Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Here’s a cake where you get the best of both worlds. Since it has a cheesecake layer sandwiched between coffee cake and crumbs, it’s perfect for those who love coffee cake and cheesecake!

The cake itself is rich and buttery. So are the crumbs and there’s plenty of them too. I think that the crumbs are peoples’ favorite part of any coffee cake. Entenmann’s (famous to NYers) even make a cake that’s mostly crumbs due to their popularity.

Now if you didn’t think you could get much better than that, here’s this cake with it’s luscious cheesecake layer.

The Cheesecake Layer

This is where this simple recipe gets a bit tricky.

It’s always hard to spread a tenuous mixture, such as this cheesecake filling, over any batter. Trying to do it with a dry spatula can be daunting. My suggestion is to use a wet spatula because it’ll make the process a lot easier.

However, the easiest way I have found is to drop the cheesecake batter evenly across the top of the other layer than using your wet (but surgically clean) fingers to spread it evenly. I know it sounds gross, but it’s the best method to get the job done. And after all, the cake is going to be baked so worries about bacteria are eliminated.

These tips are good for the bottom layer as well.

Easy Crumbs

The way I make crumbs is easy and they come out perfect every time.

My “secret” if you can call it that is starting with melted butter. Any time I made them the other way by cutting the butter in, they’d melt and didn’t even look like crumbs. I picked up that trick years ago with a cranberry coffee cake. That cake was quite forgettable, but the crumb method used was a keeper.

The flour is variable when you make crumbs this way so start with the minimum amount (which is given in the recipe) and add more if you need it. It’s one of those methods where your eye will tell you if it’s right.

The Recipe

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Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

A great coffee cake with a cheesecake layer

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cheesecake filled coffee cake, coffee cake with cream cheese, easy coffee cakes

Servings: 12

Calories: 588kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

Cake:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda

Filling:

• 16 oz cream cheese
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg

Topping:

• 1/2 cup walnuts chopped
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup butter melted
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup flour approximate

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Coat a 9x13-inch baking dish (the best approximation outside the US is a 3L rectangular baking dish) with non-stick spray.
• For the cake:
• Mix the flour, baking soda and baking powder in a small bowl; set aside.
• Beat the sugar, butter and egg until smooth. Add the sour cream and vanilla; mix well. Stir in the 3 cups of flour mixture until a sticky dough forms. Spread 1/2 of the dough evenly in the prepared pan. TIP--I distribute portions evenly around the pan them pat it to fit with wet hands. Alternately, you could use an offset spatula, but the damp hands work better.
• Beat the cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar and egg in another bowl until very smooth. Spoon mixture over the dough in the pan and spread it as evenly as you can.
• Drop the remaining dough by spoonfuls over the cream cheese mixture.
• Mix the topping ingredients together. If the crumbs seem a bit wet, add a tablespoon or two more of flour. Sprinkle the topping over the crumbs.
• Bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 588kcal | Carbohydrates: 65g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 113mg | Sodium: 355mg | Potassium: 202mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 36g | Vitamin A: 1063IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 102mg | Iron: 2mg

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Woolworth Cheesecake

I’ve been around a long time and have fond memories of the Woolworth lunch counter. Some bigger stores had booths too. As I say, I had fond memories since my mother would treat me to lunch there when I was little.

The one thing I don’t remember is this cheesecake. Maybe it was before my time or maybe I just never noticed it because I was more into hot dogs and fries at that age than desserts; especially at Woolworth’s.

Anyway, I’m sure it existed. The recipe is always floating around on message boards and social media and I’ve wanted to make it for a long time.

There’s Some Changes Made

As I mentioned, I’ve wanted to make this for a while but one thing stopped me–whipping evaporated milk. I’ve tried that before and it’s a pretty tedious process since everything must be just “right” for it to work. I’ve never had much success with it, but if you don’t mind the time investment and have a good success rate with it, then use that.

Then one day with a non-senior moment, I realized that I can substitute that whipped evaporated milk with honest-to-goodness real whipped cream. For one thing, it’d taste much better and I have 100 per cent success with real whipped cream especially when I stabilize it with some no-cook clear jel. If you stabilize it with cream cheese, that’s a great way to do it for this dessert since it already contains cream cheese.

If you don’t want to bother with any of the above, I don’t see any reason why whipped topping can’t be substituted. It may break down if the dessert sits for more than a day, but trust me, this dessert won’t last that long.

Crust

The amount of graham cracker crumbs called for here will produce a reasonably sturdy crust even with setting some aside for dusting the top of the dessert.

If you like the taste of a graham cracker crust the amount is probably OK. While I like the taste, I found using the stated amount a bit overpowering for the texture of the filling and the taste. You may want to use less–as I will do the next time I make this.

The Recipe

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Woolworth Cheesecake

This dessert is a timeless classic

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time0 minutes mins

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: desserts with lemon, lemon mousse dessert, no-bake desserts, wooworth cheesecake

Servings: 12

Calories: 352kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 3 oz package lemon gelatin mix like Royal or Jello
• 1 cup boiling water
• 3 cups graham cracker crumbs divided
• 8 tbs melted butter
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 5 tbs lemon juice
• 12 oz can evaporated milk well chilled or 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Dissolve gelatin mix in boiling water. Cool until slightly thickened.
• Mix 3/4 graham cracker crumbs and melted butter until well blended, press into bottom of the 9 X 13 pan to form a crust. Save rest of crumbs to sprinkle on top of dessert.
• Beat the Evaporated milk/heavy cream until fluffy.
• In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and lemon juice with mixer until smooth.
• Add thickened gelatin and slowly mix in whipped evaporated milk.
• Spread filling over the crust and sprinkle with reserved graham cracker crumbs on top.
• Chill at least 2 hours and up to overnight, store covered in refrigerator.

Notes

UK/EU--digestives are a nice (and probably better) substitute for the graham cracker crumbs. This will *probably* work with your "jelly" desserts, but I cannot test since they don't sell that here. If you try it, let me know if it worked.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 352kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 49mg | Sodium: 330mg | Potassium: 156mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 31g | Vitamin A: 555IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 111mg | Iron: 1mg

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Crescent Roll Dough Is The Secret

Well, maybe not so much a secret since there’s many things you can make with crescent roll dough. Actually, it’s pretty versatile since you can do sweet and savoury with it.

One of my most popular savoury recipes, Chicken Crescent Bake, uses crescent roll dough as biscuits on top.  My Cheeseburger Ring also uses it. I’ve also made danish in my air fryer with it.

It’s always a good idea to keep a couple of tubes of this in the fridge. Now, they are selling solid sheets of crescent roll dough. I find this a much better option than the pre-cut sheets.

Easy To Shape

There’s really no complicated rolling or twisting necessary to shape these rolls.

You simply cut each tube of dough into 4 pieces. Now, that seems like it’s really thick; and it is. But you flatten the dough down with the palm of your hand until it’s about 1-inch thick, then you make a nice depression in the center and build a little “lip” for the edge. Each piece should be about 3 or so inches in diameter and it should look like a pizza crust–with a depression in the center and a little hump around the edge.

Just make sure the depression in the center is thin enough so the dough cooks completely.

Lemon Cheesecake And Lemon Icing

Not only do you have a lovely lemony cheesecake filling, but the icing is buttery and lemony too!

It’s not a drizzle icing–it’s more of a regular buttercream consistency and should be piped on top. If you don’t have a cake decorating set, a zippered freezer bag with a teeny bit of the corner cut off will do fine. I have a cake decorating set, but 9 times out of 10 I will use the freezer bag method. Why? Nothing to clean up!!!

The Recipe

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Lemon Cheesecake Sweet Rolls

These cheesecake filled sweet rolls are quick and easy to make

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time18 minutes mins

Course: breads, Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cheese danish recipe, danish pastry with crescent roll dough, easy danish pastry, recipes using crescent roll dough

Servings: 8

Calories: 268kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 2 tubes 8 oz each refrigerated crescent roll dough
• 1 tbs unsalted butter melted
• 1 tbs sugar

Filling:

• 8 oz cream cheese softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt

Icing:

• 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 2 tsp grated lemon zest
• 2 1/2 tbs lemon juice
• 2 tbs unsalted butter softened

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment.
• Open crescent roll dough but DO NOT UNROLL. Cut each roll into 4 pieces and place on baking sheet.
• Flatten each piece to about 1/2-inch thickness then using your fingers, make a well in the center of each piece leaving a “wall” at the edge, making a nest for the filling. The pieces should resemble a bird’s nest. Brush the edges with the melted butter and sprinkle with sugar.
• Beat all the filing ingredients until smooth. Divide equally among prepared rolls.
• Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.
• Beat together the icing ingredients. Place in a zippered freezer bag and cut off a small piece at the edge of the bag. Pipe evenly over rolls.

Notes

Refrigerated crescent roll dough is not available outside of the US & Canada I am told. I can't recommend a comparable European product, but there are recipes available to make crescents from scratch.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 268kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 137mg | Sodium: 179mg | Potassium: 118mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 554IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 1mg

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Cheesecake Crescents: Easy!!!

When you want a quick dessert or snack, there’s nothing better to have on hand than a tube or two of crescent roll dough.

So many treats are made with it that now it’s being offered in a solid sheet. This is a real boon because you now don’t have to seal all those pesky seams.  Even better, the solid sheet is also available in store brands which cost less. I generally have a tube or two in my fridge at all times for emergency situations (mostly sweet snack attacks).

I love cheesecake and so do many others! So when I saw the original recipe on the Pillsbury website, I just had to make them!

Half Works Fine

The original recipe made quite a lot of these–from my standpoint since I’m a widow living alone. Therefore, I cut the recipe volume for these cheesecake crescents in half and it worked fine. It made enough for now and later!

But if you’ve got a family with hungry kiddos, then make the whole thing. They’ll disappear quickly–count on it.

It’s best to serve these warm or at room temperature. I don’t think these would be as good chilled.

Get Creative With Flavors

Even though it’s very good, this recipe is pretty generic.

However, there’s lots of ways it can be taken to the next level. The first thing I think of here is adding some fresh fruit; especially berries. That way you can get an additional bang for your buck nutrition-wise. I would, in no way, classify these cheesecake filled roll ups as healthy, but if you can make them a little more so, then why not?

The next idea I have for these is schmeering a little jam or jelly on the dough before adding the cheesecake filling. If I did this, I’d cut the sugar in the filling in half. Otherwise it might be too sweet.

If you want to cut some fat out, then definitely use Neufchatel cheese and reduced-fat crescent dough.

The Recipe

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Cheesecake Filled Roll Ups

Easy and decadently delicious dessert or snack

Prep Time8 minutes mins

Cook Time2 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cheesecake recipe, crescent roll dough recipe, snack recipe

Servings: 12

Calories: 107kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 1 tbs ground cinnamon
• 2 tbs sugar
• 8 oz cream cheese softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cans (8 oz each) refrigerated crescent dough sheets
• Canola oil for frying

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Line large plate with paper towels. In small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon. Set aside.
• In small bowl using handheld blender or mixer, beat 1 package (8 ocream cheese, softened, until creamy. Add 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla; blend until well combined. Set aside.
• Lightly flour flat work surface. Unroll 2 cans (8 oz eacPillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations refrigerated seamless dough sheet on surface. Slightly roll out each sheet of dough until about 1/2 inch longer. Cut each sheet into 6 squares to make a total of 12 squares.
• Place about 1 tablespoon cream cheese filling in center of each square; spread crosswise to form long line of filling. For each roll-up, roll side closest to you up over filling then roll to opposite side while slightly pulling edges to make roll longer. Use pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut off ragged edges of roll-ups. Pinch seam into dough to secure filling in roll-up.
• In skillet, heat canola oil to 325°Carefully place roll-ups in hot oil; fry on one side 30 to 60 seconds. Turn roll-ups; fry until golden brown. Remove from oil; place on paper towel-lined plate.
• Immediately sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place roll-ups on cooling rack or another plate; cool about 10 minutes before serving.

Notes

I made half this recipe.

Original recipe from Pillsbury.

Nutrition

Serving: 1roll | Calories: 107kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 97mg | Potassium: 26mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 255IU | Calcium: 25mg | Iron: 0.2mg

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Easy To Make

It’s hard to believe that such an elegant dessert can be so easy, but it is!

This cheesecake goes together 1-2-3 and that makes it perfect when you’re pressed for time during the holidays. You can make the raspberry sauce ahead of time as well as the crust. All that leaves is the quick and easy cheesecake and that’s pretty much a “dump-and-go” operation.

Raspberries have been on sale quite a lot lately so this cheesecake won’t break the bank either. I always buy lots of them and freeze them. Since the sauce is cooked and sieved, the change in texture after freezing doesn’t matter one bit.

Chocolate And Raspberry: A Winning Combo

What goes better together than chocolate and raspberry?  The answer to that is not much! It’s a very high-toned combination and a feature in many gourmet desserts and candies.

The crust is made with chocolate wafers. I will admit that they are not the easiest cookies to find, especially in smaller stores. However, you should be able to find them in larger food stores and most big-box stores.  The crust is nice and buttery too. I usually use a bit of sugar when I make this, but if you want a more dark-chocolate taste, you can leave it out. I also recommend using unsalted butter; not just in this but in all baked goods and any time you cook with butter.

The amount of raspberry sauce you swirl in is up to you too. However, I wouldn’t advise drowning the top in sauce because the cake may not set up.  I used a half cup of sauce and that flavored it nicely and created a nice swirl on top. If you want it to have more raspberry accents, the leftover sauce may be drizzled on top when you serve it.

Cheesecake Is A Custard

This cheesecake, like most of the cheesecakes I make is baked in a water bath. Cheesecake, because of the amount of eggs is actually a custard. So I tend to bake it as such.

The water bath baking also results in a cheesecake that’s creamy from stem to stern. You never have to worry about hard, dry edges.

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The Recipe

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Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake

A cheesecake topped with a raspberry swirl and ending with a chocolate crust. Perfection!

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 50 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cheesecake recipe, raspberries

Servings: 12

Calories: 533kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 24 oz cream cheese at room temp
• 2 cups sour cream at room temp
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs at room temp
• 1/2 cup raspberry sauce

Crust:

• 1 1/2 cups chocolate wafer crumbs see NOTES
• 5 tbs butter melted
• 2 tbs sugar

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch springform pan and wrap it in a double thickness of aluminum foil.
• Mix all the crust ingredients together in a small bowl. Press into the bottom of the springform pan.
• Beat cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the sour cream and vanilla. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Pour cream cheese mixture into prepared pan. Drop raspberry sauce randomly over top of cream cheese mixture; use a knife to swirl it through the batter—do not overmix!!
• Set the pan in a large roasting pan and pour about 2-inches of water in the roasting pan (making a water bath).
• Bake for 70-80 minutes, or until center is almost set. Remove from the oven and set the pan on a rack. Cool 10 minutes then run a knife along the outside of the cake loosening it from the sides. Cool an additional hour then cover and refrigerate until completely chilled, preferably overnight.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 533kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Cholesterol: 148mg | Sodium: 375mg | Potassium: 188mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 38g | Vitamin A: 1225IU | Vitamin C: 2.3mg | Calcium: 112mg | Iron: 1.1mg

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Holiday Desserts

The holidays are a time to splurge and go the extra mile when preparing the feast. Dessert is no exception.

Cheesecake is probably everyone’s favorite dessert and this one is one of the best I’ve ever tasted. I consider myself an expert on cheesecake too, since I’m from New York City and we know cheesecake!

This is also a wonderful dessert for Thanksgiving. OK, I know pumpkin pie is traditional and a must-have, but if you’re having guests, you may want to offer an alternative just in case you have people who are not crazy about pumpkin. Likewise, this is also an excellent choice for Christmas dessert.

So Nutty

This contains lots of nuts, therefore it’s out for anyone with a nut allergy. However, if you’re in love with anything nutty, then you’ll simply love this cheesecake.

Not only are there nuts in the filling itself, but you’ll also find them in the crust and in the topping. The topping is just some reserved crumb mixture–nothing special to make for it.

If you have the time to fuss a bit, then toast the pecans. I thought of this after the fact, but I will do this the next time I make it because I feel it will improve the flavor. However, it’s totally not necessary. The cake is delicious regardless and even better, it’s very easy to make.

Flavors

The original recipe called for 1/2 teaspoon of butter extract in addition to the vanilla. I didn’t have that so I left it out. Unless you like that flavor, I suggest you save $4 and don’t buy it specially for this. I haven’t tasted it recently, but I remember it from 40 years ago and the taste was neither buttery nor pleasant. They could have improved it, but I doubt it. Anyway it wasn’t worth the cost for me to find out.

Substituting rum extract for the butter extract would probably taste fantastic. That I would recommend and I am going to do that when I make this again. Yes, it’s that good that it’s a keeper!

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The Recipe

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Butter Pecan Cheesecake

Wow your family and guests at your holiday table with this dessert. Creamy cheesecake with a crunchy pecan topping.

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 50 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: butter pecan, cheesecake recipe, pecans

Servings: 16

Calories: 440kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

CRUST:

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter melted

FILLING:

• 24 oz cream cheese softened (8 oz pkg x 3)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 cups sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract see NOTES
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans

Instructions

• In a large bowl, combine the cracker crumbs, pecans, sugar and butter; set aside 1/3 cup for topping. Press remaining crumb mixture onto the bottom and 1 in. up the sides of a greased 9-in. springform pan.
• Place springform pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 18 in. square). Securely wrap foil around pan.
• In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the sour cream and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in pecans. Pour into crust; sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Place springform pan in a large baking pan; add 1 inch of hot water to larger pan.
• Bake at 325 F until center is almost set, 70-80 minutes. Remove springform pan from water bath. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight. Remove sides of pan.

Notes

You may add 1/2 tsp of rum extract along with the vanilla if you'd like

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 440kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 33g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 103mg | Sodium: 257mg | Potassium: 166mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 915IU | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 92mg | Iron: 0.9mg

*Adapted from Taste of Home

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What could be better than the combination of chocolate and cheesecake? It’s all here in this delicious dessert.

Quick And Easy Cheesecake

Those are two words I love hearing when it comes to recipes!

I found this gem over at Taste of Home and it caught my eye immediately. Why? Because it looked delicious–that’s number one–and it was easy to prepare.

This chocolatey cheesecake is quick because it takes advantage of convenience ingredients. Sure you can make your own cookie dough and real whipped cream if you have time because it will taste fantastic; possibly more so. However, it’s pretty darned good made the easy way.

Want No-Bake? Let’s Do It

This chocolate cheesecake lush can be easily converted to a totally no-bake dessert.

The original recipe calls for refrigerated cookie dough (or homemade) for the base. And yes, you have to bake it for a bit.

But how about using chocolate chip cookie crumbs to make a no-baking-required crust? That works so well!!

All you have to do is process the cookies into crumbs, but make sure you buy crispy chocolate chip cookies, not the chewy variety. About 2 cups of crumbs and about 6 tablespoons of melted butter should do the trick. No extra sugar need be added. Just as an aside, I rarely add additional sugar to any cookie or graham cracker crust recipe as it rarely needs it. But let your individual taste be your guide.

Make It More Chocolatey

I stuck to the original pudding configuration when I made this. However, for a deeper chocolate flavor, substitute the vanilla pudding for an additional chocolate one.

While we’re on the subject of flavor, any flavor you like can be substituted for the chocolate and vanilla. First one that comes to mind is butterscotch. That should taste fantastic! In the fall Jello brand makes a pumpkin pie flavor available and that would be wonderful here too.

The Recipe

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Chocolate Cheesecake Lush

What could be better than the combination of chocolate and cheesecake? It’s all here in this delicious chocolate cheesecake lush dessert.

Prep Time8 hours hrs

Total Time8 hours hrs

Course: desserts

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cheesecake recipe, chocolate, chocolate cheesecake lush, no bake cheesecake

Servings: 16

Calories: 338kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 16 oz refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
• 8 oz cream cheese softened
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 16 oz frozen whipped topping thawed, divided (8 oz each)
• 3 cups cold milk
• 3.4 oz instant chocolate pudding mix
• 3.4 oz instant vanilla pudding mix (see NOTES)

Instructions

• Let cookie dough stand at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to soften. Press into an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 14-16 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.
• In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Fold in 1-3/4 cups whipped topping. Spread over crust.
• In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mixes for 2 minutes. Spread over cream cheese layer. Top with remaining whipped topping. Sprinkle with nuts and/or mini chocolate chips if desired.
• Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight until firm.

Notes

• You can substitute another chocolate pudding for the vanilla for a richer chocolate taste. Likewise, you can substitute any other flavor for the chocolate.
• You can substitute the cookie dough and make this a no-bake dessert by following the guidelines in the post

Nutrition

Calories: 338kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 293mg | Potassium: 164mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 36g | Vitamin A: 296IU | Calcium: 89mg | Iron: 1mg

*Adapted from Taste of Home

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Kiddos and grown ups will love this peanut butter cup cheesecake and so will you! Easy and no baking necessary.

Easy Summer Dessert

Now that the warmer weather is almost upon us–and in some places it already is there–the last thing you want to do is run your oven!

This cheesecake is entirely no bake so no oven is necessary. The only thing you have to do is allow enough time for a thorough chilling before serving it.

The original recipe calls for at least 2 hours chilling, but I’d advise making it the day before and chilling it overnight for the best results.

Oh That Crust

This is one of the most delicious no-bake crusts I’ve ever tasted.

It starts out not with Oreos (although you can use them if you want) but with chocolate wafers. Yep the kind that you use to make that retro dessert with whipped cream–that looks like a zebra when it’s cut.

Funny enough, I had those wafers on hand because I intended to make that dessert. OK, I ended up eating them LOL because I really like those cookies, so I just bought more and used them for this.

It’s important here to use unsalted butter in the crust. Otherwise it will taste salty and ruin the delicious flavor. Maybe that’s because the older I get, the less into salt I am. However, the recipe called specifically for the unsalted variety and something told me not to substitute.

Anyhow, I read years ago in a baking book by Rose Levy Beranbaum that you should always bake with unsalted butter. She’s a huge expert so this has to be so.

Cheesecake Filling: Watch The Sugar

When you’re making up the cheesecake filling, go slow with the sugar. It’s perfectly OK to taste it since there’s no flour nor raw egg in the mixture.

The reason I say this is that the crust is sweet, the peanut butter cups are sweet as well, so you want the cheesecake to be a bit on the tart side to offset that. So start with 2 tablespoons of sugar and see how it is. I found 3 tablespoons to be the best amount for me–it made it slightly sweet but preserved enough tartness to balance the candy and the cookie crust. Your tastes may vary so start small and work up to what’s right for you.

The Recipe

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No-Bake Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake

Kiddos and grown ups will love this peanut butter cup cheesecake and so will you! Easy and no baking necessary.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time8 hours hrs

Total Time8 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chocolate cookie crust, no bake cheesecake, peanut butter cup cheesecake

Servings: 12

Calories: 410kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 40 chocolate wafer cookies like Nabisco’s Famous Wafers
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 17 peanut butter cups
• colored sprinkles
• 3 tbsp granulated sugar

Instructions

• Lightly coat a 9-inch spring form cake pan with cooking spray.
• In a food processor, pulse the chocolate wafers to form fine crumbs. Add the melted butter and pulse to combine. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom and 2 inches up the sides of the pan and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the heavy cream and vanilla, mixing just to incorporate. Increase the speed to high and beat until thick and stiff, about 2 minutes. Fold in sour cream.
• Arrange the peanut butter cups on the bottom of the prepared crust, breaking them to fit, as necessary, to fill any large gaps. Spread the cheesecake filling over the top of the peanut butter cups and sprinkle with Reese’s pieces. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 410kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Cholesterol: 65mg | Sodium: 271mg | Potassium: 166mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 728IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 60mg | Iron: 1mg

The post No-Bake Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake appeared first on The Midnight Baker.

Your family is sure to smile when you serve them these yummy cherry cheesecake parfaits!

Cheesecake With A Crunch

Who doesn’t love a little crunch with something sweet?

There’s a layer of crunchy sweet oat crumble in between in this parfait. I could say that the dessert is no-bake–and it could be with a simple substitution.

However, if you have no granola on hand, then some baking is required to make this crunchy oat filling. In fact, this oat crumble is so good, you just may want to make double or triple the recipe! It’s a great and wholesome snack, but it can also double as a breakfast cereal.

Low Fat/Low Calorie? We Have You Covered

I tend to use full-fat products because that’s what I have on hand due to the fact that low/no-fat dairy products cannot be used in some recipes to get the best results. This recipe isn’t one of those that require the “regular” product so you can easily substitute low-fat dairy products in this without any real loss of flavor or richness. The only thing I’d caution about is the amount of sugar. Since fat tempers sugar you may need less sugar than what is called for in the recipe. As this cheesecake mixture contains no eggs or flour, you can add sugar to your taste.

The recipe also calls for cream, but evaporated milk can be easily substituted. I’ve also seen reduced sugar or sugar-free pie fillings and the use of those would save considerable calories.

One last word is be a bit wary of no-fat sour cream and cream cheese. I have to say that to me they taste terrible and they are nothing like the real thing–not even in texture. The lower-fat cream cheese and sour cream taste pretty much like the real deal, so it’s best to stick to those.

Cherry Or Any Flavor

If cherries aren’t your dish of tea feel free to substitute any other fruit flavored pie filling you do like! Raspberry or strawberry would be excellent choices that keep the colorful red accents that make this parfait so visually appealing.

The Recipe

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Cherry Cheesecake Crunch Parfait

Your family is sure to smile when you serve them a yummy cherry cheesecake parfait with a bit of crunch!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time25 minutes mins

Course: desserts

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cheesecake parfait, cherry cheesecake, parfait recipe

Servings: 4

Calories: 706kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 8 oz cream cheese softened
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 21 oz cherry pie filling or any flavor you like

Oatmeal Crumble (see notes)

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 3 tbs butter melted
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
• Mix all the oatmeal crumble ingredients together and spread on prepared sheet.
• Bake for 10-15 minutes or until it just begins to get golden; cool completely.
• Beat cream cheese and sour cream together until smooth. Mix in the cream and confectioner’s sugar.
• You will need 4 “old-fashioned” glasses or parfait glasses. You will make 2 layers in each glass of cheesecake mixture, oatmeal crumble and cherry pie filling. See photos for a guide.
• Substitutions may be made for the cream cheese and sour cream for lower fat products. You may substitute evaporated milk for the cream.

Notes

Plain granola may be substituted for the oatmeal crumble

Nutrition

Serving: 1parfait | Calories: 706kcal | Carbohydrates: 80g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 41g | Saturated Fat: 23g | Cholesterol: 121mg | Sodium: 319mg | Potassium: 378mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 1730IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 138mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Cherry Cheesecake Crunch Parfait appeared first on The Midnight Baker.

Make a bunch of these no-bake tropical cheesecake balls for Super Bowl snacking, but they’re perfect any time.

Cheesecake With Portion Control

Do you love cheesecake and don’t want to overdo it? These tropical fruit flavored cheesecake ball just might be the thing you’re looking for.

While I myself am not much into controlling my portions (mainly from being old, fat and plain lazy) I realize that lots of folks are. One or two of these delicious cheesecake balls are often enough to satisfy a craving without going overboard. Strangely enough, that works for me too and remember, I’m not into it!!!

Think Out Of The Box Fruitwise

All of the recipes I’ve seen out there (there are thousands) call for crushed pineapple. Of course, pineapple tastes great just like it does in my No-Bake Pineapple Cream Dessert, but I wanted to think out of the box here. However, to be completely honest here I didn’t have any crushed pineapple on hand and was too lazy to clean the food processor if I were going to process the chunks I did have

I did have several cans of tropical fruit salad on hand. Mainly, I like the stuff and my neighbor gave me a great recipe for chicken that uses it. My thinking was the tropical fruit salad would taste pretty good in these cheesecake balls. I wasn’t wrong–it’s delicious (even though I still had to clean the food processor).

Yummy Coconut Too

To top it all off, these yummy cheesecake balls are rolled in delicious coconut.

OK I know some folks aren’t as crazy about coconut as I am, so instead of coconut, roll them in some ground nuts! That’ll be just as yummy.

Since these balls tend to be a bit soft, refrigerate them very well before serving. One trick I use is to freeze them once they are solid enough.

The Recipe

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No-Bake Tropical Fruit Cheesecake Balls

Make a bunch of these no-bake tropical cheesecake balls for Super Bowl snacking, but they’re perfect any time.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Total Time20 minutes mins

Course: desserts

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cheesecake balls, no bake cheesecake, no bake recipe

Servings: 15

Calories: 334kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 16 oz cream cheese softened
• 29 oz can tropical fruit cocktail well drained
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans
• 4 cups flaked coconut

Instructions

• Pulse drained tropical fruit salad a few times in a food processor. Squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
• Mix all ingredients except for coconut, together in a medium bowl.
• Refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Line a large baking sheet with waxed paper or parchment.
• Form balls about 1 inch in diameter. Roll in the coconut and place on prepared sheets.
• Refrigerate for about 6 hours or overnight. These may be frozen too.
• Makes about 30 balls.

Nutrition

Serving: 2pieces | Calories: 334kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Cholesterol: 33mg | Sodium: 109mg | Potassium: 243mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 524IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 44mg | Iron: 1mg

The post No-Bake Tropical Fruit Cheesecake Balls appeared first on The Midnight Baker.