I love a good cheesecake. I hate all of the work that goes into it. Baking. Springform pans. Actual effort. See, 90% of the time when I’m cooking, I just don’t do actual effort. Especially in the summer– who wants to heat up their house for a dessert when they can get away with effortless chilled desserts, anyway? This is a no-bake chocolate cheesecake, so it doesn’t require any heat at all, and it’s great because it gets thrown together pretty quickly, meaning you can go back to enjoying summer before you know it.
Start by crushing 2 sleeves of chocolate graham crackers into a bowl (most boxes come with 3 sleeves, so you’ll have one extra for nibbling on later, making epic s’mores… or you can buy more and make some extra cheesecakes!)
Add sugar to the graham crackers, then pour on melted butter.
Press into a pie pan. This is the most involved part of the recipe– you want it to be at least fairly even. Otherwise, it’s easy as…. well, pie. Actually, it’s easier.
Place the crust in the refrigerator to chill until the filling is ready– this will help it to be firm and ready when you pour on the filling.
To make the filling, you’ll start with half a block of cream cheese (4 ounces for the recipe, 4 ounces for your fridge!). After all, would it be cheesecake without it?
Next, you’ll be able to customize your recipe. I chose a Jif Chocolate Cheesecake Hazelnut spread for one cheesecake, and a Jif Cookies and Cream Hazelnut spread for another cheesecake, but you can use anything you’d like that is a generally peanut butter or hazelnut spread consistency– including peanut butter, cashew butter, almond butter, plain hazelnut spread, maple bacon spread… really, anything.
If you really dig cheesecake, though, this is a pretty awesome flavor to get because it does taste just like cheesecake.
Spoon that into the cream cheese bowl (you’ll have just enough leftover for a few pieces of toast in the morning).
Add powdered sugar…
…and the contents of an entire 8 ounce container of whipped topping.
Using your mixer (or a really strong hand), blend the ingredients together as smoothly as possible. It’s okay if there are a few lumps, but for the most part, smoother is better.
It’ll look about like this when it’s ready– slightly lumpy, mostly smooth.
I love this dessert because it’s easy to make ahead, which makes it the perfect dessert for a summertime potluck or cookout, but it’s so simple that I’d make it any night of the week. I made two cheesecakes, and they were gone within a day. They’re just so tasty that you can’t resist having a slice… or two… or three. The thing about this cheesecake is that sharing is optional. Sure, you can cut it. But you can also just take a fork to the pan. That works just as well…
- 2 sleeves chocolate graham crackers
- 1/4 C sugar
- 1 C melted butter
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 3/4 C hazelnut spread, peanut butter, or similar nut spread, any flavor or variety
- 8 oz whipped topping
- 1 C powdered sugar
- Combine graham crackers, butter, and sugar in a bowl, then press into 9 inch pie plate.
- Refrigerate crust while preparing filling.
- Combine cream cheese, hazelnut spread, whipped topping, and powdered sugar in separate bowl using a mixer, until smooth.
- Spread filling into crust and refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until cheesecake is set, then serve chilled.
- Get creative and substitute different flavors and varieties of nut butters, spreads, and toppings!
What’s your favorite flavor of cheesecake? Let me know in the comments below!
