Recipes & Cooking Desserts & Baking Cookies Brownies & Bars 25 Best Dessert Bar Recipes for Sharing with a Crowd Bake one of these big-batch desserts today! By Andrea Beck Andrea Beck Andrea Beck served as garden editor at BHG and her work has appeared on Food & Wine, Martha Stewart, MyRecipes, and more. Learn about BHG's Editorial Process and Sarah Martens Sarah Martens Sarah Martens is the Senior Editor overseeing food at Better Homes & Gardens digital. She has been with the BHG brand for more than 10 years. Learn about BHG's Editorial Process Updated on February 13, 2024 Trending Videos Close this video player Photo: Blaine Moats These easy dessert bar recipes are made for sharing and are easy to transport to any event. We're sharing classic scotcheroo bars, lemon bars, gooey butter bars, and more. Try one or more for your next potluck, family gathering, or to have around the house when a sweet tooth strikes. Our 18 Best Potluck Desserts to Feed a Crowd 01 of 25 Lemon Bars Stephen Kent Johnson Tart and tangy lemon bars are a great fit for summer cookouts. The flaky bottom crust on these dessert bars is super simple, and it’s the best-supporting player for the gooey, citrus-packed filling. Top with a dusting of powdered sugar for a little extra sweetness. View Recipe 02 of 25 Cannoli Bars Jason Donnelly Skip the fuss of frying cannoli shells and make this dessert bar recipe instead! This recipe uses a graham cracker crust to mimic the signature crunch of a cannoli, paired with a creamy mascarpone and ricotta topping. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips and powdered sugar on top for an irresistible finish. View Recipe 03 of 25 Dutch Letter Bars Jason Donnelly Dutch letter pastries are usually filled with almond paste and became a Midwest favorite after being brought to the area by Dutch immigrants. This version turns the typical S-shape pastry into a delicious dessert bar recipe. While it has the classic almond flavor, this variation is made a little sweeter with raspberry jam. View Recipe 04 of 25 Copycat Musketeer Bars Andy Lyons Craving a candy bar? We've turned an all-time favorite chocolate bar into the best copycat dessert bar recipe. Chocolate wafer cookies add a little crunch, while chocolate, malt powder, butter, and marshmallow crème make up the irresistible fluffy filling. View Recipe 05 of 25 Toffee-Pumpkin Pie Bars Jason Donnelly This pumpkin dessert bar recipe is a must-make for fall. They have all the traditional ingredients you’d expect—canned pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves, pecans—but elevated with a few extra add-ins. The ginger-crumb crust and toffee pieces on top help take plain pumpkin bars to the next level. View Recipe 06 of 25 Limoncello Cheesecake Bars Carson Downing No need to worry about the top of this cheesecake cracking—cutting it into dessert bars takes all the pressure off. Start with a classic graham cracker crust, then fill it in with luscious cheesecake flavored with limoncello. Topping with candied lemon slices is up to you, but it adds a delicious burst of citrus and makes the finished bars oh-so pretty. View Recipe 07 of 25 Pistachio Gelato Brownie Bars Carson Downing Part dessert bar recipe, part brownie, and part ice cream bar, there’s no way this recipe can be anything but a hit. Speed up the process (and cut down on the ingredient list) by using a brownie mix as the base. Then, sandwich in pistachio gelato, chocolate syrup, and chopped pistachios for a sweet, crunchy, chocolatey dream. View Recipe Pistachio Lime Spirals 08 of 25 Marbled Pumpkin-Chocolate Cream Cheese Bars Carson Downing When you can’t decide between chocolate, vanilla, and pumpkin, make all three! This gorgeous dessert bar recipe combines smooth chocolate and cream cheese with cinnamon-spiced pumpkin bars. To create a stunning marbled effect, alternate spooning the chocolate and cream cheese over the pumpkin batter, then use a knife to gently swirl together. View Recipe 09 of 25 No-Bake Irish Cream Pudding Bars Smooth, creamy, chocolatey no-bake dessert bars are one of the easiest (and tastiest!) treats you can make. Crushed chocolate sandwich cookies make a crunchy crust, decadent Irish cream liqueur teams up with vanilla pudding for the center, and melted chocolate adds just the right amount of bittersweet flavor. Just layer everything together, chill in the fridge, and serve. View Recipe 10 of 25 Apple-Brown Butter Bars Blaine Moats Satisfy apple pie cravings without the work of perfecting a crust. These dessert bars have a sugar, flour, and almond base that creates delicious flavor without rolling out dough. Top with a filling made from sliced apples, apple jelly, and cream, plus a brush of brown butter for added richness. View Recipe 11 of 25 Honey-Roasted Peanut Butter Bars with Chocolate Ganache Andy Lyons If you can’t get enough of chocolate and peanut butter, this dessert bar recipe was made with you in mind. It starts with a layer of chocolatey devils food cake, then gets topped with a light and fluffy layer of peanut butter with chopped peanuts. Pour a decadent chocolate ganache on top to mimic the chocolate covering your favorite candy cups. View Recipe 12 of 25 Banana Bars with Butter-Rum Frosting Blaine Moats Almost like banana cake but a lot easier to share, this dessert bar recipe is a great way to use up those brown bananas. The base of these bars is a little bit like an ultra-light and fluffy banana bread. Then, top it off with a generous spread of butter-rum frosting and extra banana slices. View Recipe 13 of 25 Carrot and Zucchini Bars Andy Lyons Turn extra garden goodies into a sweet treat! This dessert bar recipe combines zucchini bread and carrot cake into one yummy, shareable summer recipe. But the real star of the show might be the citrus-cream cheese frosting (flavor it with lemon or orange peel—your choice). View Recipe Our Best-Loved Carrot Cake Recipe Is a BHG Fan-Favorite 14 of 25 Linzer Bars Carson Downing These dessert bars are a twist on traditional Austrian Linzer tortes, shortbread pastries topped with fruit preserves, sliced nuts, and a lattice design. This recipe keeps the shortbread base and flavors it with raspberry jam and sliced almonds. Instead of a lattice, finish with a drizzle of almond glaze topping (although you could pipe it in a lattice if you wanted!). View Recipe 15 of 25 Gooey Chocolate-Caramel Bars Andy Lyons This recipe is for the classic, brownie-like dessert bar. A full cup of brown sugar is key for getting the chewy texture just right, and a layer of sweetened condensed milk and chocolate in the center helps make them nice and gooey, too. These bars will also freeze for up to 3 months, so they’re great to make and save for an occasion when you need a last-minute dessert. View Recipe Quick Desserts Ready in 30 Minutes (or Less) When You Need a Sweet Fast 16 of 25 Gluten-Free Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Bars Carson Downing Make dessert bars everyone can enjoy. This gluten-free recipe will appeal to most, especially since it’s loaded with mini chocolate chips and chocolate-covered caramel candies. Plus, everything gets mixed up in one bowl, so it’s one of the easiest dessert bars you can make! View Recipe 17 of 25 Caramel Coconut Cookie Bars Carson Downing No matter what season, you can always turn to these caramel coconut dessert bars. A copycat of a popular Girl Scout cookie, these bars combine dulce de leche, coconut flakes, and chocolate chips with a cookie crust. The recipe makes 24, so there’s plenty to share (or plenty to save for later). View Recipe 18 of 25 Scotcheroos Blaine Moats The ultimate Midwestern dessert bar recipe is right here. Gooey, crunchy scotcheroos mix rice cereal with peanut butter for the tastiest combo of sticky and sweet. Top with a super simple “frosting” made from semisweet chocolate and butterscotch chips, and these yummy bars are ready to share. View Recipe 19 of 25 Chocolate Revel Bars Carson Downing An all-time favorite dessert bar recipe, these bars have layers of chocolate and crunchy oatmeal. The chocolate layer stays nice and gooey, while the oat mixture sits in dots on top. This recipe makes a whopping 75 bars, so it’s an excellent choice for a big family gathering or neighborhood potluck. View Recipe 20 of 25 Millionaire Shortbread Rachel Marek This dessert recipe is part bar cookie and part candy bar. It's earned rave reviews ever since we published it. As one reviewer shared, "One of my favorite things, ever! I added food-grade 24k gold flakes on top to up the 'millionaire' factor." View Recipe 21 of 25 Hot Honey Nut Bars Brie Goldman You can find hot honey in the grocery store. It's honey that's been infused with fresh or dried chile peppers. Here, it coats salted mixed nuts for a dessert bar recipe that's equal parts sweet and spicy. View Recipe 22 of 25 Chocolaty Caramel-Nut S'more Bars Andy Lyons These s'mores bars are layers of chocolate and marshmallow. Start with a cookie crumb crust and top with caramel. Press on mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, and chopped mixed nuts. View Recipe 23 of 25 Strawberry-Rhubarb Bars Jennifer Levy This fruit bar recipe showcases the best of spring. If you can't find fresh rhubarb (or you want to make this dessert off-season), frozen rhubarb works great. If you want even more flavor, drizzle the bars with a homemade ginger icing. View Recipe 24 of 25 Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars Karla Conrad Making homemade cheesecake can be a daunting task. This easy bar recipe takes the guesswork out of the fan-favorite dessert. You'll need just 6 ingredients to make a pan that serves 36. View Recipe 25 of 25 Danish Pastry Apple Bars If apple pie is your go-to dessert, you'll love this apple bar recipe. Our secret to the perfect texture, is slicing the apples very thinly for the filling. Drizzle the bars with a homemade vanilla icing. View Recipe Favorite Cookie Recipes from Our Test Kitchen Chocolate Glazed Peppermint Cookies Caramel Sandwich Cookies Soft S'Mores Cookies Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Cookies Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies Swedish Vanilla-Butter Cookies Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit