It’s the most wonderful time of the year! The holidays are here, and it’s basically a sprint to New Year’s at this point. When you’re running from work to holiday party on a near-constant loop, finding time to bake can seem next to impossible. But that doesn’t mean store-bought cookies are the answer… after all, where’s the festive fun in that?
Instead, make these easy no-bake desserts your go-to recipes this season. They’re delicious, take minimal time to prep, and since they’re made with better-for-you ingredients, you won’t have to spend all night avoiding the dessert table. This Christmas, you really can have your cake and eat it too.
1. Vegan Chocolate Gingerbread Truffles
With all the eggnog and cheese platters going around, vegan desserts aren’t a bad call if you’re trying to keep your dairy intake in check. These truffles are made with cashew butter and coconut cream to make ’em creamy minus the milk, while cinnamon, molasses, and allspice mean they basically taste like Christmas in bite-size form.
2. Salted Caramel Pumpkin Bars
Even after Thanksgiving, pumpkin deserves to be in your holiday treats lineup, especially when it comes with a salty-sweet caramel drizzle. These bars are like handheld pumpkin pies, without all the stress of a crust. They also use basically every healthy natural sweetener, from dates to unsweetened applesauce.
3. No-Bake Coconut Balls
Remember those crazy hot-pink dessert balls you’d beg your mom for at the store as a kid? These are just like those, except they’re snow white instead of fluorescent pink, and are made with ingredients you know, not scary-long words you’ve never seen. Drizzle melted dark chocolate on top to make them taste just like a Mounds.
4. Vegan French Silk Pie
When you want to make it seem like you spent a ton of time on dessert, this French silk pie is your guy—it looks gorgeous thanks to dollops of the coconut cream layer and a sprinkle of chocolate shavings. Also, the chocolate layer is made with coconut milk and raw cacao powder, so it isn’t overly sweet.
5. White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
Cranberry anything is a must during the holidays, and the fruit tastes so good when white chocolate is involved too. These no-bake cookies are fudgier in consistency than your average cookie and come out soft and chewy. Protein powder is optional, but go for it if you want to turn these into a healthyish daytime snack.
6. No-Bake Vegan Dirt Pie
What’s better than a cookies-and-cream-flavored anything? Grab your Trader Joe’s Joe-Joe’s (or Enjoy Life sandwich cookies, to make it truly vegan) and get to crushing. Warning: There’s a lot of chilling time in this recipe, so if you want to make it for something specific, make sure to plan ahead.
7. Pomegranate Peppermint Coconut Bark
Bark is one of those desserts we kind of forget about all year, and then come wintertime, it seems like the perfect thing to have on hand. Bring this fruity bark to any party as a dessert or a gift. It only requires four ingredients, and the pretty red pomegranate arils make it so darn festive.
