38 Valentine's Day Desserts That Don't Feature Chocolate

Though chocolate seems to reign supreme as a Valentine's Day dessert option, there's a world of possibilities for celebrating your sweetheart that feature other fabulous flavors instead. So if you or your special someone aren't fans of cocoa, fret not — the list of chocolate-free desserts is pretty long. From fruit pizzas to berry cobblers, lemon cakes, and a sumptuous array of non-chocolate sweets and treats, your dessert choices can make superstars out of seasonal ingredients that will remind you that you don't really need chocolate to celebrate the day of love. 

Whether presenting them as gifts to their one true love, glamming up a Galentine's Day get-together, or simply sharing them with friends and family, creative bakers will find much to love in a collection of recipes that think outside the — chocolate — box when it comes to treating your loved ones to something delicious.

Tender and moist, flavored with soft spices to warm the heart, carrot cake is a fitting dessert for any Valentine's Day celebration. When it takes the form of carrot cake donuts, you have individual goodies to serve to your sweetie or a crowd full of hungry guests. This timeless treat adds old-fashioned charm to your table and pairs nicely with coffee or tea and your favorite cocktails. Top these heavenly cakes with traditional cream cheese frosting and walnuts for a classic combination, or try caramel sauce to create a unique blend that's sure to inspire love. 

Recipe: Carrot Cake Baked Donuts

Few desserts are as warm and satisfying as rice pudding, and with a 15-minute recipe, you can create a soothing dessert for your Valentine's Day without spending too much time in the kitchen. A versatile base for other flavors, you can accent your rice pudding with an array of toppings, including the familiar raisins and cinnamon or something fresh and exciting like sliced almonds and maple syrup or a dollop of your favorite jam or marmalade. Even sliced fruit works great to add a tasteful touch of natural sweetness.

Recipe: 15-Minute Rice Pudding

It may seem a bit cliché to bake a honey cake for your honey, but a Russian honey cake recipe that's easy to prepare is too much of a temptation to pass up. Six lovely layers stack up to a super sweet loaf-shaped dessert with layers of creamy frosting sandwiched in between and wrapped around the surface. Tender crumbs make a tricky topping that ties in the color and taste of the cake within. The result is a treasure of a cake that might make your true love question the very existence of chocolate entirely!

Recipe: Easy Russian Honey Cake

Strawberries are the happy, heart-shaped valentines of the fruit world, making them the perfect topping for a chocolate-free dessert pizza. Four simple ingredients are all it takes to woo your special someone with a lightly sweet delicacy: roll-out sugar cookie dough, cream cheese, lemon juice, and a bevy of beautifully sliced strawberries. If the evening calls for added sweetness, consider drizzling the dessert with some honey or maple syrup.

Recipe: Easy Strawberry Dessert Pizza

Peanut butter steps out of its long-term relationship with chocolate to become the superstar of peanut butter fudge, which you can create in your slow cooker. A simple blend of crunchy peanuts, creamy peanut butter, sweetened condensed milk, and white chocolate melts to get a flavor blast from vanilla extract. Once cooled, you can stack it up on a plate and serve it as fun finger food or box it up in a heart-shaped tin and gift it to your loved one as a homemade Valentine's Day gift.

Recipe: Slow Cooker Peanut Butter Fudge

Chocolate's less glamorous yet equally delicious sidekick, vanilla, gets its own time in the dessert spotlight as a Valentine's Day cake that couldn't be easier to whip up. Three simple ingredients are all it takes to make a moist and fluffy vanilla sponge. By hacking a boxed cake mix with eggs and ice cream, you take a super shortcut to Happy Heartsville with a dessert that can be enjoyed on its own or topped with fresh fruit or your favorite sauces.

Recipe: 3-Ingredient Vanilla Cake

Chewy and crunchy is always a winning combination in a holiday goodie. On Valentine's Day, it makes a particularly welcome dessert when chocolate is off the menu. In addition to the fun and familiar marshmallow and crisped rice cereal, pink marshmallows and heart-shaped sprinkles bring a loving holiday touch to these beloved bite-sized snacks. They work beautifully as a familiar dessert with a flashy layer of festive flair. You can serve them up in a delicious stack that's perfect for friends and family or drop them into treat bags and hand them out to your favorite valentines.

Recipe: Valentine's Day Rice Krispie Treats

Blueberries and amaretto make an unexpectedly romantic pairing in a fruit-based cake recipe that could give chocolate a run for its money. A silky cream cheese frosting blankets this special creation in luxury, while toasted almonds sprinkled on top bring a welcome crunch to the party. This simple-to-make treat looks sophisticated on any dessert tray, ready to be enjoyed with coffee or tea spiked with a splash of extra amaretto. Make it for your Valentine's Day dinner date or as a decadent dessert to share with your kids. 

Recipe: Blueberry Amaretto Cake

The happy zing of lemon in this incredible lemon meringue pie is the perfect flavor to express your Valentine's Day excitement. Fluffy toasted meringue tops a silken lemon custard in a handmade crust made from ground graham crackers. A surprise appearance by almonds gives the crust a fun, nutty kick and adds crunch to counter the softness of the filling. For a dessert that reminds your loved ones of sunshine on a frosty February day, this delicious creation is sure to be adored. 

Recipe: Lemon Meringue Pie

Your special someone will go bananas for this moist masterpiece of a chocolate-free Valentine's Day dessert. Overripe bananas find new life in a batter that blends butter and brown sugar into a classic sponge rich with caramel-banana flavor. Soft cream cheese frosting lends just the right amount of tanginess, while scattered walnuts offer a bit of crunch to counter the tenderness. To monkey around with the formula, try a batch of peanut butter frosting with a sprinkle of roasted peanuts instead. 

Recipe: Banana Cake

Cheesecake makes a rich and cosmopolitan dessert for Valentine's Day, a step or two up from the usual chocolate decadence. This recipe lets you recreate a classic New York-style cheesecake that will win the heart of your secret crush. It's a graham cracker crust cradling a creamy combination of cream cheese and sour cream with a zesty whisper of lemon, one of the purest dessert pleasures on the planet. If you want to level up your after-dinner rendezvous, this sumptuous stunner is a must.

Recipe: Classic New York Cheesecake

Old-fashioned desserts like strawberry shortcakes never go out of style. The blend of biscuit-style shortcake, whipped cream, and sweet strawberries makes a harmonic mix your valentine will adore. Because these modest-sized treats are made in batches, there is plenty for your guests to have seconds or even thirds. To impress your loved ones even more with your baking skills, try whipping up a batch of homemade ice cream to replace the whipped cream. If you're indulging for the sake of love, you might as well put your whole heart into it!

Recipe: Traditional Strawberry Shortcake

No need to speculate on whether Speculoo cookie butter is special enough for a Valentine's Day dessert. Just grab a jar and a few other ingredients and whip up this tasty cookie butter cake to stun your sweetheart! A boxed yellow cake mix, butter, and eggs provide a classic base that invites the cookie butter to join the party. A bit more cookie butter heated up in the microwave makes a smooth and creamy glaze-like frosting to spread on top. With a cake this fantastic, who needs chocolate?

Recipe: 4-Ingredient Cookie Butter Cake

Making a Dutch Baby for your own baby is a perfect way to celebrate the Day of Love! Using only butter, milk, eggs, and flour, this skillet-baked beauty of a dessert treat is simple to make and delicious to indulge in. The best part may be the skillet; it does double duty as the cooking pan and serving dish, saving you time and trouble when delivering the goods to the dinner table. A sprinkle of powdered sugar and some sliced fruit top things off nicely!

Recipe: Dutch Baby

Homemade cinnamon apple pastries capture the flavors you love from your favorite toaster-style treats. These miniature pies are made with fresh ingredients for an upscale version of a childhood classic. Even better than the bold apple and cinnamon flavor resting atop flaky pastry dough is the fact that only a trio of simple elements is required to make them! A drizzle of icing counts as a fourth ingredient, but what's one more step when you're topping a Valentine's Day dessert this heartfelt?

Recipe: 3-Ingredient Cinnamon Apple Pastries

With your slow cooker doing double duty as a baking oven, whipping up your chocolate-free Valentine's Day dessert is a piece of cake! A boxed yellow cake mix doctored up with butter for richness and bananas for smooth flavor transforms into a cake base that no one can resist. But the real magic happens with the vanilla pudding whipped topping decorated with banana slices and vanilla wafer cookies. The result is a dessert that's as pretty and delicious as anything your chocolate cookbook offers!

Recipe: Slow Cooker Banana Pudding Cake

Traditional lemon bars make a magnificent Valentine's Day dessert if you aren't a fan of chocolate. These custard slices are a sweet and tangy combination of shortbread crust and lemon curd that practically burst with warm citrus brightness. Sliced into perfect squares, your lemon bars will cut an elegant shape, plated up, and sprinkled with powdered sugar on your dessert tray or dinner table. You can also arrange them in treat boxes to hand out to party guests or as a present to give your loved one.

Recipe: Easy Lemon Bars

Bring a timeless favorite to your Valentine's Day table with an old-fashioned coconut cake. The coconut lover in your life is sure to fall in love with a cake that includes coconut in several different forms, with coconut milk in the cake and the frosting and as a coating of toasted coconut for decorative topping. While it may not be everyone's favorite flavor, fans who relish coconut are sure to enjoy a dessert that amounts to a Mounds bar minus the chocolate coating, of-course!

Recipe: Coconut Cake

Let the chocolate-dipped strawberries sit out this Valentine's Day and try a new twist instead. Mini strawberry cheesecake bites are a match made in the kitchen, where tangy strawberries and creamy cheesecake pair up for a dessert romance that you can't miss. Bite-sized cheesecakes complete with graham cracker crust are topped with strawberry slices, sweet and lovely enough to win the hearts of your friends and family. And because they're so tiny, you can indulge in a few without feeling like you have an entire cheesecake to finish before the night is through.

Recipe: Mini Strawberry Cheesecake Bites

Cold weather celebrations like Valentine's Day don't stand a chance with the cozy warmth of this cherry pecan bread pudding. Cherries and pecans make an ideal flavor duet that brightens up soft chunks of bread and creamy custard. Prep time is a quick and breezy 15 minutes tops, but baking takes more than an hour, so remember to plan accordingly. With a bit of coordination, you can serve up a warm bread pudding topped with cream and start your own dessert-based love fest.

Recipe: Cherry Pecan Bread Pudding

A lemon chiffon cake is light enough to take your angel to heaven when dessert time arrives, especially when you prepare the homemade version with love. Whipped egg whites are the secret to achieving a cloud-like consistency, while the lemony magic comes from a generous serving of fresh juice and zest. The glaze combines more lemon juice with butter and powdered sugar for an added sunbeam of a topping. The results are an airy sponge with so much joyful citrus flavor; your favorite someone will fall in love more and more with each bite.

Recipe: Airy Lemon Chiffon Cake

The caramel-apple combination of a brown butter apple tart is enough to send your boo into Valentine's dessert dreamland. Preparing the batter without bursting the bubbles that make the cake, so light takes a delicate touch. But once the sponge bakes up and the tangy lemon glaze is added, you'll see why this sophisticated sweet is well worth the extra effort.

Recipe: Brown Butter Apple Tart

These no-fault sugar cookies can solve several baking situations that are sure to make your holiday a real treat. Easy to make and fresher than store-bought, a simple combination of butter, eggs, sugar, and flour with a few flavorings added is all it takes to get rolling. Use cookie cutters to create heart shapes and your favorite frosting to decorate, or leave them plain for a more stripped-down treat. You can serve them on a tiered platter or box them up and give them to the one you love as a special Valentine's Day gift.

Recipe: Easy Cut Out Sugar Cookies

Fill personal-sized crusts with creamy lemon filling for tempting lemon tarts that will take your bae's breath away. These open-faced pies present a different take on lemon desserts, introducing butter and eggs in the creamy custard, creating a glossy lemon pudding. Though there's a tart citrus kiss in every bite, there's enough sweetness to make these personal-sized delights a treat that's best eaten slowly. Consider eating these lemon tarts with comforting warm beverages like coffee or tea to help balance the flavors as you indulge.

Recipe: Lemon Tarts

Add a boozy touch to your romantic evening by bringing out rum-soaked bananas Foster for dessert. Sweet rum combines with brown sugar and butter to create a complex caramel sauce that couldn't be easier to create. And to add extra heat to your special occasion, you can turn this tropical treat into a fiery flambe with a little extra alcohol sprinkled over the pan. The fire around the stove is always risky, so it's best to make sure that your kitchen is fire-safe before attempting this boss move.

Recipe: Bananas Foster

Few desserts say "amour" like a French apple tart. You can treat your better half to the best of Parisian baking with a rustic creation brimming with delicate apple and cream flavor. All it takes is 40 minutes to assemble a crust and pour homemade custard around simple fruit slices to create this classic bake. A snowfall of powdered sugar on top will remind your loved one that, even though it's chilly outside, good food with great company is a winning recipe for Valentine's warmth.

Recipe: French Apple Tart

No need to spirit your sweetheart off to Disneyland for a Dole Whip when you can recreate this famous frozen treat at home. With a five-minute prep time and four ingredients on a joyride in a blender, this creative copycat recipe may be the simplest dish you ever create. Make it festive by using a piping bag to fill pretty glasses and add a spray of whipped cream on top to finish it off. No lines, no crowds, and a winning Valentine's Day dessert!

Recipe: Disney Dole Whip

Sugar cookie dough, cream cheese, and fresh fruit are all you need for this dessert party in a pan. An arrangement of berries makes a colorful kaleidoscope while providing bright flavors to contrast the cream cheese layer. With a buttery crust holding everything together, this light yet decadent fruit pizza brings layers of love to the party. It may not look like much when you start, but by the time you finish, you'll be wondering if you should slice into it or frame it to hang on the wall!

Recipe: Fruit Pizza

You may already have the elements for this 3-ingredient cherry cobbler in your pantry! Two cans of prepared cherry pie filling spread in a baking pan and topped with white cake mix and butter crumble transforms into a dessert with a simple homestyle appeal. As with other fruit-centered desserts, a hearty serving of whipped cream or ice cream adds a sweet vanilla touch that only makes things more delicious. You'll be done baking in an hour and ready to dive into a non-chocolate treat with a cherry-flavored heart.

Recipe: 3-Ingredient Cherry Cobbler

An Italian delight to stir enamored hearts, panna cotta is one of the truest European desserts without a drop of chocolate. This velvety smooth custard-like cream dessert is a perfect base for fresh fruit, toasted nuts, or even sweet biscuits to lend a touch of texture. A creamy treat like this doesn't come easily, though. Once cooked, you'll need to chill them in the refrigerator for four hours to make sure that they set, so it's best to prepare them well ahead of your Valentine's Day celebration.

Recipe: Classic Panna Cotta

As pretty as they are delicious, mini fruit tarts present tiny jewels of dessert deliciousness to decorate your Valentine's Day table. Though small in stature, these tiny versions of their larger counterparts capture all the buttery cookie and creamy custard magic, crowned with an array of bite-sized fruits. Each bite-sized beauty gets its own dazzling décor to add color and flavor to the rich base. If artful desserts sans chocolate sound like the right kind of bite for your taste, put these pretty nibbles at the top of your menu. 

Recipe: Mini Fruit Tarts

Baked apples may be the easiest version of a warm and flavorful dessert that leaves chocolate in the candy store. The only prep involved is coring the apples and filling them with brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon. Bake the apples to bring out the juices and soften the apple flesh, and you have a timeless flavor combination you can top with whipped cream or serve a la mode. Think of them as crustless apple pies with no peeling or slicing required.

Recipe: Baked Apples

Beignets let you tie together Valentine's Day and an early Mardi Gras celebration without leaving your kitchen! Pillowy soft, and lightly fried, these quintessentially New Orleans treats are a staple on the foodie scene, especially when February rolls around. With 90 minutes of kitchen work, you can fry up a batch that will spread out among a small crowd or serve a couple of several generous portions. One bite and your sweet someone will be singing jazz and joining the love parade! 

Recipe: Beignets

Keeping it simple is best, and even more so when it comes to making dessert for your loved one. With a 3-ingredient berry cobbler, you have the quick and easy fixing for a satisfying fruit-based dessert that will make you forget your love affair with chocolate in the past. All it takes is a box of yellow cake mix, a stick of butter, and a bag of frozen mixed berries to assemble a sweet and buttery cobbler ready to be topped with whipped cream or ice cream. Six tasty servings make this pan-style bake a fantastic dessert choice for your family-style Valentine's Day dinner.

Recipe: 3-Ingredient Berry Cobbler

Cherries add color and flavor to any Valentine's Day dessert, but these buttery dessert bars are on a whole new level. Fans of blondie-style cake and brownie bars won't miss the chocolate chips when they sink their teeth into the bright flavor of fresh cherries in every slice. Though usually served warm, these baked beauties can also be enjoyed when cooled, making them a versatile treat for wherever the evening takes you.

Recipe: Buttery Cherry Bars

Bake a batch of Valentine's Day cream puffs with soft middles and tender shells. Sure, there's a little work involved to make the perfect choux pastry nest to cradle a dollop of cloud-light homemade whipped cream. But the finished puffs are a perfect example of authentic French pastry, and the taste and texture of the finished puffs are more than worth the extra trouble. With one bite of these sweet treats, your valentine will understand the meaning of true love — and you will too!

Recipe: Cream Puffs

A traditional English dessert can become your go-to Valentine's Day treat that adds elegance and comfort without a hint of chocolate in the mix. Fill a quartet of cute ramekins with cubes of juicy apples topped with a buttery, brown sugar crumble with oats and pecans thrown in for good measure. If you really love the special someone you're serving this delicious chocolate-free dessert to, make sure to add drop a scoop of vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream on top.

Recipe: Mini Apple Crumbles

A traditional spice cake from the South, hummingbird cake is a towering treat with bananas and pineapple providing sweetness, moisture, and flavor. Chopped pecans add texture, while the warmth from cinnamon and a tangy cream cheese frosting reminds us of a good ol' carrot cake but with a slightly different personality. More pecans around the base layer create simple adornment for a cake that doesn't need to be showy to be loved. Served fresh from the refrigerator, hummingbird cake is the kind of Valentine's Day dessert that will remind you that the holiday is about so much more than chocolate.

Recipe: Hummingbird Cake