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Summer is a time to celebrate everyone and everything: moms, dads, grads, Juneteenth, Cinco de Mayo, Memorial Day, summer birthdays—just to name a few. No matter what the occasion, end your get-together on a sweet note with easy summer desserts guests will love. These tempting treats capture the essence of summer with peak-season fruit, simple preparation, and minimal stovetop time, so you can beat the rising heat and spend more moments with those you love. Whether it’s a big backyard bash or a low-key evening on the patio, these desserts make it simple to chill out and enjoy the sweet life this season.
Key Lime Pie Bars
You don’t need to travel to the Florida Keys for this riff on its most famous dessert. A combination of freshly-squeezed lemon and lime juices creates the signature tang in a creamy filling over a buttery, graham cracker crust. They’re surprisingly easy for how centerpiece-worthy they look.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
This genius, four-ingredient hack is perfect for birthday parties and any family-friendly celebration. Even first-time bakers can whip up this easy but memorable cookie cake made with refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough, canned frosting, and sprinkles that scream “party time!”
Vanilla-Lemon Icebox Cake
When it’s getting too hot to turn on the oven, dazzle guests with this impressive cake served straight from the freezer. Vanilla wafers layered with a lemon-infused cream cheese filling and fluffy whipped cream set up into a cool and refreshing riff on cheesecake.
Lemon Pie Sandwich Cookies
Bake up a bouquet of sweet whimsy with these sunny, yellow daisy cookies—perfect for spring into summer gatherings. Store-bought lemon curd and marshmallow creme sandwiched between cut-out pie dough “flowers” taste like a slice of lemon meringue pie.
Piña Colada Upside-Down Cake
Turn your next outdoor gathering into a tropical vacation with this throwback dessert inspired by piña coladas. Boxed cake mix helps eliminate some of the prep for a pineapple-coconut upside-down cake crowned with maraschino cherry “jewels” on top.
Chocoflan
This two-toned bake combines silky flan with fudgey, chocolate cake and delivers a double dose of dessert with one round of simple prep. Store-bought helpers, like boxed cake mix and jarred caramel or dulce de leche sauce, cut down the assembly time to just 15 minutes.
Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp
Two kinds of peak-season fruit star in this simple but satisfying dessert that serves a crowd. The crumbly, pecan-oat topping adds appealing crunch over a tangy filling made with rhubarb, strawberries, and freshly-squeezed orange juice.
Margarita Cupcakes
This easy recipe captures the fiesta factor of margaritas in the form of adorable green and yellow cupcakes. Frozen limeade concentrate adds a citrusy zing to box-mix cupcakes finished with a lime wedge and sprinkle of sea salt.
Peach Cobbler Pound Cake with Brown Butter Glaze
This showstopping dessert makes a gorgeous centerpiece for any summer celebration. Peak-season peaches shine in a warmly spiced, cobbler-inspired Bundt cake finished with brown butter icing.
Strawberries and Cream Layer Cake
Our take on classic strawberry shortcake comes together with a fraction of the work, thanks to a few store-bought helpers. Vanilla pudding mix is the secret ingredient that adds body and stability to fluffy whipped cream between layers of box-made cake with fresh strawberries.
Berry Poke Cake
This colorful cake serves 16, is make-ahead-friendly, and easy to customize with your favorite fruit flavor. Poking holes in the surface of box-made yellow cake allows strawberry gelatin (or any flavor you like) to seep in and infuse bright, fruity flavor. A layer of whipped cream stabilized with pudding mix serves as the frosting, finished with a layer of fresh summer berries.
Red Velvet Poundcake
This red velvet-meets-poundcake mashup makes a sweet finish for Juneteenth celebrations and beyond. A combination of cream cheese and sour cream in the batter gives this rose-tinted, chocolate cake a perfectly moist crumb.
Dump Cherry Cobbler
Skip the stirring and get back to the sunshine with this fruity dessert that preps in 10 minutes. Yellow cake mix goes directly from the box to the baking dish as a topping for juicy cobbler bursting with fresh, peak-season cherries.
