Desserts
No-bake Oreo cheesecake
No-bake Oreo cheesecake with a crunchy cookie base and cream cheese filling. A 20 cm tin makes 12 slices after at least 6 hours in the fridge.
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20 homemade desserts, baked and no-bake
Sometimes you want chocolate; sometimes a comforting bowl of rice pudding. These 20 desserts offer something for your mood, equipment and available time, from chilled cups to cakes for sharing and cookies to go with coffee.
Choose a method first. The first group needs no oven, although some recipes use the stove and many need chilling or freezing. The second brings together oven-baked cakes, apple tart and caramel flan; the third has cookies, alfajores, muffins and stovetop pancakes. There are easy recipes and moderately challenging classics.
Check the total time before starting. The ice cream takes 15 minutes to blend, but still needs freezing and softening time; tiramisu and cheesecakes also need to rest. Each recipe has quantities, step photos, adjustable servings and a shopping list. Decide when you want to serve it before choosing.
Selected by chef Néstor Bastidas
No-bake desserts: creamy, chilled and spoonable
Eight ideas that need no oven. No-bake does not mean no cooking or waiting: check each recipe for stove, refrigerator and freezer requirements.
Desserts
Strawberry Cottage Cheese Ice Cream Without a Machine
Make strawberry cottage cheese ice cream with honey and vanilla, no ice cream maker. Step photos, full freezing time and tips for easier scooping.
Desserts
Mango sago with coconut and tapioca pearls
A chilled dessert of ripe mango, coconut milk and small tapioca pearls, topped with diced fruit. Creamy and oven-free, with chilling time included.
Desserts
Rice Pudding
Creamy Spanish-style rice pudding with a cinnamon stick, lemon peel and sugar, cooked slowly over low heat. Serves 6, ready in 80 minutes.
Desserts
Avocado Chocolate Mousse Cups (No Cream, No Eggs)
Creamy chocolate mousse made with ripe avocado, unsweetened cocoa, dark chocolate and honey, with no cream or eggs. Ready in 20 minutes and served chilled in small cups.
Desserts
Dark chocolate truffles with cocoa
Dark chocolate, cream and butter ganache with a thin cocoa coating: twenty pieces and complete chilling times.
Desserts
No-bake pistachio and chocolate cheesecake cups
Biscuit crumbs, a soft cream cheese and pure pistachio filling, and a thin chocolate topping make six spoonable desserts. Prepare them ahead and chill for at least four hours.
Oven-baked cakes, apple tart and caramel flan
Six classics to slice and share. Allow for baking, cooling and, for flan and tres leches cake, resting in the refrigerator.
Desserts
Chocolate Cake with Ganache
Moist homemade chocolate cake made with cocoa, baked in a 22 cm pan and covered with glossy chocolate ganache. Serves 8.
Desserts
Homemade tres leches cake with whipped cream
Make a moist tres leches cake with vanilla sponge, a creamy three-milk soak and whipped cream. Exact quantities and chilling times explained.
Desserts
Carrot cake without frosting
Cinnamon carrot cake baked in a 20 cm round tin and served without frosting. Eight slices, weighed ingredients and cooling time included.
Desserts
Classic Banana Bread: Easy, Moist One-Bowl Recipe
Classic banana bread with very ripe bananas, melted butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla. Mixed in one bowl and baked until moist and tender.
Desserts
Condensed Milk Flan
Homemade condensed milk flan baked in a water bath, smooth and creamy with golden caramel. Serves 8: 1 hour in the oven and 4 hours chilling.
Desserts
Classic Apple Tart with Shortcrust Pastry
Classic apple tart with homemade shortcrust pastry and thinly sliced cinnamon apples. Baked in a 24 cm pan, serves 8.
Cookies and small treats for coffee or a snack
Oven-baked cookies, alfajores and muffins, plus stovetop pancakes. Allow for batches and cool the pieces before storing or filling them.
Desserts
Classic Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
The classic Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe with walnuts: golden edges, soft centers and a dough ready in 20 minutes. Makes about 60 cookies.
Desserts
Oatmeal and dark chocolate cookies
Homemade oat and chocolate cookies with weighed ingredients, chilled dough, two baking batches and estimated nutrition per cookie.
Desserts
Orange Walnut Cookies
Buttery cookies with orange zest and chopped walnuts, pressed flat with a fork and baked in 12 minutes: 24 cookies, crisp outside and tender inside.
Desserts
Cornstarch alfajores with dulce de leche and coconut
Make 20 cornstarch alfajores with dulce de leche and coconut. Follow measured ingredients, chilled yolk dough and two batches of pale cookie rounds.
Desserts
Chocolate muffins with cocoa and chocolate chips
Hand-mixed cocoa muffins with dark chocolate, twelve servings and estimated nutrition per muffin.
Desserts
Strawberry Blueberry Pancakes
Fluffy pancakes with fresh strawberries and blueberries, ready in 30 minutes: a flour, egg and milk batter cooked with fruit inside and topped with more fresh fruit. Makes 8 pancakes.
Frequently asked questions
Which dessert can I make without an oven?
Choose from the first group: Oreo cheesecake, strawberry cottage cheese ice cream, tiramisu, mango sago, rice pudding, avocado cocoa mousse, chocolate truffles or pistachio cheesecake cups. Some still require a stove to cook or melt ingredients.
What can I serve if I only have half an hour?
The strawberry and blueberry pancakes list 30 minutes total, while the orange cookies list 32 minutes. A chilled dessert may take little active work but still need hours to set. Check total time rather than blending or mixing time alone.
Which desserts should I make ahead?
Tiramisu, Oreo cheesecake, flan and tres leches cake need to rest, so plan them before the meal. Follow the cooling and storage notes in each recipe. For ice cream, also allow time for it to soften before serving.
Are all the recipes easy or made with few ingredients?
They vary: some are easy, while classics such as alfajores, tiramisu and apple tart take a little more skill. Each recipe shows its difficulty, ingredients and steps so you can choose according to your experience and supplies.
Can I adjust servings and make a shopping list?
Yes. Open a recipe, adjust the servings and add missing ingredients to your shopping list. Check pan size and the number of batches too: doubling quantities does not automatically double baking or resting time.