31 Picnic Desserts for Your Next Outdoor Feast
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When we think about planning picnic food, we’re often focused on the main event and sides, but picnic desserts have a way of overshadowing all the other elements of any outdoor meal. Let’s be honest: Even your best potato salad has trouble competing with a homemade cake studded with berries or the surprise appearance of a container of salted-butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. Below, you’ll find our go-to desserts for a picnic, including handheld pie bars, sheet-pan brownie thins, cupcakes, and whoopie pies. Check the weather, grab your picnic blanket, and call some friends to join you.
Photo by Max Milla1/31Butter Toffee Bars
Bar cookies like these brickle bars make great picnic desserts—they’re handheld, easy to transport, and guaranteed to disappear before it’s time to lug your picnic basket home. This simple recipe from Nick DiGiovanni’s new book, Knife Drop, works well with Heath toffee bits.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Kat Boytsova2/31Salted-Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Epicurious editor Emily Johnson messed with a family classic when fine-tuning this cookie recipe. The result has a deeply nutty caramel flavor that we love.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Yekaterina Boystova3/317UP Cake
Does fizzy soda really make a difference in this classic Southern cake? We did some tests to find out.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell4/313-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
Invited to a last-minute picnic and not sure what to bring for dessert? These easy cookies are the answer.
Photo by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Liberty Fennell6/31Blackberry Pie With Lattice Crust
Juicy blackberries simply make the best summer pie around.
Photo by Travis Rainey, Food styling by Micah Marie Morton9/31Easy Coffee Cake
A picnic brunch is not complete without this quick and easy coffee cake, which leans on melted butter for richness.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich12/31Sesame Chocolate Rye Breakfast Cookies
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Susan Ottaviano, Prop Styling by Stephanie De Luca14/31Blueberry Muffin Cake
Grab some local blueberries and make this summery cake with minimal prep time and zero fuss.
Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Stevie Stewart18/31Whoopie Pies With Whipped Marshmallow Filling
Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by Sue Li21/31Tahini Rice Crispy Treats
All the cooking happens on the stovetop here, and you need just a handful of ingredients to make these no-bake treats.
Photo by Alana Kysar and Brooklyn Dombroski23/31Butter Mochi
Nothing pleases a crowd like a slice of this delightfully bouncy-chewy cake.
Photograph by Emma Fishman, food styling by Susie Theodorou, prop styling by Aneta Florczyk26/31Blackberry and Dried Apricot Slab Pie
Chopped dried apricots are plumped up in a bit of wine before joining the filling for this pie. It’s baked on a sheet pan—no pie pan required.
By Holly Wulff Petersen27/31Pistachio-Cherry Cake
Maybe a picnic isn’t the time for messing with frosting and multiple layers. But it is the time for deeply flavorful cakes that make the most of summer produce, like this one from cookbook author Benjamina Ebuehi.
Christopher Testani30/31Strawberry-Lemon Lattice Pie
Wide strips of dough make for an easy lattice on this summer fruit pie. Thin slices of lemon add dimension to the filling.
