You got invited to a dinner or potluck party at a friend’s house, fun! But now you need to find potluck desserts to bring, and I’m here to help!
It’s so easy to bring the same chocolate chip cookies or brownies to every gathering, but try something new with one of these potluck dessert ideas.
There are more than 50 potluck dessert recipes to choose from, whether you want dessert bars, something chocolate, a gluten free dessert, cookies, or a no bake dessert. Some are delicious classic desserts you may have forgotten about that remind you of family recipes, while others are fun new twists that your friend and family won’t be able to resist!
The last thing you want to do is to bring the same sweet treat someone else is. This list has more than 50 options for you to find your new favorite dessert.
The best part is that all of these desserts are portable, which makes them perfect for a potluck party. No one wants something super fussy that will be hard to eat with a small plate while you’re standing up!
Whether it’s a summer party, family reunion, something for the holiday season, a bridal or baby shower, or just a fun BBQ, these are guaranteed crowd-pleaser recipes that will get you all the kudos at your next potluck party that you could possibly want.
Best Potluck Desserts
Bar Desserts
Bake up something in a pan and then cut it into pieces for people to enjoy! That's one of my favorite ways to create treats for a crowd. There are so many amazing options that you're sure to find a new favorite.
SUPER Simple Dulce de Leche Magic Bars
When a recipe tells you to get a pan and pretty much just pour things into it before you bake it... that's my kind of recipe! These are incredibly simple and oh so tasty.
One Bowl Biscoff Blondies
These Biscoff blondies are thick, chewy and loaded with everyone's favorite Biscoff spread and topped with crushed cookies. You only need one bowl and a mixing spoon to pull these amazing blondies together.
Kentucky Derby Chocolate-Pecan Cookie Bars
So good, they're even requested for kids' birthdays... yet so simple, and terrific for potlucks, no fork required.
Apricot-Cherry Slab Pie
Apricot cherry slab pie is perfect for picnics, potlucks, or BBQs. No fork needed. A single batch makes plenty for a crowd, too.
Apple Slices
Chicago-style bakery apple slices are a classic. Place apple filling between two crusts in a sheet pan, top with vanilla glaze, and cut into squares. These slices are very portable and travel well for your potluck or next get-together.
Nutella S’mores Bars
Nutella S’mores Bars are everybody’s favorite summer treat in an ooey, gooey, decadent, and delicious bar, no campfire needed! Make a batch and watch them disappear before your eyes.
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars
I'm not going to call this a cheater recipe, but starting with refrigerated cookie dough definitely makes it easier and faster to prepare. Layers of oatmeal, caramel, pecans, and more chocolate chips make dessert bars that get rave reviews.
Raspberry Lemonade Bars
Enjoy the flavors of summer with these easy and delicious Raspberry Lemonade Bars. They make a delicious treat to serve on the go at a potluck or other gathering.
Easy Raspberry Bars
Easy Raspberry Bars taste like summer! With a buttery shortbread crust and pecan crumble, these bars are the perfect dessert for summer gatherings.
Matcha Brownies
Matcha brownies are soft, chewy, and made with white chocolate and the best matcha powder. These will be your new favorite matcha dessert - and a hit with all your family and friends.
Old-Fashioned Date Bars
Dating back more than half a century ago, this Date Bar recipe is a special, old-fashioned treat that's perfectly mess-free for potlucks. They’re super-easy and freezable, too, so you can always keep a stash on hand for last-minute gatherings.
Vanilla Brownies
These vanilla brownies are tender and chewy, a fun twist on a classic chocolate brownie. They have a rich vanilla flavor that's complemented by a layer of vanilla icing.
Pineapple Bars
Tender, tangy pieces of fresh pineapple are layered onto a shortbread crust for amazingly tasty pineapple bars that everyone will rave about! They're sure to be your new favorite.
Sheet Pan Cookie Bars
Sheet Pan Cookie Bars are a great way to feed a crowd. These delicious cookie bars come together quick and have both white and milk chocolate chips in them.
No Bake Desserts
Often, I'm rushing for something to whip up at the last minute, which is where no bake desserts save me. Alternatively, it's hot outside and I don't want to turn on my oven, but I need something tasty. No bake desserts are my favorite in these situations!
S'mores Stuffed Strawberries
I love s'mores in all their forms. These strawberries are quick and easy to make, and they have an elegant look that's perfect for any party. Everyone loves this unique dessert, and they disappear faster even than brownies!
Copycat Girl Scout S'mores Cookies
The Girl Scouts really had a thing going when they introduced the s'mores cookie flavor. But they stopped making it after the 2021 cookie season, so this is the only way you'll be able to enjoy it now. Be a potluck hero and bring these!
10 Minute Caramel Cheesecake Apple Dip
This simple recipe for Apple Caramel Cheesecake Dip is the perfect snack, appetizer or dessert for any potluck. Mix together, cream cheese, brown sugar, caramel, Skor chocolate bars, and apples. This dessert is always a big hit.
Rocky Road Avalanche Bars
These Rocky Road Avalanche Bars are filled with chocolate, nut butter, rice krispies cereal, and marshmallows. This recipe is no bake, no fuss, and no-one can resist them.
Easy Chocolate Walnut Fudge
This Easy Chocolate Walnut Fudge takes minutes to make yet gives you a luscious creamy nut-filled fudge. It is not only perfect for a potluck dessert but for an anytime treat.
Easy Peanut Butter Fudge
Looking for an easy peanut butter fudge recipe? Then you have to try this no bake microwave fudge. It is super creamy and melts in your mouth.
No Bake S'Mores Bars
These No-Bake S’mores Bars are a fun spin on the classic s’mores. These S’mores Bars are the perfect combination of sweet, chewy, and crunchy and an indulging dessert you can’t resist, perfect to share at a potluck.
No Bake Cookies (Preacher Cookies)
This classic No Bake Cookies recipe is a nostalgic childhood favorite. Made with peanut butter, chocolate, and oats, these chewy no bakes come together in just a few minutes, no oven required.
Cereal Bars
Forget just the traditional crispy rice cereal and marshmallow treats, there are SO many ways to dress up this classic to take it to a potluck dinner. Whatever you do, just make sure you save some for yourself before they disappear.
Double Chocolate Peppermint Cereal Bars
We all grew up eating traditional Rice Krispie treats, right? As I got older, I wanted to make them more refined... or just have fun with the flavors. A light mint flavor and chocolate drizzle makes these a perfect potluck dessert.
Double Chocolate Cherry Cereal Bars
I love chocolate and cherry together, and in a cereal bar, they're just as delicious as they are anywhere else. Best of all, these work with a variety of cereal choices. In fact, I often use a gluten free cereal so that they are safe for me to enjoy with more friends!
Strawberry Cheesecake Rice Krispie Treats
These amazing Strawberry Cheesecake Krispies are perfect for potlucks. They're faster and easier than traditional cheesecake. Make and take these gooey bars anywhere.
Caramelized White Chocolate Rice Crispy Treats
These over the top rice crispy treats are made with golden-brown caramelized white chocolate, gooey marshmallows, toasty brown butter, and puffed rice cereal. Don’t worry; they only sound fancy. This recipe is super quick and easy to make.
Easy Cookies and Cream Rice Krispie Treats
Cookies and Cream Rice Krispie Treats are easy to make with only 4 ingredients. They're perfect for any occasion and add a fun, unique twist you'll love.
Scotcheroos
A vintage favorite, these no bake peanut butter Rice Krispie bars with rich chocolate and butterscotch topping are something everyone will love. They're a classic for a reason.
Chocolate Desserts
Find me a gathering without a chocoholic, and I'll decline the invitation. (Just kidding. I'll still go!) Chocolate is always a fan favorite at any gathering I attend, so bringing something chocolate for your potluck desserts is never a bad idea!
Antioxidant Bark
Chocolate bark is incredibly easy to make (hello no bake yumminess!), and it's so flexible to enjoy with a multitude of flavors possible. This "antioxidant" version uses dried cherries and blueberries, along with pumpkin seeds and other simple toppings for a delicious combination that disappears in a heartbeat.
Oreo Cheesecake Bites
Definitely plan to make this easy no bake Oreo dessert on a delicious Oreo crust. These simple cheesecake bites are the perfect dessert for a potluck, summer, or holiday party!
Chocolate Covered Toffee Pretzels
These Chocolate Covered Toffee Pretzels are a salty and sweet treat that everyone will love. Excellent to make ahead of time, these are an easy recipe to bring to a picnic, potluck, or any other gathering.
Mini Chocolate Pies
Take a family-favorite chocolate cream pie and turn it into mini individual chocolate pies to make them portable and even more fun. These mini chocolate pies are so delicious - and perfect for parties.
Caramel Chocolate Shortbread Slice
These caramel chocolate shortbread slices are like a grown up version of a Twix bar. This no bake dessert is perfect for your next potluck dinner, or make them just because.
Homemade Snickers Bars
The best complement to the Twix bars above are... you guessed it, Snickers bars! There is little chance anyone will resist a gooey, chocolatey, and crunchy homemade Snickers bar at any potluck.
Biscoff Rocky Road
This is one utterly irresistible recipe that will excite any chocoholic. Crunchy Biscoff biscuits, melted Biscoff spread, melted chocolate and mini marshmallows... What's not to love?
Brownie Bites
These brownie bites are great for a crowd. They’re simple to prepare in just 25-minutes with pantry staples and can be customized with your favorite frosting, baking chips, and/or nuts.
Whoopie Pies
Whoopie Pies are sure to disappear, as people far too rarely see a homemade version. They’re a chocolate cake-like cookie with an insanely fluffy, marshmallow-flavored filling that’s perfect for any occasion.
Fudgy Molasses Box Brownies
Everyone will want the recipes for these Doctored Box Brownies. Adding molasses to the batter makes these the fudgiest brownies you’ve ever had.no
Cookies
Cookie are a perfect potluck dessert. They're portable and delicious, and recipes tend to make enough to feed a group. And once again, you have so many varieties to choose from.
Triple Chocolate Dipped Cookies
If you want a showstopper, these chocolate cookies half dipped in white chocolate are perfect. They remind me of the cookies I used to love when I worked at Mrs. Field's in high school - so chewy and chocolate-y and delicious.
Chewy Molasses Cookies
I am a sucker for a good chewy cookie, and boy do these fit the bill. They have a little spice from the ginger and a kick from the molasses, and the sugar on top just plain looks pretty. This is definitely one of my go to cookie recipes.
S'mores Cookies
Did I mention that I love s'mores in all shapes and sizes? I actually make more than one kind of s'mores cookie, but these are my favorites. Today, anyway. Any time you mix chocolate and marshmallow and graham together, it's a win.
Lemon Raspberry Cookies
Lemon Raspberry Cookies are soft, fluffy, buttery, and bursting with the flavors of fresh lemon and raspberries. Fun and incredibly easy to make, this delicious Lemon Cookie Recipe will vanish before your very eyes.
Quick and Easy Puff Pastry Almond Cookies
These deliciously crispy and nutty puff pastry almond cookies look and taste so much like something purchased from a high-end bakery that you would not believe how easy they are to make! With just five ingredients and 10 minutes of prep time, even an inexperienced baker can whip these up without problems.
Nutella Sandwich Cookies
Enjoy simple vanilla cookies filled with silky Nutella. This is an easy, delicious cookie recipe made without eggs.
Lofthouse Sugar Cookies
This copycat vegan Lofthouse sugar cookie recipe is so delicious. These cookies are soft, chewy and cakey with the best vanilla frosting.
20-minute Blueberry Muffin Mix Oatmeal Cookies
I've seen so many cake mix recipes, but the idea to make cookies with muffin mix is unique and brilliant. Blueberry Muffin Mix Cookies are an easy make, bake, and take treat.
Oatmeal Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies
These oatmeal walnut chocolate chip cookies are pure perfection – crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. Plus, they’re super easy and quick to make since you don’t need to chill the dough. Just mix and bake, that’s it.
Gluten Free Desserts
Bringing a gluten free dessert to a potluck is always a thoughtful idea. There are so many who are unable to enjoy all those desserts made with gluten. Many are naturally gluten free and require no substitutions, while others are perfect translations of classic favorites made for your gluten free friends and family.
Homemade English Toffee
This simple nut free toffee is surprisingly easy to make and always disappears in a heartbeat. It's naturally gluten free, and it makes enough to feed a crowd.
Almond Flour Peanut Butter Cookies
These Almond Flour Peanut Butter Cookies are a delicious treat that everyone loves. You only need six ingredients and 35 minutes to make these homemade treats.
Gluten-free Apple Bundt Cake {Dairy-free}
Grab some fresh, tart apples from the orchard, farmer’s market or store so you can make this delicious gluten-free apple cake. Before I brought it to a potluck recently, I went ahead and sliced it all up at home and laid the slices on a platter.
Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
These gluten free chocolate chip cookie bars are perfect for bake sales, after school treats, and potlucks. They have the familiar flavor you love that is a hit with all the chocolate lovers while also being gluten free for those who need it.
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