Who loves cheesecake, but doesn’t have the time to make a cheesecake? That describes me in a nutshell. That’s why I love the recipe for Cherry Topped Cheese Dessert. It has all of the flavor of a cheesecake with half of the work. This is a no-bake recipe so it is perfect for this part of the summer when you don’t want to heat up your kitchen. It is a light fluffy dessert with a yummy graham cracker crust. I served this as dessert at the same garden party where I served Old-Fashioned Potato Salad and Easy Sloppy Joes. My guests loved it so much that we only had one piece of left! It is the perfect end to any meal. So let’s get our graham crackers out and get started.
First we start by making our graham cracker crust. Put 14 full graham crackers in a bag (half of a box of graham crackers) and close the bag tightly. Now roll your rolling pin over it so that the graham crackers are fully crushed.
Once they are crushed, you can put them in a bowl and mix them with 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of melted butter.
After they are mixed, spread them in the bottom of a 9 x 13 cake pan. Now put the cake pan in the freezer for at least 4 hours to allow it time to set.
After the crust is set, you can start mixing up the filling. Make sure you thaw the Cool Whip in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before you begin the recipe. If you don’t have the Cool Whip thawed out ahead of time, you won’t be able to make this dessert. The next thing you need to do is make sure your cream cheese is softened. Set it on the counter for 30 minutes so it will be easy to mix.
In a bowl cream the sugar and cream cheese.
Once that is combined, you can fold in the cool whip until it is mixed.
Now you can get your graham cracker crust out of the freezer and layer the cool whip mixture on top.
Then take your cherry pie filling and layer it on top of the cool whip.
Now you can put the dessert in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours to let it set up. And that’s it! You have an easy dessert that tastes like cheese cake and you didn’t have to slave away in the kitchen for hours; however, you can always pretend that you did. Enjoy!
- Crust
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- 14 full graham crackers (half of a box)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- Topping
- ----------
- 1 (8 oz.) container Cool Whip (thawed)
- 1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese (softened)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 (21 oz) cans of cherry pie filling
- First we start by making our graham cracker crust. Put 14 full graham crackers in a bag (half of a box of graham crackers) and close the bag tightly. Now roll your rolling pin over it so that the graham crackers are fully crushed. Once they are crushed, you can put them in a bowl and mix them with 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of melted butter. After they are mixed, spread them in the bottom of a 9 x 13 cake pan. Now put the cake pan in the freezer for at least 4 hours to allow it time to set. After the crust is set, you can start mixing up the filling. Make sure you thaw the Cool Whip in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before you begin the recipe. If you don't have the Cool Whip thawed out ahead of time, you won't be able to make this dessert. The next thing you need to do is make sure your cream cheese is softened. Set it on the counter for 30 minutes so it will be easy to mix. In a bowl cream the sugar and cream cheese. Once that is combined, you can fold in the cool whip until it is mixed. Now you can get your graham cracker crust out of the freezer and layer the cool whip mixture on top. Then take your cherry pie filling and layer it on top of the cool whip. Now you can put the dessert in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours to let it set up.