Cheater Cherry Cheesecake is a favorite of my husband’s. He requests it for both his birthday and for Father’s day which are only 2 weeks apart but I don’t mind making it twice that close together as it is simple to make. The recipe is also no bake which is fabulous since Father’s day and his birthday both land in June and the days can often be so hot I don’t want to turn on the oven.
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First you start with the crust. I like to mix it right in the bottom of my 9 by 12 pan so that I don’t have to dirty another dish. I buy my graham crumbs already to go but I did once substitute graham crackers freshly crushed in my food processor and they worked just fine too.
Once the crust is made I move on to the filling. It really doesn’t take long to whip together. You start with the Dream Whip topping. I have often wondered if I could substitute heavy whipping creme instead of the dream whip to make the recipe a little less processed but my husband protested when I suggested it to him so I haven’t yet tried it (one of these days though when he isn’t looking 🙂 )
After the dream whip you mix in the icing sugar (powdered sugar) followed by the creme cheese. I have used both full fat and low fat cream cheese with no difference in taste or texture.
I spread the drop the filling onto the crust one lump at a time and then use the spatula to spread it out evenly over the crust. It gets less crust crumbs in it that way.
Once the filling is spread there is just one step left, the topping. I use 2 cans of cherry pie filling so that the whole cheese cake gets a generous amount of topping. 
I use the same method for the topping as I do for the filling to make sure that the cheesecake gets an even amount of topping on every square inch and to reduce the amount of filling getting mixed in with the topping
You can serve it right away but I think it tastes better if you give it an hour or so to chill, that is if you can wait that long to dig in.
Looking for more no bake deserts? Follow my No Bake Treats board on Pinterest
Cheater Cherry Cheesecake
Ingredients
- CRUST
- 1/2 cup melted butter one stick
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- FILLING
- 1 package of Dream Whip
- 1 cup icing sugar powdered sugar
- 8 oz package of cream cheese
- TOPPING
- 2 cans of cherry pie filling
Instructions
- CRUST
- mix graham crumbs and brown sugar in the bottom of a 9 by 12 pan.
- mix in melted butter
- press down with back of spoon
- FILLING
- prepare Dream Whip according to package instructions
- beat 1 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar) into the prepared Dream Whip
- beat in the package of cream cheese
- spoon and spread filling over the graham cracker crust
- TOPPING
- spoon the cherry pie filling on top of filling covering it all.
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This looks delicious. I’m sure my family would love it.
I have been making this type of “cheesecake” for years. Instead of the Dream Whip though I use a large container of Cool Whip (thawed) and I use two packages of cream cheese. It’s delicious – but I may try the Dream Whip version instead.
I love finding out different versions of recipes, thanks for sharing this one because often I have trouble finding Dream Whip in our area.
Thank you. I liked this recipe but was turned off by the dream whip. I will try it using cool whip. I bet it makes this recipe wonderful.
When you say “large” how large 12 oz or 16 oz? TIA.
I am sorry but I can’t figure out where you read the word “large” I am going to assume you either are referring to the cherry topping which I believe is the 20 oz size ( I purchase mine at Aldi, but I don’t have one on hand to check so I am guessing here based on cans of similar size in my cupboard) or the creme cheese brick which is the standard 8 oz size.
🤔I THINK Sally was replying to Patricias post. (As I’m reading these comments almost 5 YEARS later. 🤪😂👌👌👌
YES PLEASE! I’m wild about cream cheese and this dish looks super good. Perfect for summertime too. Thanks so very much for sharing with us at Weekend Potluck….please come back again soon.
It is super yummy!
This delicious dish caught our eye at Weekend Potluck’s party…you are being featured as one of our favorites!! Congrats! Thanks so very much for sharing. Please come back again soon. http://thebetterbaker.blogspot.com/2014/06/extreme-brownies-supreme-weekend.html
Sorry but what is icing sugar?
Powdered sugar is another name for it.
I love this recipe for cherry cheese cake (My dad will love it) and will be making it for Fourth of July. I would love if you would share a post on my meet up Monday Blog Party. I am doing a Fourth of July cupcake tutorial on Tuesday and I know your post will be an awesome addition! Here is where you can add your post on Monday! http://lifewithjennifer.wordpress.com/
My mom makes this for me every Thanksgiving. She adds a 1/2 Tbsp almond extract to the cream cheese layer. It’s delicious!
Does this dessert need to be refrigerated?
Yes it does.
I make one very similar – but a lot richer. use 1 can of condensed milk, 2 bricks cream cheese and about 1/4 cup sugar ( when beating the cream cheese). It is a go to favourite that gets requested all the time.
Wow that does sound good! Is it also no-bake?
What is dairy whip?
Dream whip? Here is a link to Amazon so you can see what it looks like http://amzn.to/1CGYOCN (affiliate link). It is much cheaper in stores and is found usually with the pie crusts and fillings. Hope that helps.