30 Summer Cookie Recipes: Bake & No-Bake
Summer baking has one rule: don't let the oven win. The best summer cookies either skip the heat entirely, lean on what's in season, or travel well enough to survive a cooler and a car ride. We pulled together 30 of the best - no-bake and icebox cookies, ice cream sandwiches, bright citrus and fresh berry, airy meringues, and picnic-proof classics - from bakers we trust. Every one was checked to make sure it delivers. The oven never stood a chance.
Top Picks
Six standouts, one from each category - if you only bake one this weekend, start here.
Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies
The stovetop classic that earns its keep in July: cocoa, peanut butter, and oats cooked on the stove, then set in the fridge with the oven off. Swap in Black Cocoa for a darker, fudgier set, and a spoon of Espresso Po...
Sheet Pan Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches
Bake one chocolate chip cookie across a whole sheet pan, cut it into squares, and sandwich softened ice cream between the halves - feeds a crowd without shaping a single cookie. Black Cocoa turns the base darker and r...
Easy Key Lime Cookies with Lime Glaze
Lime is the move when you want summer to taste tropical instead of just tart, and these carry a bright lime glaze right on top. Finish the wet glaze with Sparkling Sugar so it sets with a little crunch and catches the...
Salted Strawberry Cookies (Naturally Pink)
Roasting the strawberries first concentrates the flavor and pulls out that soft pink on its own - no drop of food coloring anywhere. Finish the edges with our naturally colored sanding sugar to double down on the no-d...
The Perfect French Meringue
Crisp, light, and barely-there sweet, these are the summer cookie that won't weigh you down or melt in the heat. Swap in our meringue powder to stabilize the whites with no raw eggs in the bowl - and it's the only tit...
Classic Biscotti (4 Flavors)
One base dough, four flavor directions, and a twice-baked crunch that holds up for weeks in a tin - the definition of picnic-proof. Stir in our espresso powder for a coffee-forward batch, or reach for black cocoa for ...
No-Bake & Icebox Cookies
When it's too hot to turn on the oven, these deliver cookies from the fridge or the stovetop. Set, chill, done.
Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies
The stovetop classic that earns its keep in July: cocoa, peanut butter, and oats cooked on the stove, then set in the fridge with the oven off. Every step happens before the kitchen has a chance to heat up. Swap in Bl...
Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies
Six ingredients, no chocolate, no oven - just peanut butter and oats holding together in a chewy round. It's the lighter counterpoint on a no-bake tray, the cookie you reach for when you want peanut butter to be the w...
No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal PB Cookies (Gluten-Free)
The chocolate-peanut butter-oat no-bake, built gluten-free so the whole table can grab one. It sets on the counter and in the fridge, which makes it a summer staple when turning on the oven is off the table. Black Coc...
Chocolate No-Bake Cookies (Haystacks)
Same beloved no-bake, spooned into craggy haystacks instead of flat rounds - a little height and texture for a tray that needs visual range. They firm up in the fridge with zero bake time. Reach for Black Cocoa and a ...
The Best No-Bake Oatmeal Cookies
A fresh, well-styled take on the fridge-set oatmeal cookie, chewy in the center with that familiar chocolate-oat pull. No-bake means the kitchen stays cool while these do their thing. Black Cocoa deepens the color and...
Ice Cream Sandwich Cookies
The cookie half is where the magic is. These bake up soft enough to bite through frozen - build the ice cream sandwich summer's been asking for.
Sheet Pan Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches
Bake one chocolate chip cookie across a whole sheet pan, cut it into squares, and sandwich softened ice cream between the halves - one method that feeds a crowd without shaping a single cookie. It's the smart move for...
Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches
The nostalgic rectangular wafer sandwich, the one that reads like summer from the first bite. Made with Black Cocoa, the wafers come out jet-dark with little to no food coloring - the color comes straight from the coc...
Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches
A pastry chef's true wafer-style sandwich, fresh for 2024 and dialed in down to the texture of the cookie. Build it with Black Cocoa for a dark wafer and lean into a cookies-and-cream angle with a vanilla ice cream ce...
Homemade Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches
A straightforward chocolate chip cookie sandwich, shot bright and simple, for anyone who wants the crowd-pleaser with no fuss. Two cookies, a scoop, a freeze, done. Swap in Black Cocoa if you'd rather the cookie run d...
Homemade Ice Cream Sandwich Cookies
The classic chocolate wafer sandwich, tender enough to bite through without the ice cream squishing out the sides. Black Cocoa gives the wafers their deep, dark look - little to no food coloring needed, the color come...
Bright & Citrus Cookies
Citrus is summer's brightest note. These cookies bring the pucker and the sparkle, from lemon crinkles to key lime.
Easy Key Lime Cookies with Lime Glaze
Lime is the move when you want summer to taste tropical instead of just tart, and these carry a bright lime glaze right on top. They're the sunny break in a lineup that could otherwise lean all-lemon. Finish the wet g...
Chewy Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Soft, chewy, and crackled across the top, with lemon bright enough to wake up the whole plate. The crinkle look does a lot of the work here, and it photographs like summer. Roll them in Sparkling Sugar before baking f...
Lemon Crinkle Cookies
A clean, bright crinkle with that signature powdered-sugar crackle and a lemon lift in every bite. Simple enough for a weeknight, pretty enough for a tray. Swap the sugar roll for Sparkling Sugar and the tops finish w...
Key Lime Cookies
Soft, chewy, and unmistakably tropical, these lean on key lime for a tart-sweet cookie that feels like the coast. It's the kind of citrus that stands out on a summer table without trying too hard. A dusting of Sparkli...
White Chocolate Key Lime Cookies
White chocolate rounds off the tang of key lime here, so you get creamy and bright in the same bite. It's the twist that makes the citrus category feel a little more special. Finish with Sparkling Sugar for a touch of...
The Summer Cookie Upgrade
Great summer cookies start with a few workhorse ingredients: black cocoa for jet-black ice cream sandwiches, meringue powder for airy meringues and icing that sets hard in the heat, and sparkling and sanding sugars for a finish that catches the sun. All non-GMO sourced, batch-tested, and built to perform.
Fresh Berry Cookies
Berry season, meet the cookie jar. Fresh and freeze-dried berries give these real fruit flavor and a pop of natural color.
Salted Strawberry Cookies (Naturally Pink)
Roasting the strawberries first concentrates the flavor and pulls out that soft pink on its own - no drop of food coloring anywhere. A pinch of salt keeps it from tipping into jammy-sweet, which is exactly what you wa...
Blueberry Cookies
Fresh blueberries baked right into a soft, tender crumb so each one bursts a little when you bite in. It's a bright, crowd-pleasing pick that leans on peak-season fruit instead of heavy add-ins. A dusting of sparkling...
Soft Blueberry Cookies with Lemon Glaze
Blueberry and lemon is the crossover that never misses, and here the citrus glaze cuts the sweetness so the fruit stays front and center. The cookies bake up soft and fluffy, which makes them read fresh even on day tw...
Raspberry Cookies
Real raspberry syrup plus chunks means the flavor goes deep, not just a hint on the finish. That tart-sweet punch is what makes raspberry the summer berry to reach for when strawberry and blueberry feel expected. A ri...
Strawberry Cookies
This one uses real fresh strawberries and a firmer-berry technique, so you get true fruit flavor without the dough going soggy - a genuinely tricky thing to pull off. The payoff is a cookie that tastes like the berry,...
Airy Meringue & Light Cookies
Light as air and barely sweet, meringue-based cookies are the summer antidote to heavy chocolate. Crisp outside, melt-away inside.
The Perfect French Meringue
Crisp, light, and barely-there sweet, these are the summer cookie that won't weigh you down or melt in the heat. They come from a cake artist, so the technique is dialed in and the results look as clean as they taste....
Beginner's French Macarons
Macarons have a reputation, but this is the definitive beginner's walkthrough, with the fussy steps spelled out so your first batch actually works. The result is light, crisp shells with that signature chewy middle - ...
French Meringue Cookies
Glossy, piped meringue kisses that look like little clouds and shatter into sweetness when you bite them. They're endlessly customizable with color and size, which makes them a fun one to hand kids or a party table. A...
Raspberry Meringues
Crunchy on the outside, chewy in the middle, with a raspberry swirl running through for a tart-sweet lift. It's a fresh 2024 take that brings real color and flavor to the meringue tray, so it doubles as the bridge to ...
French Macarons (Swiss Meringue Method)
The Swiss method warms the whites and sugar first, which makes for one of the most reliable, forgiving macaron routes out there. If humidity has wrecked your macarons before, this is the technique to trust. Light, cri...
Picnic-Proof & Portable Cookies
Built for the cooler and the car. These cookies hold their shape, their finish, and their crunch from the kitchen to the picnic blanket.
Classic Biscotti (4 Flavors)
One base dough, four flavor directions, and a twice-baked crunch that holds up for weeks in a tin - this is the definition of picnic-proof. No frosting to melt, no crumb to fall apart in a backpack, just sturdy cookie...
Snickerdoodle Shortbread Cookies
Snickerdoodle flavor in a shortbread body means these hold their shape and shrug off the heat - no melt, no spread, no mess. The cinnamon-sugar edge gives every bite that familiar warm-spice hit. Roll the edges in our...
Buttery Shortbread Cookies
A fresh take on the classic that's sturdy, buttery, and endlessly adaptable - the blank canvas of the cookie world. It packs and ships without crumbling, which is exactly what you want for a picnic spread. Press the e...
Snickerdoodle Sables
A French sable brings the crumbly, sandy snap that makes shortbread so sturdy, dressed up with snickerdoodle spice. It's editorial-grade and travels beautifully, so it's the one to bring when you want to impress witho...
Shortbread Biscotti
Shortbread meets biscotti for an ultra-sturdy, twice-baked cookie that's quick to pull together. It's about as travel-tough as a cookie gets, so it earns its spot in the picnic basket. Scatter sanding sugar on top bef...
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We've Got Answers
What are the best no-bake summer cookies?
No-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies, icebox/refrigerator cookies, and no-bake cookie balls - all set in the fridge or on the stovetop, so the oven stays off.
How do I keep cookies from spreading or melting in summer heat?
Chill the dough before baking, don't overcream the butter, and cool cookies completely before stacking. For travel, choose sturdy shortbread or slice-and-bakes over thin, buttery cookies, and keep them in a cooler out of direct sun.
Which cookies travel best for picnics and cookouts?
Sturdy, low-moisture cookies - shortbread, slice-and-bakes, sugar cookies, and sandwich cookies with a set filling. Avoid anything with fresh cream or a chocolate coating that melts.
What cookies are best for ice cream sandwiches?
Soft, chewy cookies that stay bite-able when frozen - chocolate wafers (black cocoa gives the jet-black, cookies-and-cream look), chocolate chip, and funfetti.
Can I make summer cookies ahead?
Yes - most slice-and-bake and icebox doughs keep in the fridge or freezer, and meringue cookies store for days in an airtight container. Bake or slice as needed.
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