There are times, hot summer daytimes to be more specific, when there are few things I wouldn't do before turning on the oven in the middle of the day. For such afternoons, if I'm craving something sweet or casually entertaining friends, no-bake desserts quickly become the order of the day. These dairy-free no-bake chocolate cookies are some of my staple sweet treats; prepared with few ingredients in little time, these delicious morsels are also significantly healthier than most no-bake cookie recipes that contain a frightening amount of butter or margarine.

For warm weather days when the oven is off-limits, here are a few more of my favorite dairy-free no-bake dessert recipes:

Butterscotch Pudding

Chocolate Maple Creams

Raw Carrot Cake

Photo © 2008 Ashley Skabar, licensed to About.com