The weather is heating up, and that means it’s time for some delicious summer dessert ideas! These chilled and frozen treats are perfect for cooling down on a hot day.
In this roundup, we’ve gathered some of our favorite summer dessert recipes. There’s something for everyone, from classic ice cream and ice box cakes to more unique desserts like fruity mousse and no bake cheesecakes.
Why You’ll Love These Cool Summer Dessert Ideas
Summer is the perfect time to enjoy chilled and frozen desserts. These desserts are refreshing and delicious, and they’re a great way to cool down on a hot day. There are several reasons why chilled and frozen desserts are great for summer.
- Refreshing. When it’s hot outside, a cold dessert can help you cool down and feel refreshed.
- Easy to make. No need to spend hours in the kitchen when you can whip up a delicious dessert in minutes.
- Fun and versatile. They can be served as a light snack or as a decadent dessert. They can also be served in a variety of ways, such as with ice cream cones, sundaes, or fruit.
Time To Chill With Cool Summer Desserts
Next time you’re looking for recipes for Summer desserts, check out our Cookie Monster Ice Cream and see the smiles on you little ones.
Or, serve our No Bake Cheesecake with a Surprise Inside and watch the amazement on your guest’s face. You, and they, won’t be disappointed!
31 Chilled or Frozen Desserts Round Up
Our no-bake Double Chocolate Icebox Cake is deliciously decadent! Made with a rich, creamy chocolate mixture and chocolate wafers it makes a stunning dessert for the holidays or any special event.
This creamy, decadent, No-Bake Chocolate Bailey's Cheesecake is made with Ireland's popular Bailey's Irish Cream liqueur and has a mousse-like texture. The chocolate crust is made with crushed chocolate wafers. This unbaked cheesecake does not contain gelatin as there is enough chocolate for a perfect set.
Our chocolate marshmallow ice cream has a creamy chocolate flavor that is balanced perfectly with the sweetness of marshmallow fluff. This recipe is a custard-based ice cream with egg yolks that give it a luscious, creamy, and rich texture. If you feel creative, you can use the leftover egg whites to make homemade marshmallow fluff.
If you love the flavor of Ben and Jerry's Phish Food, stir in some caramel sauce or dulce de leche, and you'll be in heaven.
A crispy, graham cracker crust with a layer of fudgy chocolate, topped with a fluffy, peanut butter mousse-like filling. We garnished the top with chopped roasted peanuts, whipped cream and chocolate curls. This is a decadent, delicious dessert!
A sweet strawberry puree gives this cheesecake a bright pink color. More of the strawberry puree gets swirled into the cheesecake and leaves beautiful red ribbons and a delicious strawberry flavor. When the cheesecake is firm, a rich chocolate ganache covers it like a blanket. This is a delicious spin on a chocolate-covered strawberry.
This lemon icebox cake is an easy, no-bake dessert. The lemon cream filling is light, airy, and creamy. It gets layered between crisp cookies that soften up enough to slice but still give the cake a contrast in texture.
You can use store-bought cookies or make our crispy lemon cookies in advance. Either way, this dessert is a winner. It is perfect for summer potlucks or any day of the year, really.
If you can't find lemon cookies, this dessert is great with vanilla or coconut cookies.
Simple ingredients shine in this strawberry popsicles recipe! They have a concentrated strawberry flavor and are so easy to make at home.
We added strawberry jam to make the strawberry flavor pop and it gives the popsicles a smoother texture. There is also an option to roast the strawberries, which will concentrate the flavors.
If you want to make the strawberry popsicles go further, add some yogurt to the popsicle molds and make twice as many. These popsicles are a perfect healthy dessert. Weight Watchers and Slimming World friendly.
Named after Turtles candy, this turtle pie has a rich chocolate cookie crust, sweet caramel cream filling, and crunchy toasted pecans. It is rich and decadent yet surprisingly easy to make.
You will need two cans of Dulce de Leche. If you can't find store-bought Dulce de Leche, read the notes to see how to make your own. You can also use a thick caramel sauce.
These delightful, individual cheesecakes have a sweet surprise inside them. Serve them to guests and watch their faces when they slice into the center to find a chocolate covered strawberry. The strawberry is covered with a thick, soft, chocolate ganache that is easy to slice with a fork.
This Raspberry White Chocolate Mouse is light as a cloud with sweet, tangy raspberry puree layers. This is the ultimate easy and make-in-advance dessert.
Learn how to make your own liquid nitrogen ice cream dots. These fun little beads of frozen ice cream are like a taste of the future.
This cappuccino semifreddo is silky smooth, creamy and insanely delicious with a deep coffee flavor that will give your guest their caffeine fix!
A wonderful dessert made from non-fat yogurt and ricotta on a granola crust with fresh raspberries and coconut shards.
This vanilla-lavender ice cream is infused with the fresh floral essence of lavender. The recipe uses an easy no-churn method to make a creamy, rich, and luscious ice cream.
A decadent feather-light, fluffy chocolate mousse with just a hint of almonds. The rich, smooth, creaminess of this elegant dessert will delight your senses.
Turn chocolate chip cookie dough into an edible shot glass. This is the best way to eat chocolate chip cookies.
Marsala gives a sweet, boozy flavor to this rich, custard-like sauce. The zabaglione has the best flavor when it is still slightly but you can serve it chilled.
Before you get started make sure you read the notes. You will want to find a heat-proof bowl that is wide enough to sit on top of a saucepan.
Lemon Cheesecake Bites are a lemon-y dream! They're the combination of two incredible desserts: tangy lemon cheesecake and classic lemon curd. This recipe for cheesecake bites results in a light and creamy dessert topped with tart lemon curd, while the base is a simple and sweet crust made with crushed lemon Oreo cookies.
Our Triple Lemon Cheesecake is a light, creamy dessert with a lovely lemon flavor. It contains a lemon Oreo cookie crust, a creamy lemon flavored cheesecake filling, and a wonderfully acidic lemon curd.
Thick, creamy raspberry mousse makes a beautiful dessert piped in glasses or uses the mousse for a cake filling. Since the mousse sets up firmly, you can put a thick layer between cakes.
When you make the raspberry sauce, you will end up with 1-1/4 cups to 1-1/3 cups of sauce. You will only use 1 cup of sauce to make the mousse and you can use the remaining sauce to drizzle over the top of the mousse when you serve it.
Making Summer Desserts
In this roundup, we’ll share some of our favorite summer dessert recipes. These recipes include everything from popsicles and cheesecakes to sorbets and Liquid Nitrogen DOTS (yes, you can make your OWN DOTS ice cream!). We’ve also shared some tips below for making your own summer desserts.
Serving Options for Fun Summer Dessert Ideas
- Serve ice cream in cones, bowls, or cups.
- Top ice cream with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, or fruit.
- Make ice cream sundaes with your favorite toppings.
- Use sorbet as a base for smoothies or cocktails.
- Freeze yogurt in ice pop molds for a delicious and refreshing treat.
- Use Jello in your popsicles, it will keep the dripping to a minimum.
So there you have it, our roundup of the best cool summer dessert ideas. Cool in every sense of the word! Get creative and have fun with these recipes, and enjoy the sweet taste of summer!
? Tips for Success
- Freeze your Cusinart or other electronic ice cream maker freezer bowl the day before so that it’s completely frozen.
- Always cool ice cream custard before starting it to churn.
- Paper Dixie Cups are PERFECT popsicle molds, as your kid’s can simply tear the paper cups off!
- Have fun making unique summer desserts!
♥️More Fun Summer Dessert Ideas
❓Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can make no churn ice cream. Pour your ice cream base into a lined loaf pan and freeze. You can stir it every half hour to ensure it’s super creamy also.
Use some flavored Jello or gelatin dessert in the popsicle base. The popsicles will defrost into a gel and less messy and less drippy.
⭐️ Helpful Tools
Some of the following are affiliate links. We may receive a small commission if you click on these links and purchase something. You don’t pay any extra, but it will help us keep the lights on.
Food Safety
- Proper packaging in a freezer-safe container will help prevent freezer burn and maintain the quality of your frozen food.
- Raw flour, uncooked custards, baking mixes, batter, and dough are not safe to eat until thoroughly cooked.
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds. Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove.
