The holiday season is filled with joyful moments, many of which — let's be honest — revolve around delicious, decadent, mouthwatering foods, especially desserts. Sipping peppermint hot cocoa, baking up sugar cookies that sparkle with shimmery, glittery sprinkles, enjoying gingerbread or eggnog or bourbon-flavored anything goes hand-in-hand with December and feeling festive.
The tradition of indulging in sweets during winter solstice festivals goes way back. In the Middle Ages, people used spices like nutmeg and cinnamon, as well as dried exotic fruits like citron, apricots, and dates to make irresistible desserts. Back then, families felt like Christmas was the perfect time to splurge on pricier ingredients like sugar, lard, and butter, according to History.com.
Once they had all those delicious, fatty, and sweet ingredients, they opted to make cookies over other desserts quite often, because the smaller, individually sized treats were easier to share with friends and neighbors. That tradition — of baking up batches of Christmas cookies to enjoy and share with loved ones near and far — continues to this day. Pan after pan of sugar cookies with cute, festive decorations is just as commonplace as trimming a tree or singing holiday songs.
But the fact of the matter is that as traditional as it may be, and as joyful (and even therapeutic!) as it can be as a seasonal pastime, baking definitely requires energy and time — two things that many moms are understandably short on, especially around the holidays. For that reason, no-bake dessert recipes — which can be pulled together with three or more simple ingredients — are perfect go-tos.
Here are 20 decadent holiday desserts that absolutely do not require an oven.
Oreo Balls
These Oreo balls come out looking like gourmet truffles without a ton of work.
Pumpkin Pie Mason Jars
These cute Mason jar pumpkin pies are not only perfect for gifting but only require some basic prep and assembly.
Triple Biscuit Baileys Cheesecake
It only takes minimal work on the stove to finish up this quick, easy, and delicious-sounding cheesecake.
Eggnog Pie
It's possible to pull together a delectable eggnog pie sans eggs and dairy and baking!
Crock-Pot Peanut Butter Cocoa Cookies
Yep, these no-bake cocoa peanut butter cookies from Recipes That Crock are made in a slow cooker.
Raspberry Cream Cake
This no-bake raspberry cream cake looks festive and ridiculously decadent.
Holiday Peppermint Cheesecake
With its chocolate cookie crumb crust, this peppermint cheesecake will be a total scene-stealer on Christmas.
Strawberry Santas
These cute strawberry Santas require minimal ingredients and could be a fun one to do with the kiddos!
Gingerbread Truffles
This Six Sisters' Stuff no-bake gingerbread truffles recipe requires just three ingredients.
Vegan No-Bake Candy Cane Brownies
Thanks to its rich ganache and super-festive crushed up candy canes, these brownies are bound to get rave reviews.
Peanut Butter Pretzel Bars
Holiday party guests will adore getting their sweet and salty fix with these no-bake bars.
Peppermint Marshmallow No-Bake Dessert
This fluffy, creamy peppermint marshmallow dessert from Two Sisters Crafting looks dreamy.
Chocolate Christmas Tree Pinata
The kids — and OK, adults, too — will go crazy for busting open this no-bake Christmas tree cake filled with candy.
Chocolate Christmas Kit-Kat Forest
All it takes are Kit-Kats (family-sized), green candy melts, sprinkles, and desiccated coconut for these super cute no-bake candy Christmas trees.
Bourbon Maple Gingerbread Icebox Cake
The flavor combo of this bourbon maple gingerbread icebox cake from ABCs & Garden Peas is drool-worthy.
Cheesecake With White Chocolate & Peppermint
This white chocolate peppermint cheesecake recipe from Yellow Bliss Road is rich, creamy, and packs a pepperminty kick.
Sugar Cookie Truffles
These sugar cookie truffles are easy-to-make crowd-pleasers.
Rich Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
These chocolate peanut butter cookies are basically like eating rich cookie dough. Yum.
Gingerbread House
Making this no-bake gingerbread house can be a Christmas party activity, or the houses can be given as gifts.
Christmas Light Cupcakes
Believe it or not, it's possible to make these cupcakes with a cute Christmas lights decoration (made out of icing and M&Ms!) without the oven.
