Easy Dessert Recipes

Nobody needs a stand mixer or specialist pastry skills to put something sweet on the table. These are approachable desserts — dump cakes, no-bake bars, and cobbler made with canned peaches — with clear steps and familiar ingredients.

Easy doesn't mean careless. The difference between a good cobbler and a great one is small stuff: room-temperature butter when a recipe asks for it, a pinch of salt in anything sweet, and pulling baked goods out when the center still looks a touch underdone.

If you're baking with kids, start with the no-bake cheesecake or the peanut butter bars — zero oven, maximum licking-the-bowl. The chewy chocolate chip cookies are the ones that disappear first.