Some of the best desserts I have ever had came from a restaurant, a bakery, or a chain I cannot get to every time I want one. So I figured out how to make them at home. The Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake my family requests every birthday. The DoubleTree cookie that tastes exactly like the one they put on your pillow at check-in. The Woolworth Cheesecake that has a texture unlike anything else I have made. These are tested and they work.

Copycat dessert recipes are a little less forgiving than copycat savory recipes, because texture matters more in baked and frozen desserts. If something is supposed to be fudgy, it needs to be fudgy. If something is supposed to have that exact DQ soft-serve texture, the ratio has to be right. I test these until I cannot tell the difference.

If candy is more your thing, my homemade candy recipes page has Reese’s cups, Twix bars, Snickers, and more made from scratch.

Dairy Queen Copycat Recipes

The DQ Ice Cream Cake and the Buster Bar are the two my family has been making for years. Once you know how to build a DQ cake at home, you will never pay for one again.

Copycat Bakery and Restaurant Desserts

More Copycat Desserts

Tips for Making Copycat Desserts

Match the texture before you worry about flavor. The texture of a DQ Buster Bar, a Lunch Lady Brownie, or a DoubleTree cookie is what makes it that specific dessert. Start there and the flavor will follow once you have the texture right.

Read the full recipe before you start. Copycat desserts often have layers that need to be chilled, set, or baked separately. Knowing the full sequence before you start means you are not scrambling mid-recipe.

Use the right pan size. Bar desserts and layered cakes are built for specific pan dimensions. Going up or down a size changes the thickness and the baking time, and that changes the texture of the finished dessert.

More Copycat Desserts to Try