45+ Delicious Picnic Desserts That Are Perfect for Hot Days
Summer is in full swing, so it’s time to enjoy the great outdoors! Whether you’re planning a picnic in the park or a day at the beach, one thing you can’t forget is dessert. But what do you pack when you want something that won’t melt in the heat or be too difficult to transport? Here, you’ll find some of our favorite picnic desserts that are easy to make, transport, and enjoy, even on the hottest days.
45 Picnic Desserts
Summer is the perfect time to pack a picnic and head to the great outdoors. And what better way to end a meal than with a sweet and refreshing dessert?
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Here are some delicious picnic desserts that are perfect for hot summer days:
What Desserts Do Well in Heat?
Fruit Kabobs
Fruit kabobs are a delicious and refreshing treat that is perfect for picnics. You can use any combination of fruits, but we recommend using seasonal fruits to get the most flavor. Some great options include strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, pineapple, and watermelon. Cut the fruit into bite-sized pieces, skewer them, and pack them in a cooler. You can even drizzle them with a bit of honey or lemon juice for extra flavor.
Fruit Salad
A fruit salad is a classic summer dessert that’s easy to make and refreshing. Mix together your favorite fruits, such as watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, and blueberries, and toss with a little bit of honey and lime juice.
No-Bake Cheesecake Bars
If you’re looking for a dessert that’s a bit more decadent, try making no-bake cheesecake bars. These bars have a creamy filling and a graham cracker crust, and they don’t require any baking. Plus, they’re easy to transport! Simply cut them into small squares and pack them in an airtight container. You can make them ahead of time and store them in the fridge or freezer until you’re ready to go.
Frozen yogurt bark is a delicious and healthy treat perfect for hot summer days. Mix your favorite Greek yogurt with fresh fruit and a bit of honey or maple syrup. Spread the mixture onto a baking sheet and freeze it for a few hours. Once it’s frozen, break it into pieces and pack it in a cooler. This dessert will stay cool and refreshing, even on the hottest days.
Lemon Bars
Lemon bars are a classic picnic dessert and for good reason. They’re sweet, tangy, and refreshing, all at the same time. To make them, combine butter, sugar, and flour to make the crust, and then bake it for a few minutes. While the crust is baking, mix together lemon juice, sugar, eggs, and flour to make the filling. Pour the filling over the crust and bake again until it’s set. Let the bars cool, cut them into squares, and pack them in an airtight container.
Chocolate-Covered Strawberries
For a dessert that’s both elegant and easy to transport, try making chocolate-covered strawberries. Simply melt some chocolate in the microwave or on the stove, dip the strawberries in the chocolate, and lay them on a baking sheet to cool. You can even sprinkle them with nuts or sprinkles for added texture. Once they’re cool, pack them in a container and keep them in the fridge until you’re ready to go.
Strawberry Shortcake
Fresh strawberries and fluffy whipped cream sandwiched between tender cake layers – what’s not to love? Make your own shortcake or pick up a pre-made one at the store.
For a bite sized strawberry energy treat recipe, click over to easy family recipe ideas.
S’mores
No evening picnic is complete without s’mores. Toast some marshmallows over the fire, sandwich them between graham crackers and chocolate, and enjoy. You can take a mini fire with you if it’s too hot for a campfire. Try out these Smores Thumbprint Cookies for a fun twist.
Delicious Picnic Desserts That Are Perfect for Hot Summer Days
These picnic desserts are all easy to make and transport, and they will satisfy your sweet tooth on a hot summer day. So pack up your cooler and head to the park – dessert is served!
These Funfetti Cookie Bars are absolutely delicious. Load them up with rainbow sprinkles for a sweet tasty treat. Kids and adults will enjoy every bite.
Sweet, Salty, and Tasty, make the perfect picnic dessert or anytime treat! These Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Bars are amazing! Smooth chocolate with crunchy salty pretzels and a caramel drizzle.
These Reese’s Pieces peanut butter chip cookies from On My Kid’s Plate are the ultimate cookie! This gooey cookie has a delicious buttery base that is loaded full of Reese’s Pieces, peanut butter chips, and peanut butter cup pieces. This is the perfect dessert for any time of the year and is especially delicious for peanut butter lovers!
Picnic Desserts Easy
Copycat Panera Lemon Drop cookies are the perfect picnic treat. Powdered sugar and fresh lemons will be your tasty and essential ingredients in this copycat version of Panera’s Lemon Drop cookie. Delicious!
Sweet, chocolatey, and delightfully chewy, these Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats are a hit with adults and kids alike. Rather than using marshmallows, combining your favorite nut butter and melted vegan chocolate chips binds these no-bake bars together for a perfectly plant-based dessert that takes 10 minutes of prep time!
If you’re after a sweet treat that’s rich, buttery, and filled with white chocolate and pecans, this Blondie recipe from Bayevs Kitchen will tick all those boxes. It takes the traditional brownie concept and flips it on its head, introducing an invitingly golden version that’s soft, chewy, and indulgent. The pecans add a nice touch of crunch, enhancing the overall texture of the dessert.
These super fun Rice Krispie Treats that look like Corn on the Cob are perfect for a summer picnic, neighborhood party, or backyard barbecue.
S’mores puppy chow is an easy no bake recipe that everyone will love! It’s an easy dessert to bring on the go
This puppy chow is the perfect peanut butter chocolate treat. It has simple ingredients and comes together in 10 minutes!
Easy Picnic Desserts
You’re going to love the taste and flavor of these Apple Oatmeal Cookies. They’re perfectly balanced as far as sweetness and crunch. We love these in the fall, but they are good any time of year.
Gooey cherry almond blondies from Waiting for Blancmange with sliced almonds and a drizzle of frosting. Easy to make ahead and the perfect tangy but sweet way to end a picnic lunch!
These cookie butter rice crispy treats from Two Pink Peonies are the perfect spin on the classic rice crispy treat. This is a super easy, no-bake recipe!
The perfect picnic treat from Go Gluten Freely! Pack a container of this easy 3-ingredient caramel cream cheese dip along with apple slices and cookies for a delicious dessert.
Portable Picnic Desserts
Get ready to indulge in the ultimate raspberry and white chocolate blondies! We don’t know about you, but we like our blondies extra moist, extra fudgy, and extra chocolaty. This recipe ticks all those boxes, making these blondies EXTRA delicious. The Cinnamon Jar
Homemade pound cake is dense yet soft, buttery, full of incredible flavor, just like grandma’s recipe. This pound cake recipe uses essential pantry ingredients, the perfect simple-to-make dessert, and ready in about an hour!
This fluffy and flavorful banana bread from Savor the Spoonful is made with just 4 healthy ingredients! It’s easy to make and great for any summer party or event.
These gluten free chocolate chip cookie bars from Fat Dad Foodie are amazing. They are easy to make and great for a picnic.
These crispy, gooey, chocolate peanut butter Rice Krispie treats are perfectly balanced salty, and sweet. What’s more, it’s easy to make and perfect for a sweet treat or dessert.
The Best Patriotic Chocolate Covered Strawberries Recipe! Celebrate the red, white, and blue in a delicious way this summer with these patriotic chocolate-covered strawberries.
These buttery, crumbly, jammy-licious bars are always a hit with young and old. Great for kids’ parties, bake sales, or the cookie tin at home, yet equally fitting for a posh afternoon tea.
Satisfy your sweet cravings with this irresistible chunky and thick chocolate chip walnut cookies recipe. Loaded with gooey chocolate chips and crunchy walnuts, these cookies, inspired by Levain Bakery, offer a delectable blend of nutty and sweet flavors.
Best Desserts for Outdoor Party
This layered Lemon Blueberry Delight dessert is a no-bake, summertime favorite! Layers of graham cracker crust, lemon instant pudding, whipped cream, and blueberry pie filling – a new kind of dessert lush-iousness.
Clafoutis, a classic dessert from the Limousin region in France. Traditionally made with cherries, it’s so good for picnics and even breakfast. Delicious Recipe shared by Mad About Macarons
This dark chocolate hummus from A Sweet Alternative is easy to make and delicious. Serve it with fresh fruit or cookies for dipping!
These mermaid Rice Krispie treats are perfect for a picnic. It’s dessert on a stick! Not only are they adorable eye-candy, they taste incredible too.
Best Picnic Desserts
Chewy pudding cookies from Savvy Saving Couple are a delicious and easy-to-make treat that kids and adults alike will love. They are loaded with vanilla flavor and have a lovely texture.
These lemon blueberry cookies are so easy to make with cake mix! They are sure to be a hit at your next picnic!
These Biscoff blondies with white chocolate from Begin with Balance are perfect for your next picnic. They’re packed with Biscoff flavor and are always a crowd favorite!
The best Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars! Soft, chewy, and thick, these easy cookie bars are vegan, eggless, and allergy-free! A quick and simple recipe that’s easier than baking cookies, loaded with melty chocolate chips, and a perfect dessert for parties and potlucks that kids and adults will love!
The Best Ambrosia Salad from Modern Honey is a fluffy salad made with fresh pineapple, mandarin oranges, maraschino cherries, coconut, marshmallows, fresh whipped cream, a touch of sour cream, and sugar. This is a nostalgic, classic dessert recipe.
Old-fashioned southern tea cakes are a classic, simple cookie recipe with buttery, rich flavor and the perfect soft and slightly crispy texture. Tea cakes taste terrific served with coffee, milk, or – you guessed it – tea!
These pear muffins are light, moist, and delicious. With wholemeal flour and not too much sugar they are a healthyish treat the whole family will love that’s perfect for a picnic.
Easy Summer Picnic Desserts
These sweet and creamy strawberry shortcake truffles are a delicious addition to any dessert tray! Made with real bits of strawberry, flavored cream cheese, and Golden Oreos, these truffles are wrapped in chocolate before they burst with flavor and creamy cheesecake when you take a bite!
This light Cherry Fluff salad is made with primarily non-perishable foods, so it can be made at your picnic site! An old-fashioned classic, just like your grandparents and parents might have made.
This spiced sourdough banana bread from Sourdough Brandon stores well and is easy to make for a picnic. It’s made using chai spices, tangy sourdough, and ripe bananas.
These eggless Indian style air fryer Funfetti cookies (Nankhatai) are so delicious! Easy to transport and make ahead recipe.
Banana Nutella muffins from Cambrea Bakes are the ultimate bakery-worthy breakfast treat. These are soft and moist banana muffins with a creamy Nutella center and swirled top!
Picnic Dessert Recipes
A fun treat to serve your kids … this healthier version of monster cookies includes peanut butter, whole wheat flour, oats, peanut flour, and (surprise!) zucchini. Crispy on the outside and perfectly tender on the inside, with an excellent oat-y chew and lovely bits of crunch from the added peanuts and candies, just like you would expect a good monster cookie should taste. Although you might see a few tiny specks of green here and there, the zucchini fades into the background, allowing the peanut butter, oats, and the colorful candies to shine.
These No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars from Healthy Mom Healthy Family come together in less than 30 minutes with a few simple ingredients. They taste like a giant Reese’s peanut butter cup and will surely please all the chocolate lovers in your life!
Love the taste of carrot cake and cream cheese icing? Here’s an easy-to-pack , hold, and eat version for picnics – Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies with a cream cheese icing filling.
These Protein Fruity Pebbles Rice Crispy Treats are a fun and colorful take on the classic rice krispie treats. They’re high in protein, ready in 10 minutes, and perfect for on-the-go!
Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake Bars are made with just 5 ingredients and are irresistibly delicious. Using a boxed cake mix, there is no need to scoop, chill, or measure the dough! These cookie bars are loaded with gooey chocolate chips and are the perfect quick dessert for any sweet tooth craving!
Dessert Picnic Food Ideas
Picnics are the perfect opportunity to enjoy the beautiful weather and spend time with family and friends. And with these delicious and easy-to-make desserts, you can satisfy your sweet tooth without having to worry about melting or spoiling in the heat.
From fruit kabobs to no-bake cheesecake bars to frozen yogurt bark, there’s a dessert here for everyone. So next time you’re planning a picnic, be sure to add one of these treats to your menu!
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