No-Bake Cheesecake Bars

No-Bake Cheesecake Bars are just the right amount of sweet, with a buttery graham cracker crust. Top them however you like—fruit, chocolate sauce, or caramel and sea salt!

These are similar to our No Bake Cheesecake, but made in a different pan and cut into bars. They’re one of our favorite no bake treats in the summertime, and we love topping them with something fruity, like Strawberry Sauce.

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Cheesecake, minus the hassle

It’s no secret that our family LOVES cheesecake. But making a traditional cheesecake takes a lot of time, especially in the oven! That’s where these no-bake cheesecake bars come in.

There’s NO baking involved. And none of those complicated springform pans. Everything comes together in the refrigerator & freezer, in a cake pan. Easy peasy!

So on those hot, hot summer days when you’re in dire need of a slice of cheesecake but don’t want to heat up the entire house, break out your hand mixer and make these instead!

How to Make Them

CRUST. The crust is similar to a traditional cheesecake crust, except instead of baking it in the oven just pop it into the freezer while you make the filling. Easy, right?

FILLING. Beat the ingredients together until smooth and creamy, then fold in the whipped cream. Carefully spread it into the chilled crust, then spread the topping over top (which is totally optional by the way).

CHILL. Place the pan in the refrigerator and chill for at least 4 hours before slicing and serving.

Delicious Toppings: The picture shows a delicious blueberry topping, but you can add any topping that you wish, or even eat it plain. Here are some ideas!

• Fresh Fruit
• Berry sauces (like strawberry sauce)
• Hot Fudge
• White Chocolate Fudge
• Chopped  Nuts
• Chopped Candy like Snickers, Reeses, Butterfinger
• Peanut butter or Nutella Drizzle

Recipe Troubleshooting

I must admit it can be sometimes hard determining why a recipe didn’t turn out as expected. Here are a few common  

• Room temperature: Don’t forget to let the cream cheese and sour cream sit out. It’s more obvious that softened cream cheese mixes better, but so does room temperature sour cream.
• Stiff Peaks: make sure that the heavy cream is whipped enough otherwise the end result may be runny. Stiff peaks can be determined by lifting the beater out of the mixture the whipped cream should hold a peak shape.
• Chill time: Don’t skimp on the chill time so plan accordingly to make sure it has had enough time to set before serving.
• Gelatin: be sure to prep according to the recipe instructions you want to make sure that it will set the cake correctly.

Storage Tips

STORE the cheesecake, covered, in the fridge for up to 5 days.

I don’t recommend FREEZING the cheesecake until after it has set in the fridge for several hours. Once the cake has set, you can wrap it in plastic wrap and again in foil. It will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer.

For more no bake treats, check out:

• Cookies N Cream Ice Cream Cake
• Frozen Peanut Butter Pretzel Pie
• No Bake Butterscotch Cookies
• No Bake Rocky Road Bars
• No Bake Oreo Cheesecake

4.86 from 14 votes

No-Bake Cheesecake Bars Recipe

By: Lil’ Luna

No-Bake Cheesecake Bars are just the right amount of sweet, with a buttery graham cracker crust. Top them however you like—fruit, chocolate sauce, or caramel and sea salt!

Servings: 16

Prep: 25 minutes mins

Chill: 4 hours hrs

Total: 4 hours hrs 25 minutes mins

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients 

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Crust

• ▢ 1 cup graham cracker crumbs (from about 8 sleeves)
• ▢ 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 5 tablespoon unsalted butter melted

Filling

• ▢ 2 tablespoon cold water
• ▢ 1 1/2 teaspoon plain powdered gelatin (I bought a box of little packets)
• ▢ 16 oz original cream cheese room temperature for 30 minutes
• ▢ 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• ▢ 1/3 cup sour cream room tmperature for 30 minutes
• ▢ 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ pinch salt
• ▢ 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Sour Cream Topping (Optional)

• ▢ 3/4 cup sour cream
• ▢ 3 tablespoon powdered sugar
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract

Instructions 

• To make the crust, in a medium size mixing bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, granulated sugar and salt. Pour the melted butter over top and stir until a soft wet mixture forms. Firmly press into a 8×8 or 9×9 inch pan. Place in the freezer to chill while preparing the filling.
• In a small microwave-safe mixing bowl, whisk together the water and gelatin. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large mixing bowl) beat the cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add the sugar, salt, vanilla and sour cream, beat just until combined.
• Place the gelatin mixture in microwave and heat for 25 seconds on HIGH. Remove and whisk for 1 minute. Allow to cool for 2 minutes, then with mixing speed on low, slowly add the gelatin to the cream cheese, mixing until combined.
• Using a hand mixer (or if you have another bowl for your mixer, use that), in a medium bowl, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the whipped cream into the mixture. The whipped cream will loosen the filling up a bit and make it slightly more spreadable.
• Carefully spread the filling into the chilled crust. Spread into a smooth, even layer.
• Prepare the topping by combining all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and stirring together until smooth. Using a spatula, spread over the top of the cheesecake.
• Place in the refrigerator and chill for at least 4 hours before slicing and serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 250kcal, Carbohydrates: 13g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 21g, Saturated Fat: 12g, Cholesterol: 64mg, Sodium: 143mg, Potassium: 78mg, Sugar: 9g, Vitamin A: 755IU, Vitamin C: 0.2mg, Calcium: 57mg, Iron: 0.3mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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These look DIVINE. I’m a huge fan of no-bake recipes during the summer. And I love that these can be topped so many different ways!! Thanks for sharing with us Natalie! Head on over to Life Made Simple to see more of her delicious recipes!!