Recipes & Cooking Desserts & Baking Easy Desserts 18 Simple 9x13 Desserts that Serve a Crowd and Taste Amazing Meet your new favorite potluck dessert. By Karla Walsh Karla Walsh Karla Walsh began her career at FITNESS magazine in 2010. Since, she's worked at a wide variety of publications full-time, including BHG.com, Recipe.com and as a cross-brand social media specialist. From search engine optimization to features for print to video strategy, she has a diverse background in all things magazines. At the start of 2019, Karla chose to pursue full-time freelance writing and has contributed to more than 3 dozen brands. 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 January 5, 2024 Trending Videos Close this video player Photo: Andy Lyons When it comes to easy baking ideas, 9x13-inch pan desserts are among the best options, bar none. For sweet rolls, cakes, bar cookies, and crispy rice treats, these recipes are a cinch to make and to share with a crowd. And for those of you reluctant to turn on your ovens, we've included some no-bake dessert casseroles. 01 of 18 Boston Cream Pie Bars View Recipe Carson Downing Inspired by pie, but featuring a cookie crust, and basically a dessert casserole, this easy chocolate dessert checks all the boxes. The no-bake secret is store-bought shortbread cookies ground with pecans, powdered sugar, and butter to form the irresistible base. Add the creamy filling and crown it with microwave-melted chocolate, then chill until firm (if you can wait that long). 02 of 18 Blueberry Lemonade Poke Cake View Recipe Jacob Fox A quadruple-dose of lemon (zest, lemonade concentrate, lemon curd, and lemon slices) perks up a boxed cake mix. Add a splash of almond extract and a simple homemade blueberry sauce, and this poke cake transforms into one of our best 13x9-inch summer desserts. Bonus: It can be made with fresh or frozen berries, prepped entirely ahead, and refrigerated for up to 24 hours before serving. 03 of 18 Triple Chocolate Cream Pie Bars View Recipe Jason Donnelly In this 9x13-inch dessert recipe, the cookie crust and cream filling bake simultaneously. And since the filling is made with chocolate pudding mix and bittersweet chocolate, this is one of the ultimate sweet treats for chocolate lovers. 04 of 18 Potato Cinnamon Rolls View Recipe Karla Conrad Admittedly, this is more of a pastry than a dessert, but we count these fluffy cinnamon rolls as one of the best 9x13-inch brunch recipes. There's a reason these rolls have been featured in the Red Plaid cookbook time and time again—"they are so light" and "turn out perfectly," according to BH&G home cooks who bake them. Mashed potato in the dough, and a brown butter-infused frosting, help these rolls to stand out from their pastry competition. 05 of 18 Root Beer Cake with Float Frosting View Recipe Blaine Moats Speaking of uniquely-infused homemade frostings, this buttercream gets its float-like flavor from replacing milk with thawed vanilla ice cream. It's the perfect a la mode-style topping for a cake flavored with root beer. To really drive the concept home, garnish your cake with a cherry. 06 of 18 Apple Sheet Cake View Recipe Andy Lyons You're probably more familiar with pineapple upside-down cake, but the concept works just as well for apple desserts—especially during fall harvest. Sweet-tart baking apples, such as Gala, Honeycrisp, or Braeburn, join forces with apple butter and freeze-dried apples to load a lot of fruit flavor into one 13x9-inch pan. And, of course, we had to pump up the frosting. This version calls for a drizzle of autumn maple syrup. 07 of 18 10 Ways with Marshmallow Treats View Recipe Matthew Clark Do you remember those cereal-based lunch-box bars from brown bag days in grade school? We've given this nostalgic no-bake dessert a 10-choice makeover, so you can keep things interesting year round. Chocolate fans will adore the Oreo, Trail Mix, and Mounds renditions, while kids (and kids at heart) will enjoy the Birthday Cake, PB&J, and Lemonade versions. 08 of 18 Peach Crumble Bars View Recipe Jason Donnelly Fully loaded with 6 cups of fresh peaches, this is one of the best 9x13-inch desserts to make after a summer visit to the farmers market. To up the decadent ante, the fruit filling is sandwiched between a buttery, shortbread-like crust and a coconut-hazelnut crumble topping. It's even better served warm and crowned with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. 09 of 18 Caramel Coconut Cookie Bars View Recipe Carson Downing Part candy bar, part Girl Scout Cookie, this recipe is sure to fly off the table at potlucks and parties—or sell out at a bakesale. Inspired by Samoas/Caramel deLites, these are a breeze to make, since they're baked in a single 9x13-inch pan and sliced into sticks (instead of rolled into rounds and punched with a whole in the middle). But they still deliver all the familiar cookie flavors you remember from childhood, including dulce de leche, coconut flakes, melted chocolate, and a buttery cookie crust. 10 of 18 Quick Chocolate Cake View Recipe Scott Little Maybe you're craving cake, but you're short on staple ingredients, like milk, butter, and eggs. Turn to this dessert made with pantry staples. It calls for just five minutes of prep, thanks to the batter being mixed in a single bowl. Baking soda and vinegar create a chocolate cake that's remarkably light and tender, while cocoa powder delivers the chocolate. 11 of 18 Chocolaty Caramel-Nut S'more Bars View Recipe Andy Lyons On those scorching summer days when you're craving a s'mores bar, but not the heat of the campfire, turn to these s'mores-inspired treats. Caramel baking bits give each bite of this easy bar recipe a chewy texture. 12 of 18 Strawberry Coffee Cake with Cornmeal Streusel View Recipe Carson Downing With this decadent pan dessert, you can have strawberry cake for breakfast or brunch. It's called coffee cake, so it's supposed to be had early in the day, right? Strawberry filling swirls through the batter, as does a cornmeal streusel. The only challenging part about this dessert? Saving enough for everyone else. 13 of 18 Pineapple Upside-Down Coffee Cake View Recipe Andy Lyons Make the most of a can of pineapple rings in this tropical-flavored casserole dessert. Crown the tempting caramelized fruit topping in whipped cream, and you'll impress everyone with the amount of fruit flavor. That's because we call for mixing a half cup of the canned fruit juice right into the nutmeg-seasoned cake batter. 14 of 18 Chewy Cherry Almond Bars View Recipe Blaine Moats If you love a slice of cherry pie, try this easy fruit bar recipe. A chewy oat base is topped with cherry preserves and sliced almonds. A little almond extract in the dough adds even more flavor. 15 of 18 Toffee-Pumpkin Pie Bars View Recipe Kelsey Hansen If you're hosting a crowd for the holidays, make this easy pumpkin bar recipe. It makes 32 servings and each bite is loaded with creamy pumpkin, toffee pieces, and chopped pecans. 16 of 18 Limoncello Cheesecake Bars View Recipe Carson Downing These lemony cheesecake bars get a boost of flavor from limoncello liqueur in the filling. Top the finished bars with homemade candied lemon slices and a generous dusting of powdered sugar. 17 of 18 Dutch Letter Bars View Recipe Jason Donnelly These bars are a take on the classic Dutch letter cookies, often shaped like an "S." Here, almond paste Is mixed into a buttery dough and topped with raspberry jam. Finish this easy dessert recipe with sliced almonds and coarse sugar for crunch. 18 of 18 Hot Honey Nut Bars View Recipe Brie Goldman Hot honey gives this 13x9 dessert equally sweet and spicy. It's the perfect glaze for salted mixed nuts. Pour the entire mixture over a buttery shortbread-inspired crust. How to Roast Nuts Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit