“Summertime…and the livin’ is easy…”
Louis Armstrong had it right…summertime is for easy living (or easy livin’, if you’re Louis). And that extends to baking. Summer is the time for easy, simple desserts that taste great but don’t take a lot of time…and, preferably, ones that don’t require us to turn on the oven.
This No-Bake Key Lime Cheesecake fits that bill perfectly.
A Simple but Delicious Mashup of Two Great Desserts
Summer BBQs, picnics, beach days…all require tasty snacks. This no-bake cheesecake is perfect for all of our warm-weather gatherings this summer.
This is a mashup of two crazy delicious desserts…key lime pie and cheesecake. It combines the brightness of key lime pie with the creaminess of cheesecake for a tangy, creamy, and utterly delicious treat.
In addition to the classic lime flavor, this dessert takes another element from key lime pie—it’s super easy to make. Both the crust and the filling are quick to put together…you can have them mixed up within half an hour. The only hard part of making this cheesecake is waiting for it to chill overnight.
How To Make No-Bake Key Lime Cheesecake
There are three main parts to making this cheesecake: making the crust, mixing up the filling, and letting it chill. Here’s a little more detail:
- Mix together the crust ingredients, press it into the springform pan, and chill it until the filling is ready.
- Mix up the filling: all ingredients except the whipping cream first; next, whip the cream separately, then fold it into the rest of the filling. Pour the filling into the prepared crust.
- Let it chill for at least 8 hours, or overnight. Then, slice and serve!
See? Easy peasy.
Tips For Making Your Best No-Bake Key Lime Cheesecake
While this is a super easy dessert to make, there are a few little details that will help your cheesecake turn out juuuust right.
- Use fresh-squeezed lime juice. Preferably key lime, but regular limes work great too! (I used regular limes in the one in the photo and it was fantastic).
- Give your limes a scrub before zesting. My favorite way to zest citrus for baking is with a microplane zester—I use (and love) this one.
- Use full-fat cream cheese. Lower fat cream cheese won’t set as well (you need the fat!)
- Don’t over-whip the cream. But if you do, don’t stress, it’ll still work. Just keep folding it into the rest of the filling until every bit of whipped cream is mixed in. (That is, unless you whip the cream so long it turns into butter…in that case just spread it on some toast and try again.)
- Fold gently. Use some patience here. You want everything to be well-mixed, but you don’t want to lose all of the air you whipped into the cream.
- Choose your own cookie adventure with the crust. I used graham crackers, but Nilla wafers would be amazing too, as would butter cookies or shortbread.
- The coconut in the crust is optional, but highly recommended. It takes the flavor of the cheesecake in a more tropical direction. But if you’re not a fan, you can leave it out.
More Quick and Easy Recipes
If you’re looking for more easy recipes for your next summer gathering, give these a try. They’re not all no-bake, but they are all pretty simple and quick to put together.
- Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies
- Salted Brown Butter Rice Krispie Bars
- Sunken Plum Snack Cake
- Peaches and Cream Cake
- Caramel Apple Galette
- Mini Rhubarb Galettes
- Sour Cherry Galette
Time to get (no-) baking! Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think in the comments below!
No-Bake Key Lime Cheesecake
Equipment
- 9-inch springform pan
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Crust
- 1 1/2 c graham cracker crumbs
- 1/4 c coconut, optional
- 2 T granulated sugar
- 6 T butter, melted
Key Lime Cheesecake Filling
- 16 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk
- 1/3 c fresh-squeezed lime juice*
- 1 T lime zest
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch salt
- 1 c heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Graham Cracker Crust
- Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. (This is optional, but it will make the finished cheesecake easier to remove from the pan).
- Combine all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Stir until melted butter is mixed through and all crumbs are wet. Set 2T of crumbs aside.
- Press the remainder of the crumbs evenly into the bottom of the springform pan, packing it down with the bottom of a measuring cup, glass, or other firm, flat surface.
- Set the pan in the refrigerator to chill until the filling is ready.
Key Lime Cheesecake Filling
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer), beat the cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk on medium speed until it's nice and smooth, about 5 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl a couple of times.
- Add the lime juice, zest, vanilla, and salt, and beat until well-combined, about 1 minute.
- Empty the mixture into a separate bowl, and set it aside for now.
- In the mixing bowl (you don't have to wash it first…it'll all get mixed together eventually anyway), use the whisk attachment to beat the whipping cream on medium speed until it forms stiff peaks.
- Gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until it is fully combined. Pour into the prepared crust, smoothing the top. Cover and refrigerate overnight, or at least 8 hours.
- To serve, remove from pan and place on a serving plate. Sprinkle the 2T of graham crust crumbs you saved around the outside edge. Place a thin slice of lime in the center of the cheesecake, if you like. Cut, serve, and enjoy! Store any leftovers covered in the refrigerator.
Notes
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