Looking for the best potluck desserts to make for your next gathering, once it’s safe to gather, of course?
From cookie balls to layer bars, I have some of the perfect potluck treats! If you’re in charge of dessert, you can’t go wrong with these easy recipes.
From fruity confections to chocolate delights, there’s a dish that will please everyone’s palette.
As a bonus, all of these desserts are super portable, making them ideal for potlucks. With recipes these scrumptious, you can’t pick the wrong one.
You might want to make extra, just in case. These treats are so yummy, people will gobble them up.
Here are 28 of the best potluck desserts around. Time to get cooking!
1. Fudge
There’s nothing better than a bar of delicious creamy fudge. No dessert has a truer chocolate flavor than fudge done right.
Take out the intimidation of a fudge recipe and use this easy-to-follow one instead! This recipe uses common ingredients and appliances to produce remarkable results.
Forget the main course. Your dessert will be what people remember.
2. Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars
When chocolate chip cookies combine their powers with cheesecakes, it’s a showstopper. These party desserts are sure to steal the show.
Think of these cookies as the softest, creamiest chocolate chip cookies you’ve ever had in your life.
And the best part? It only calls for four simple ingredients! Using a package of premade cookie dough almost feels like cheating.
3. Oreo Cookie Balls
This no-bake treat is sure to delight your friends and family! Made from crushed Oreo balls, these easy desserts have the elegance of a truffle.
Fortunately, the store-bought cookies have done most of the work for you.
All that’s left to do is crush them up and mix them with some cream cheese before dunking them in candy coating.
4. Ambrosia Salad
This fruit salad is so delicious, it counts as dessert! Five different types of fruits bring their natural sweetness to this delectable concoction.
Scoop up a serving and call it a day, this fruit salad is the grand finale to a wonderful meal.
If a salad doesn’t sound like dessert to you, it will after tasting this recipe.
5. Eagle Brand Magic Bars
The name says it all! These Eagle Brand Magical bars are magical.
These bars pair crunchy and creamy layers of nuts, graham crackers, and coconut with indulgently sweet filling.
Each layer stacks separately, so every bite is a flavor explosion. Trust me, everyone will want this recipe at the potluck.
6. Rice Krispie Treats
If you want to take these delicious peanut butter balls to a potluck, I suggest doubling the recipe.
These poppable peanut buttery morsels won’t last long! With a creamy, crunchy peanut butter filling dipped in chocolate, they’re highly addictive.
They’re a little finicky rolling all those little balls, but well worth the effort.
7. Amish Sugar Cookies
Amish desserts are simple, yet perfected. And that’s certainly true with their sugar cookie recipe.
It only takes a few pantry staples to whip up these delicious treats.
The insides are super soft and cake-like, and the edges are nice and crisp. You won’t find a better sugar cookie recipe out there!
8. No-Bake Cookies
There’s a chocolate peanut butter party waiting for you in this recipe!
No-bake cookies are fudgy mounds of oats held together by a chocolate peanut butter base.
They are my go-to party desserts when I need something simple.
Serve them up and watch them disappear.
9. Banana Bread Brownie Bars
Banana bread isn’t exactly a potluck food. But brownies are! These banana bread brownies capture the best of both worlds.
The brownie batter is delicately sweet with hints of spices and a crunch from chopped nuts.
The best part is that brown butter frosting! It’s so buttery it melts in your mouth.
10. Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Bars
Lunch Lady Peanut Butter balls are so nostalgic! All that’s missing is a rectangle of pizza as the main course.
What makes them perfect for a summery potluck is you don’t have to turn on the oven. The chocolate and peanut butter melts in the microwave, and then chills in the fridge. Easy peasy.
The peanut butter layer is so smooth and creamy, and the chocolate layers deliver Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup vibes.
11. Peanut Butter Cups
If you have a pulse, you love peanut butter cups. However, if you’ve only had store-bought cups, you are missing out!
Recreate your favorite candy using this peanut butter cup recipe. The homemade version is one thousand times better than the packaged kind.
Surprise yourself by making these delicious peanut butter cups.
12. Kitchen Sink Cookies
“All but the kitchen sink” is what this recipe calls for. A little bit of everything is represented in this cookie recipe.
Blend all your favorite flavors together in these outrageous cookies. More is more, am I right? Have a little bit of everything in each bite.
Whatever your fellow potluckers are craving, they will find it in these cookies.
13. Cheesecake Brownies
These cheesecake brownies will make you the MVP of the potluck. They’re almost too pretty to eat!
And the best part is they’re pretty fool-proof. All you need is a pack of brownie mix (with sugar and an egg) for the brownies. The cheesecake layer is just a pack of cream cheese!
Easy, pretty, and delicious. My favorite type of dessert.
14. Texas Sheet Cake
If potlucks had an unofficial dessert spokesman, it would be the sheet cake. This Texas sheet cake is super chocolatey, moist, and easy to feed a big crowd.
And I’m not joking when I say this cake is ultra-moist! It has such a dense, fudge-like quality that it melts in your mouth.
And that chocolate icing takes it over the chocolate edge.
15. Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate chip cookies may be the most iconic dessert. How could they not be? No one can resist a brown sugar cookie stuffed with ooey gooey chocolate pieces.
These cookies melt in your mouth with each bite. The cookie base is incredibly fragrant and flavorful, and the chocolate pieces are so yummy.
What’s not to love about a classic chocolate chip cookie?
16. Strawberry Pretzel Salad
I still remember the first time I tried this Strawberry pretzel salad. It was love at first bite!
It pairs a salty pretzel crust with a layer of cream cheese, and a tart strawberry topping.
The saltiness from the pretzels permeates every bite to make this treat super sweet and indulgent.
It’s a summer potluck must-have.
17. Lemon Bars
If these delicate lemon bars won’t brighten up your day, nothing will!
Potlucks are chock full of heavy foods, which makes these dreamy lemon bars a breath of fresh air.
The buttery shortbread-like crust is the perfect vehicle for tart lemony filling.
And with a sprinkle of powdered sugar on top, they look too pretty to resist.
18. Louisiana Crunch Cake
Nothing will make your guests smile more than this Louisiana crunch cake. It has a myriad of delicious flavors and a satisfying texture.
There’s no better way to end your meal than with a slice of this cake! Coconut and pineapple are the perfect accents for the fluffy vanilla base.
Slice up a little piece of heaven with this recipe!
19. Tres Leches Cake
Get ready, because you are in for a treat! Tres Leches cake is all about soaking that cake in milk for the moistest cake you’ve ever had.
It’s almost so good it doesn’t need frosting! But let’s not talk crazy.
The cake soaks in three types of milk for creamy, buttery flavors, then topped with homemade whipped cream. Delicioso!
20. Pecan Pie Bars
Pecan pie is good, but it’s not enough to feed a crowd. Bump up your serving size with these delicious pecan pie bars.
They’re the perfect squares of toasted pecans held together by a chess pie filling, on top of a classic pie crust.
The bars are the perfect serving and are great with ice cream!
21. No-Bake Oreo Cheesecake
No one can resist the siren call of this no-bake Oreo cheesecake. It’s one of those low-effort, high-reward easy desserts. My favorite kind!
Oreos are hiding in every inch of this cheesecake, right down to the crust.
And if you have Oreos on hand, the rest of the ingredients are pantry staples. It’s simple, oh-so-creamy, and affordable.
22. Slutty Brownies
The name has you pretty curious, doesn’t it? They were originally called the ultimate chocolate chip cookie n’ Oreo fudge brownie bars.
But the name slutty brownies captures their sinful nature a lot better! These brownies have a little of everything from cookie dough, Oreos, and brownie mix.
They’re highly addictive, and so easy to whip together in a flash.
23. Millionaire’s Shortbread
It doesn’t cost a million dollars to make, but it tastes like it! Buttery shortbread cookies are always a favorite, and this recipe doesn’t disappoint.
Bake these as circles or use this dough to make delicious cut-out cookies. Celebrate every season with festive shapes.
Decorate with royal icing, and you’ll have a new holiday tradition.
24. Butterscotch Blondies
Even if you don’t care for butterscotch, I suggest sticking around. These moist, chewy, and creamy blondies may just convert you.
What I love most about these brownies is they don’t shy away from frosting.
They’re 50 percent brownie, 50 percent brown sugar frosting. Yes, please!
25. Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
Turn your favorite candy into a cookie with these delicious peanut butter cup cookies.
This classic flavor combination never disappoints. The salty sweetness of the peanut butter is the perfect pairing for the deep richness of the chocolate candy.
These pretty cookies make any potluck better!
26. Cranberry Bliss Bars
Heading to a holiday potluck? Then you’ll want to bring these cranberry bliss bars along for the ride.
If you love anything white chocolate, you’ll fall in love with these indulgent bars.
They pair delicate white chocolate with a tart kick from cranberries. And that buttery brown sugar crust is to die for.
27. Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Pineapple cake pineapple rings baked right into its bottom!
Or top, depending on how you see things. It doesn’t get much better than that!
Dive into this moist cake that is packed with pineapple flavor. Don’t forget to add the cherries on top! It wouldn’t be the same without their sweet bursts of juice!
28. Scotcheroos
These butterscotch bars are the perfect treat to close out your potluck. They’re addictively sweet with that familiar butterscotch saltiness.
These bars are packed with butterscotch flavor done right. Sample a scotcheroo, and you’ll have a new favorite dessert.
Share these with your friends, and they will, too!
28 Best Potluck Desserts
Looking for the best potluck desserts to make for your next gathering? From cookie balls to layer bars, these easy recipes are the perfect potluck treats!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Select your favorite recipe.
- Organize all the required ingredients.
- Prep a crowd-pleasing treat in 30 minutes or less!
