The Best No-Bake Cheesecake

• servings: 12 servings
• active time: 25 minutes
• total time: 4 hours 25 minutes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (150 g) graham cracker crumbs (from about 12 to 13 rectangle graham crackers) or gluten free (use the same weight of 150 g for gf crumbs)

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

6 tablespoons (85 g) salted butter (melted) or dairy free butter

16 ounces full-fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature (but not warm) - do not use light/neufchâtel cream cheese or Violife dairy free cream cheese

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup (125 g) powdered sugar

3/4 cup cold heavy cream (see note) or Country Crock plant dairy free heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup sour cream or dairy free sour cream

Directions

For the crust, in a medium bowl, combine the cracker crumbs and sugar. Stir in the melted butter until well-combined. Press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of 9.5-inch deep pie plate (see note).

For the filling, in a large bowl with a handheld electric mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle or whisk attachment, mix the cream cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the heavy cream and sour cream and mix until very thick and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. *** see note on mixing whipping cream first. Don't over mix.

Spread the filling evenly into the prepared crust.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or up to overnight to set up fully. Serve plain, with fresh fruit, or a fruit sauce (see note below).

Notes

To make gf and dairy free: add melted butter or df butter a little at a time until good consistency. You may not need as much butter for gluten free crumbs so add it gradually. You can add more sugar to taste (about 1 /2 tsp). I used the whisk attachment to mix the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth 2-3 (not high speed) minutes at most scraping sides of bowl as needed during that time. ***I whipped the dairy free cream until soft peaks separately and then folded into the mixture having already added the sour cream to the cream cheese mixture. Then I whipped all together on a low spread with whisk attachment just until it looked smooth-so not very long. I was careful on all mixing to not over mix as reviews said it turned out runny if over mixed.

—To make the topping I mixed the sugar and 1 1/2 Tablespoon of cornstarch together before adding 8 oz slightly thawed and drained frozen fruit and mixing. Then add the lemon juice, water/fruit juice drained to make 1/2 cup (if using frozen fruit, don’t add quite all the water/juice). Then bring to a boil and cook as notes Mel’s notes say.

Heavy Cream: make sure to use heavy cream (not whipping cream) to ensure the cheesecake sets up and isn’t runny. Many brands of whipping cream only have 30-35% milk fat whereas heavy cream will have 35% milk fat or higher. That extra milk fat is what ensures the thick cheesecake filling. I almost always use Darigold heavy cream (40% milk fat). If you are using regular whipping cream or cream with a lower milkfat percentage, whip the cream to soft peaks first and then fold it into the cream cheese mixture until evenly combined.

Pie Plate Size: a regular 9-inch pie plate can be used if you don’t have a deep 9.5-inch pie plate. However, you may have extra filling leftover (or you can pile it extra high in the pie plate). I have also increased all the ingredients by 1/2 (crust and filling) and made the recipe in a 9X13-inch pan with great results.

Fruit Topping: serve the cheesecake with fresh, sliced fruit or fresh berries. For a simple fruit sauce, in a small saucepan combine 6 to 8 ounces fresh or frozen fruit (about 1 cup), 1/2 cup water, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes, until bubbly and thickened. Cool and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 Slice
• Calories: 341 kcal
• Total Fat: 27 g
• Saturated Fat: 16 g
• Cholesterol: 82 mg
• Sodium: 254 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 22 g
• Dietary Fiber: 1 g
• Total Sugars: 16 g
• Protein: 4 g