PB&J No Bake Cheesecake
PB&J No Bake Cheesecake- Jammy fresh berries, a no bake cheesecake filling, and a peanut butter cookie crust make up this epic summery dessert.
August 17, 2024 by Nicole Collins
Today, we’re making a PB&J No Bake Cheesecake!
Picture it: fresh summer berries simmered down to a sweet jam. A fluffy no bake cheesecake that comes together in minutes. A salty sweet crust made from peanut butter cookies. Does this sound like pure heaven, or what? If your answer is yes, you’re in luck. Because, that sweet summery scene is exactly what we’re making today!
Let’s start with the berries. We only need 3 things to make a sweet and tangy berry topping: fresh strawberries, a little white sugar, and a splash of water. That’s it! We’ll dice a pound of strawberries, then toss them in a medium saucepan along with the sugar and water. Give it a toss, throw it on the stove top, and let it come to a boil. Now seeing how little water we add to the pan, it’s probably hard to imagine enough of anything to be able to boil. But, the strawberries have a good bit of natural water content. As they start to heat and soften, the pot magically becomes full of liquid.
Once the berries are boiling, we’ll turn down the heat and let them simmer away for a good 45 minutes. You want to make sure to give the pot a stir every once in a while so that the sugars don’t burn. Then, after the berries have had their chance to simmer, they should be nice and thick and almost jam like. That’s how we know they’re done. We need to let the berries cool down completely before we can even think about adding them to our pie, but we can work on the other components while we wait.
We’re keeping this pie truly no bake and making a quick and simple 2 ingredient crust that doesn’t require any baking. We’ll start with some Nutter Butter peanut butter cookies. Toss about 24 cookies into the bowl of a food processor, grind them up until they’re fine crumbs, and transfer them to a mixing bowl. To the cookie crumbs, we’ll add some melted butter. Then, we’ll give everything a good mix until the cookie crumbs resemble the texture of wet sand. You should be able to grab a handful of the crumb mixture, squeeze it in your hands, and it will keep its shape. Then, we’ll press the crumbs into a pie plate, and toss it in the fridge until we’re ready for it again. SO EASY.
Our no bake cheesecake filling is just as easy as the rest of this recipe. We’ll start by beating some softened cream cheese, a dollop of sour cream, a splash of vanilla extract, and some powdered sugar until they’re smooth and creamy. Then, we’ll take half a container of whipped topping and beat that into the mixture too. This helps to lighten up the cream cheese mixture a little bit so we can easily fold the rest of the whipped topping in by hand. And, that’s exactly what we’re going to do. Grab a spatula, fold in the remaining whipped topping until everything is just combined, then spread that cheesecake mixture into the prepared crust. It’s so simple! The cheesecake can hang out in the fridge while you’re waiting for the berries to cool, so there’s no stress about having to time anything perfectly.
Once those berries are totally cool, we’ll evenly spread them over the cheesecake layer. Then, the cheesecake has to go back in the fridge for at least 4 hours but preferably overnight to set. After that, it’s time to dig in.
What I love the most about this cheesecake is that it’s not overpowering in either peanut butter or fruit. The sweet and savory crust, the fluffy neutralizing filling, and the tart jammy topping balance each other out so beautifully. You get a rush of flavors of textures in every bite. And, you can identify each flavor and texture in every bite. It’s not heavy. It’s bright and refreshing while still being nostalgic and comforting. It’s the perfect summer dessert.
Or maybe we should just say it’s the perfect dessert. Periodt.
Alright, everyone! I can’t wait to hear what you think of this one.
I hope you guys enjoy. And, let’s eat!
PB&J No Bake Cheesecake
Serves: 8 Print
Ingredients:
For the Strawberry Topping:
1 lb (16 oz) strawberries, diced
¼ cup sugar
1 ½ tbsp water
For the No Bake Cheesecake:
24 Nutter Butter cookies, finely ground to crumbs (about 2 cups crumbs)
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp sour cream
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ cup powdered sugar
8 oz non dairy whipped topping (like Cool Whip), thawed
Directions:
Make the strawberry topping: Place strawberries, sugar, and water in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium low, and simmer for 40-45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the strawberries have thickened. Remove from heat, and set aside to cool completely.
Meanwhile, make the crust: Add cookie crumbs and melted butter to a mixing bowl. Stir until fully combined and the cookie crumbs look like wet sand. Gently and evenly press crumbs on the bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch pie plate. Set aside in the fridge.
Once the berries have cooled completely, make the filling: To a large mixing bowl, add cream cheese, sour cream, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Use a hand mixer to beat until the mix is smooth and creamy. Add half of the whipped topping, and beat until fully combined. Add the remaining whipped topping, and fold it in to the cream cheese mixture with a spatula until just combined.
Spread cheesecake mix evenly into crust. Spread the cooled strawberry sauce evenly over top of the cheesecake mix. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to overnight. Serve cold.
Recipe notes:
*To make cookie crumbs, place cookies in a food processor and pulse until they are finely ground.
*You can use lowfat cream cheese and whipped topping or regular cream cheese and whipped topping in this recipe.
*The strawberry sauce will thicken more as it cools. Trust the process!
