matcha Popsicles

These frozen treats taste even better than they look – and that’s really saying something because they’re stunning with frozen blueberries fading into creamy green tea. With matcha powder, coconut milk, and honey, these popsicles are an iced tea latte lover’s dream.

You can just mix in whole blueberries if you don’t want to stick them in the oven, but as a bonus, you can roast extra blueberries in honey to use as a topping for pancakes, oatmeal, or ice cream.

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Raw Fudge Chocolate Orange Brownies

To make a fudgy brownie, you don’t have to go to the trouble of turning on the oven. These no-bake brownies will satisfy the same craving for rich, dark chocolate – especially if what’s on your mind are those chocolate oranges that split into melt-in-your-mouth segments.

These raw brownies use a mixture of tree nuts and dates, but adding raw cacao and fresh orange captures that same flavor. And they’ll be ready to eat in just a half hour.

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No-Bake Royal Chocolate Biscuit Cake

Who knew making a chocolate cake that’s fit for the majesty could be this easy? You don’t have to turn on the oven, just melt chocolate and butter to hold together crushed tea biscuits in a baking dish.

Despite how unbelievably simple the concept is, this no-bake dessert is so delicious that the British royal family has been enjoying a similar chocolate cake for special occasions like weddings and birthdays.

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Avocado Lime Cheesecake Pie

When you think of avocado and lime, you might be craving guacamole and tortilla chips. But believe it or not, the flavor combo is just as awesome in a cheesecake.

Avocados make the perfect addition to the dessert menu because they’re naturally creamy and rich. To put this over the top, add a drizzle of habanero syrup, and try a walnut or pecan crust instead of graham cracker.

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Carrot Cake with Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting

You might think what transforms carrots from a vegetable into dessert is the baking process. However, this recipe goes to show that a raw carrot cake can be just as awesome. Not only that, but it’s easier to make and assemble.

This no-bake carrot cake starts with a mix of six ingredients, including oat flour, dates, and dried pineapple. What really makes it is a cashew frosting, which is slathered in the middle and on top for a unique layer cake.

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Orange Creamsicle Tarts

These no-bake tarts would look at home in any pastry case; yet they’re remarkably easy to make using a muffin tin.

First, combine dates, cashews, and coconut in a food processor to make the crust, and press that mixture into the muffin cups. Then, you basically make citrusy Greek yogurt with fresh oranges. Layer it in the tin, and freeze overnight.

The small size is great for everyday desserts, or this recipe can be used to make a larger tart to serve when you have guests.

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Raw Fudge

You don’t need to cook anything to enjoy creamy fudge at home. There are multiple ways to make more nutritious fudge, including unusual ingredients like black beans or sweet potato puree, but this recipe keeps it simple with cashew butter.

With that in mind, it’s not a low-fat fudge, although there’s no butter or heavy cream. It’s rich thanks to the combo of cashew butter and coconut oil, and yet there’s very little sugar with about one-quarter of what’s used in a traditional fudge recipe.

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Peach & Raspberry Pavlova Parfaits

A traditional pavlova would involve making meringue from scratch, but this recipe cuts down the work by using meringue cookies.

Normally to start a pavlova, you’d whip together egg whites and sugar for a long time until they turn fluffy enough to be a meringue, and then that gets baked for an hour.

For this quick version, simply beat together everything but the fruit and meringue cookies. Layer all the parts together in a dish, and dig in.

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Cheesecake Tiramisu Protein Pudding

We all get tired of protein shakes from time to time. When you can’t stomach another smoothie, make this amazing cheesecake pudding instead.

The ingredients are similar to what you’d add to a protein shake – Greek yogurt, ricotta, and protein powder – only the result is a creamy dessert. If you prefer another kind of protein powder, start with one scoop, and slowly blend in more until you reach the desired consistency.

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Grasshopper Protein Pie

Rather than crushing up cookies or graham crackers to make a quick pie crust, the base of this no-bake dessert is made of whole-grain cereal, whey protein, and coconut flour. Yet this low-fat pie is still indulgent with plenty of chocolate flavor – including the crust and chocolate pie filling.

This three-layer grasshopper pie is finished with a creamy mint mixture of Greek yogurt, Cool Whip, and crème de menthe. Luckily the bottle of liqueur won’t go bad if it’s stored in a cool, dry place, so it’ll be there next time you get a craving for chocolate mint.

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