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No-Bake Cranberry Cheesecakes are perfect for the holiday season. Tart cranberry sauce paired with creamy no-bake cheesecake base makes for a delightful seasonal bite!
This post is sponsored by Challenge Butter. Thank you for continuing to support the brands that make My Baking Addiction possible.
I know it’s December, but we’re still into no bake desserts, right? I mean, is there ever really a time not to be into them?
I shared this recipe for No-Bake Cranberry Cheesecakes years ago and decided that the post needed a little upgrade in the photo department.
Not to mention this recipe is super simple and totally delicious which makes it absolutely perfect for the holidays, or just a random Friday night when you’re craving festive cheesecake.
CRANBERRY AND ORANGE MINI CHEESECAKES
Here I go again with the mini desserts.
I just can’t help myself! There’s something just SO elegant about rows of petite serving cups, layered with a delicious, creamy dessert full of all the right flavors.
These beauties just happen to be filled with the right flavors of cranberries and orange. Plus, they’re another one of my no-bake recipes. Just whip them up, chill them in the fridge, and serve to the delight of everyone you know.
I’ve been on a cranberry-orange kick lately. Cranberry Orange Scones, Cranberry Orange Bread…cranberries and citrus are a match made in flavor heaven.
Cranberries are pretty tangy on their own, but not so sweet. Oranges are sweet, with their own version of tang. Together? Magical, I tell ya. Especially in cool, creamy no-bake cheesecake.
HOW TO MAKE NO-BAKE CRANBERRY CHEESECAKES
This No-Bake Cranberry Cheesecake recipe is made up of three components:
- Spiced gingersnap crust
- Creamy cheesecake speckled with orange zest
- Homemade cranberry sauce topping
I love the gingersnap cookie crust that’s beefed up with a little pumpkin pie spice. Why use a standard graham cracker crust when you can pair the cranberries with the holiday spice of gingersnaps?
Once you combine the cookie crumbs, pumpkin pie spice, and some Challenge salted butter, press the crust into the bottom of small serving dishes.
Challenge butter is churned daily from the freshest milk and made without any artificial preservatives, fillers, or dyes, so it’s my absolute favorite butter to bake and cook with.
Then, using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, beat together softened Challenge cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar and orange zest for about 3 minutes.
Since the cheesecake filling only has a few ingredients, make sure you aren’t skimping on the good cream cheese! Grab some of that great Challenge cream cheese for this recipe.
(And if you forget to set out your cream cheese to soften, make sure to check out some of my tips for how to soften cream cheese quickly.)
Add in vanilla extract and beat an additional minute. Pipe or spoon cheesecake filling into the individual serving dishes, directly onto the prepared crust layers.
Cover the cheesecakes and chill for at least 2 hours. Top them with the cranberry sauce before serving.
CAN YOU MAKE THESE CHEESECAKES AHEAD OF TIME?
If you love planning ahead, No-Bake Cranberry Cheesecakes are the dessert for you.
These no-bake wonders can be covered and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. They’ll still be good for a day or two after that, but the texture of the crust might suffer a bit after that point.
That means that you could easily make these a day ahead of when you want to serve them. Just have the cheesecakes prepped and the cranberry sauce stored in a separate container.
Top the cheesecakes with the cranberry sauce just before serving, garnish with some orange zest, and it’ll look like you just finished spending hours in your kitchen!
No-Bake Cranberry Cheesecakes
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 6 ounces crispy gingersnap cookies
- ½ teaspoon homemade pumpkin pie spice
- 3 tablespoons salted Challenge Butter melted
For the Cheesecake
- 2 8- ounce packages Challenge Cream Cheese room temperature
- 1 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar sifted
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
For the Topping
- 1 cup homemade cranberry sauce
Instructions
- In a food processor or blender, combine the gingersnap cookies and pumpkin pie spice. Pulse the machine until the cookies form crumbs. In a small bowl, combine cookie crumbs and butter, mix until combined. Press crumbs onto the bottoms of individual serving dishes – about 2 heaping tablespoons per dish.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat together cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar and orange zest for about 3 minutes. Add in vanilla extract and beat an additional minute. Pipe or spoon cheesecake filling into individual serving dishes, directly onto the prepared crust layers.
- Cover cheesecakes and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Before serving, top with cranberry sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This was a wonderful dessert. I couldn’t find gingersnaps so I substituted windmill cookies. It turned out perfectly. I loved the cranberry sauce recipe that goes along with it. It wouldn’t have been spectacular without this fabulous recipe.
Yay! So glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe. :)
Instead of using glasses, could I use the same recipe by using cupcake liners?
Hi Briley – Cupcake liners by themselves won’t be sturdy enough to hold the cheesecakes. You’ll definitely want to use some kind of small bowls or ramekins to assemble the cheesecakes. Hope this helps!
Jamie
LOVE THESE! Have made this dessert two years in a row for Christmas. They are loved by all!! Thank you! ALSO, very easy to use GF gingersnap cookies for those needing gluten free desserts! :)
You’re so welcome, Traci! I’m glad everyone likes them!
LOVE THESE! Have made this dessert two years in a row for Christmas. They are loved by all!! Thank you!
Perfect for Mini mason jar treats! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Karen! I hope you enjoy them!
HEllo. i ve made this dessert over a hundred times and all my friends love it.
That’s wonderful, Wajeeha! I’m so glad everyone likes it!
I made these last Thanksgiving, and will be making them again this year! They are SO GOOD! I repurposed those little glass jars that you have left over from the glade candles. Sterilized them and they were really cute.
Wonderful, Suze! I’m so glad you like them enough to make them again!
Do you think I could successfully make these in mini cupcake papers? I would like to make a large batch of these to take to a Christmas party.
Hi, Susan! I think mini cupcake papers would be fine. I hope you had a great holiday season!