Need a great dessert for your next camping trip? These 3 walking dessert recipes are convenient, delicious and easy to make! Strawberry Pretzel Jello, Banana Pudding, and S’mores. With lots of substitutions available too!
If you love easy on the go treats, be sure to whip up a batch of our favorite rice krispie treats. Or give our popcorn balls a try, wrap them up in plastic wrap and off you go!
Why Make Walking Desserts
You’ve heard of Walking Tacos, right?
Walking desserts are like a sweet version of that fun festival food.
- Perfect for picnics, camping or other outdoor gatherings.
- Made in individual portions for easy serving.
- So many different flavor options!
- They take just minutes to throw together.
Today, we’re sharing three favorite walking dessert ideas. Whether you’re in the mood for strawberries and pretzels, s’mores or banana pudding, you’ll find the ideal portable dessert to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Ingredient Notes
Whether you choose to buy in bulk, or buy individual bags and packages is your choice. We love setting up an “assembly line” with all the ingredients and the kids can pick and choose and assemble their own walking desserts.
You can get creative too and mix and match all three walking desserts to create one ULTIMATE treat (although you may need a bowl not a little bag for that haha).
The basics of each walking dessert remains the same.
- One bag of crunchy pretzels or cookies
- One cup of pudding or JELLO or a combination of both
- Fresh Fruit
- Chocolate chips and Marshmallows
- Whipped Cream
- Don’t forget plastic spoons!
Strawberry Pretzel Salad
The first walking dessert on our list is based on my Strawberry Pretzel Salad, which is really more dessert bar than salad. The “walking” version is every bit as tasty, with the perfect blend of sweet and salty flavors.
- It starts with individual mini pretzel bags.
- Add strawberry JELL-O and vanilla pudding.
- Layer in fresh sliced strawberries then add a dollop of whipped cream for the finishing touch!
S’mores Dessert
I couldn’t possibly write about walking desserts without including a s’mores inspired version to my list! We already have numerous recipes on the site inspired by my love of the campfire treat, including this s’mores dip and these s’mores cookies.
This portable s’mores recipe would be great for a kids’ camp when you don’t want the little ones around fire, or simply any time you’re craving the irresistible combo of marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers.
Here’s how to make a walking s’mores dessert:
- Open bags of individual honey teddy grahams (slightly crushed).
- Spoon chocolate pudding over the grahams.
- Add mini marshmallows and chocolate chips.
- Sprinkle extra teddy graham crumbs on top, then dig in!
Banana Pudding Dessert
Banana Pudding deserves more accolades, am I right?
Creamy vanilla pudding, sweet fresh banana slices and crunchy wafer cookies make a comforting and picture-perfect dessert, even served in a bag!
- Individual bags of Nilla Wafers cookies are the base.
- Layer in vanilla pudding and banana slices.
- Add whipped cream and a few crushed wafer cookies on top to finish the dessert.
Tips and Tricks
- Open the snack bags BEFORE crushing the contents. Believe me. If you crush them while they’re sealed, the seams can pop open spilling the contents.
- Fold over the tops of the snack bags before adding the other ingredients. This helps make the bags sturdier so they’re easier to eat out of.
- Use a spoon to chop up the JELL-O. This makes it easier to divide between the pretzel bags in the Strawberry Pretzel Salad dessert.
- Assemble walking desserts as close to serving time as possible. The combination of crunchy snacks (cookies, pretzels) with the soft creamy pudding means that walking desserts are best eaten right away, otherwise the cookies or pretzels will become mushy.
- Use homemade whipped cream if you prefer. But if you’re looking for a truly on-the-go quick and easy dessert, grab a can of whipped cream!
Recipe FAQs
The individual bags of pretzels, teddy grahams and Nilla Wafers are convenient for assembling and serving walking desserts. We use the individual pudding cups for convenience (and easy measuring) too. If it’s too expensive to purchase all those individual bags and cups, there are plenty of alternatives! Buy the ingredients in bulk, then assemble them in 5 ounce cocktail cups for serving.
You will need about ¼ cup of crushed cookies or pretzels for each serving of these walking desserts.
For the Strawberry Pretzel Dessert, you can use the strawberry cheesecake JELL-O cups as a substitute for both the vanilla pudding and the JELL-O. If you use those, you will need 1 full cup for each bag. You can also change up the flavors by using chocolate pudding in place of the vanilla in any recipe (or visa versa for the s’mores dessert!).
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Walking Desserts
Ingredients
For the Strawberry Pretzel Salad
- 8 individual packages about 1 ounce each mini pretzels
- 4 individual vanilla pudding cups divided
- 4 individual strawberry jello cups divided
- 2 cups fresh strawberries sliced thin
- 1 can Reddiwhip for garnish
For the S’mores Dessert
- 8 individual bags of honey teddy grahams
- 4 individual chocolate pudding cups divided
- ¾ cup mini marshmallows
- ½ cup milk chocolate chips
For the Banana Pudding Dessert
- 8 individual bags mini Nilla Wafers
- 4 individual packages vanilla pudding cups
- 2 bananas slided
- 1 can Reddiwhip for garnish
Instructions
For the Strawberry Pretzel Salad
- Tear open, or cut open, the tops of each bag of pretzels. Remove a couple of pretzels from each bag to crush and use as garnish (optional).
- Squeeze each bag gently to lightly crush up the pretzels into smaller pieces. Fold down the tops of the bags about 1-inch. Set the bags upright into a basket or casserole dish (or have each person hold their bag).
- Spoon a layer of vanilla pudding into each bag (1 individual cup of pudding gets divided between two bags of pretzels).
- Spoon a layer of strawberry jello into each bag (1 individual cup of strawberry jello gets divided between two bags of pretzels).
- Layer a few strawberry slices onto the jello layers.
- Top with a squirt of canned whipped cream, a fresh strawberry slices and the crushed pretzels.
For the S'mores Dessert
- Tear open or cut the top off the packages of Teddy Grahams. Remove a couple of grahams from each bag to use as garnish (optional)
- Squeeze each bag lightly to crush up the Teddy Grahams into smaller pieces. Carefully fold down the tops of the bags about 1-inch. Set the bags upright in a casserole or serving dish.
- Spoon a layer of chocolate pudding into each bag (1 individual cup of pudding gets divided between two bags of cookies).
- Divide the marshmallows evenly into each bag, placing them on top of the chocolate pudding.
- Divide the milk chocolate morsels evenly into each bag, placing them on top of the mini marshmallows.
- Top with a few Teddy Grahams.
For the Banana Pudding Dessert
- Tear open or cut the top off the packages of mini Nilla Wafers. Remove a cookie or two to crush for garnish (optional)
- Squeeze each bag lightly to crush up the Nilla Wafers into smaller pieces. Carefully fold down the tops of the bags about 1-inch. Set the bags upright in a casserole or serving dish.
- Spoon a layer of vanilla pudding into each bag (1 individual cup of pudding gets divided between two bags of cookies).
- Add several banana slices on top of the vanilla pudding layer.
- Top with a layer of whipped cream, a couple more banana slices and some crushed Nilla Wafers.
Notes
For the Strawberry Pretzel Salad
- As an alternative, a strawberry cheesecake jello cup can be used for those 2 layers. However, you will need a total of 8 of those cups (1 for each bag) instead of splitting the pudding and jello cups between the bags.
- Use a spoon to chop up the jello so that it’s easier to spoon into and divide between the bags and doesn’t come out in one big blob of jello.
- Each package will get about 2 sliced strawberries or about ¼ cup.
- These a super yummy when all the contents of the bags are stirred together.
For the S'mores Dessert
- Whipped cream is also a delicious addition on top of the s'mores dessert.
- Mini chocolate chips can be used instead of the milk chocolate chips, if you prefer a smaller chip.
- You could add a whole container of chocolate pudding to each bag if you prefer, but the bags will be very full.
For the Banana Pudding Dessert
- Whole containers of vanilla pudding cups can also be used, but the bags will be very full.
Walking Dessert Tips and Tricks
- Great for camping or picnics!
- Open the snack bags BEFORE crushing the contents. If you crush before opening the seam at the bottom of the bags can pop oven and spill the contents.
- Use shelf-stable individual pudding cups for convenience.
- Assemble the desserts as close to serving time as possible. The pudding and jello can make the other layers mushy after time.
- If wanting to make a bunch, or you can't find the individual packages, or if it's too expensive, you can assemble these desserts in clear plastic 5-ounce cocktail cups. You can use bulk ingredients (make a full box of pudding, buy a large bag or box of cookies/pretzels, etc). The amount of crushed ingredients is about 1/4 cup per dessert.
Nutrition
Walking Dessert recipes make all your favorite desserts portable! Try these three sweet ideas for serving delicious kid-friendly desserts on-the-go.
Great idea thanks gonna try it camping this season ☺️
Going to try these at our fall baseball concession stand. Will be made to order. Hopefully a successful treat for all!
Thank you for the recipe’s. ♥️
What a fun idea!
Love this ideas for a small dessert. I will make these for a senior citizens center group I work with.
Enjoy!
This is a great idea. They are all ingredients that you can keep on hand, so if you are craving something sweet, it would be something easy to put together for a quick snack or desert.
My family like so much each year we do it with my friends
This is so much fun! Thank you!