No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake
Servings: 12
A lightened up No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake recipe perfect for summertime! With simple, wholesome ingredients and bold strawberry flavor. Creamy, fresh, and the perfect make-ahead dessert.
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Ingredients
For the Strawberry Puree
- 1 pound strawberries hulled
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
For the Crust
- 24 vanilla creme sandwich cookies or golden oreos use gluten-free as needed
- 6 tablespoons salted butter melted
For the Cheesecake
- 1 (.25 ounce) envelope gelatin (2.25 teaspoons)
- 2 tablespoons water
- ½ cup cold heavy whipping cream
- 1.5 blocks cream cheese, room temperature 12 ounces
- ½ cup cottage cheese
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ounce package freeze dried strawberries blended into powder (optional)
Instructions
- Make the strawberry purée: In a food processor bowl add hulled fresh strawberries and sugar, pulsing until strawberries have completely broken down. Add to pan over medium heat and bring to low boil. Turn down to low simmer and cook down the strawberry mixture, about 15-20 minutes, stir in lemon juice and remove from heat. You'll want about 1 cup of reduced strawberries. Place this in the fridge to cool.Wipe food processor bowl clean.
- Prepare the crust: Grease a 8 or 9" springform pan and set aside. Add cookies to the bowl of your food processor. Process down to crumbs then transfer to a bowl and mix with the melted butter. The texture should feel like lightly wet sand. Add mixture to pan, pressing down evenly with the back of a flat measuring cup. Transfer to the freezer to set. Wipe food processor bowl clean.
- Bloom gelatin: In a microwave safe bowl, combine gelatin with 2 tablespoons water. Let sit for 3-4 minutes. (You can make the whipped cream during this time.) Then microwave the gelatin for 5-8 seconds, or until just liquid. Set aside.
- Make Whipped Cream: Add heavy whipping cream to a chilled metal bowl and mix using an electric hand mixer on medium-high speed. Continue mixing until stiff peaks form (the whipped cream holds when touching). This will likely take about 3-4 minutes. Transfer bowl to fridge.
- Make cheesecake batter: In the food processor bowl, blend together cream cheese, cottage cheese and sugar until smooth. Make sure there aren't any big clumps. Blend in freeze-dried strawberry powder if using.Next, add in the cooled reduced strawberries and liquid gelatin; blending until smooth. Remove S-blade and fold in the fresh whipped cream.
- Assemble: Remove crust from freezer and pour cheesecake batter evenly over crust, using spatula to spread smooth. Cover with foil and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until cheesecake has set.
- Slice and serve: Carefully remove the side of the spring load and transfer cheesecake to flat surface. Use a large sharp knife to cut into 12 slices. Serve with fresh whipped cream and fresh strawberries – enjoy!
Notes
No food processor? If you don't have one, you can use a blender to blend the strawberries. And you'll want to use a small blender with a splash of milk to blend the cottage cheese, or sub in greek yogurt.
To make the cheesecake batter, you can use an electric mixer. Just make sure the cream cheese is softened to room temperature so it mixes well in the beaters. Follow the rest of the steps to put it all together.