53 Easy Desserts to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth
There are times when, feeling ambitious, the idea of rolling up your sleeves and getting lost in a weekend baking project sounds fun. Other times, easy desserts—the kinds that immediately meet your sugary needs—are all you can fathom making. Something sweet must appear, ASAP, your body tells you. (Or maybe it’s your heart talking. As they say, the heart wants what it wants.) For those latter moments, here’s a collection of desserts that come together with minimal active prep and cooking times. From brownies and one-bowl cakes to simple ice cream sundaes and three-ingredient truffles, this list contains 53 ways to make something satisfyingly sweet—right now.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne1/52Molten Double Chocolate Mug Cake
Mug cake isn't exactly the prettiest of easy desserts, but does that matter when it’s this gooey-rich and comes together in just three minutes?
Photo by Matt Russell2/52Candied Pumpkin With Tahini and Date Syrup (Kabak Tatlısı)
Candied pumpkin is a popular sweet in Turkey, where it can either be cooked on the stove or in an oven. This recipe goes with the oven method for ease and speed.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Judy Haubert3/52Vanilla No-Bake Cheesecake With a Chocolate Cookie Crust
If you are new to no-bake cheesecakes, welcome to a world without cracked cake exteriors or over-baked interiors. There's no baking here, just refrigerating.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Michelle Gatton5/52Blackberry and Chocolate Ice Cream Icebox Cake
This dish looks more complicated than it is. Really, if you have the time to whip some cream, you can throw together this no-bake dessert. (Also available in peach and pecan or raspberry-pistachio.)
Photo and Styling by Joseph De Leo6/52Plátanos Horneados con Crema y Queso (Baked Banana With Crema and Cheese)
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne7/52PBJ Thumbprint Bars
These blondie-like bars are flavored with peanut butter and dotted with pools of jam and toasty chopped peanuts. Finish the batch with a drizzle of melted white (or dark, or milk) chocolate.
Photo by Kimberley Hasselbrink9/52Summer Berry-Coconut Milk Ice Pops
This jammy mash-up of blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries with coconut milk and cardamom beats vanilla ice cream any day.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton10/52Hot Water Peach Cobbler
The method here is a bit unusual: Dress juicy peaches with lemon zest, then smear the batter on top, followed by a dousing of sugar and hot water. The result is a crackly crust unrivaled in the world of cobbler recipes.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton11/52Microwave Coconut Sticky Rice With Mango
Coconut sticky rice needn't be intimidating. As Pepper Teigen, also known as model and cookbook author Chrissy Teigen’s mother, will show you, all you need is a microwave.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich13/52Lemon Curd
Lemon curd can be made with pantry staples, and this easy recipe calls for nothing beyond lemons (the juice and the zest), sugar, butter, and eggs.
Photo by Linda Xiao14/52One-Bowl Ricotta Olive Oil Pound Cake
No need to wait around for butter to soften for this citrusy one-bowl olive oil cake. It's also perfect in any season: Serve it with berries in summer, plums or figs in the fall, a citrus salad come winter, or poached rhubarb in spring. Or, skip the fruit and have it with a nice cup of tea.
