30 easy desserts in 20 minutes
Most desserts ask for an hour in the oven or a night in the fridge. These do not. Every sweet thing here is ready to eat in 20 minutes or less.
Updated October 2026 · ranked by popularity
-
1. Chewy chocolate chip cookies
Big, chewy chocolate chip cookies with golden edges and soft centers, made with melted butter so there's no softening or chilling. Makes 12.
Get the recipe -
2. Rice Krispie treats
Classic soft, chewy marshmallow treats made with just butter, marshmallows and crispy rice cereal, pressed gently into the pan and cut into squares.
Get the recipe -
3. Chocolate-covered strawberries
Juicy strawberries dipped in glossy melted semisweet chocolate and striped with white chocolate. Set in the freezer, they're ready in 20 minutes.
Get the recipe -
4. Copycat Wendy's chocolate Frosty
Our take on the Wendy's Frosty: vanilla ice cream, milk and cocoa blitzed into a thick, mellow chocolate soft-serve you eat with a spoon. Five minutes.
Get the recipe -
5. Puppy chow
Rice cereal coated in melted chocolate and peanut butter, then shaken in powdered sugar. The crunchy, snowy snack mix is ready in 10 minutes.
Get the recipe -
6. Quick chocolate mousse
Melted dark chocolate folded through softly whipped cream for a light, spoonable mousse you can eat right away. No eggs, no chilling, topped with raspberries.
Get the recipe -
7. Molten chocolate mug cake
A rich, gooey-centered chocolate cake made in one mug in the microwave, with a hidden square of molten dark chocolate. Five minutes from craving to spoon.
Get the recipe -
8. Ten-minute tiramisu cups
Coffee-dunked ladyfingers layered with a whipped vanilla mascarpone cream and a heavy dusting of cocoa, in glasses and on the table in ten minutes.
Get the recipe -
9. Lemon and sugar crepes
Thin, lacy crepes straight from the pan, sprinkled with sugar and a good squeeze of lemon, then folded into quarters. Simple and perfect.
Get the recipe -
10. Stovetop apple crumble
Soft cinnamon apples cooked in a saucepan and showered with a buttery oat and almond crumble toasted golden in a skillet. No oven needed.
Get the recipe -
11. Pecan pie bites
Store-bought mini phyllo shells filled with a buttery brown sugar and pecan filling and baked until set. All the flavor of pecan pie in one bite.
Get the recipe -
12. Affogato
A scoop of vanilla gelato 'drowned' in a shot of hot espresso. The Italian dessert that doubles as after-dinner coffee, ready in five minutes.
Get the recipe -
13. Chocolate fondue with fruit
A silky dark chocolate and cream fondue made in one small saucepan, served warm with strawberries, banana and grapes for dunking. Ready in 13 minutes.
Get the recipe -
14. Edible cookie dough dip
Egg-free brown sugar cookie dough made with heat-treated flour and loaded with mini chocolate chips. Scoop it up with graham crackers and pretzels.
Get the recipe -
15. Grinch fruit skewers
Green grapes, banana slices, upside-down strawberries and a mini marshmallow on a stick, stacked to look like a little green face in a Santa hat.
Get the recipe -
16. No-bake strawberry cheesecake parfaits
Layers of buttery graham crumbs, a fluffy whipped cream cheese filling and juicy macerated strawberries. All the cheesecake flavor, none of the baking.
Get the recipe -
17. Rum balls
No-bake holiday rum balls made from crushed vanilla wafers, pecans, cocoa and dark rum, rolled in powdered sugar. Ready to eat as soon as they're rolled.
Get the recipe -
18. Santa hat strawberries
Strawberries piped with a fluffy vanilla cream cheese filling and topped with their own tips to look like little Santa hats. A no-bake holiday bite.
Get the recipe -
19. Cinnamon sugar chips with fruit salsa
Crisp cinnamon sugar tortilla chips baked until golden, with a bright strawberry, apple and kiwi salsa for scooping. A fresh, crunchy movie-night treat.
Get the recipe -
20. S'mores dip
A pan of melted milk chocolate under a lid of toasted, gooey marshmallows, baked until bubbling and scooped up with graham crackers. Made for sharing.
Get the recipe -
21. Pumpkin spice mug cake
A soft, warmly spiced pumpkin cake made with canned pumpkin puree and cooked in a mug in the microwave. Top with whipped cream and a pinch of spice.
Get the recipe -
22. Caramelized bananas with ice cream
Bananas seared in bubbling brown sugar butter until sticky and golden, spooned warm over vanilla ice cream with toasted walnuts.
Get the recipe -
23. Campfire s'mores cones
Waffle cones stuffed with chocolate chips, mini marshmallows and strawberries, wrapped in foil and warmed by the fire. Gooey s'mores with less mess.
Get the recipe -
24. Strawberry Eton mess
Juicy sugared strawberries folded through softly whipped cream and yogurt with shards of crisp meringue. No oven, no fuss, ten minutes.
Get the recipe -
25. Campfire banana boats
Bananas split in the peel, stuffed with chocolate chips and mini marshmallows, then wrapped in foil and warmed over coals until gooey. Eat with a spoon.
Get the recipe -
26. Graveyard dirt cups
Chocolate pudding cups buried in crushed cookie dirt, with gummy worms wriggling out and cookie tombstones. A no-bake Halloween treat kids can build themselves.
Get the recipe -
27. Pumpkin cheesecake mousse cups
Whipped cream cheese, pumpkin and warm spice folded into a light mousse and layered with buttery graham crumbs. No oven, no waiting, served right away.
Get the recipe -
28. Caramel apple slices
Crisp apple slices with a quick brown sugar caramel for dipping, plus chopped peanuts and mini chocolate chips. Caramel apples without the sticky mess.
Get the recipe -
29. Chocolate-dipped pretzel rods
Crunchy salted pretzel rods dipped in smooth melted chocolate and rolled in colorful sprinkles. Salty-sweet party treats set in the freezer in 10 minutes.
Get the recipe -
30. Flag fruit pizza
A no-bake fruit pizza on a graham cracker crust with sweet cream cheese frosting, strawberry stripes and a field of blueberries arranged as a flag.
Get the recipe
For the fastest fix, a mug cake takes about five minutes from start to spoon. For a crowd, a chocolate fondue or a tray of no-bake cups feeds everyone with almost no effort.