Summer is a great time for homemade desserts. Juicy fresh berries and ripe peaches grace our farmers’ markets and while they are delicious by themselves, they’re also perfect made into an amazing dessert. The problem with the heat of summer is that you may not want to have your oven on to make a traditional strawberry cheesecake. Now you can make delicious strawberry lemon cheesecake without turning your oven on at all! This dish is flavorful and refreshing, and not as heavy as traditional cheesecakes.
I do turn my oven on in the summer to make a quick cobbler or crisp. I love my recipe for berry almond butter crisp, but I’m also looking at this blueberry crisp recipe to put on rotation this summer. But when I don’t want to turn on the oven, you better believe that I’m going with a no-bake dessert.
A simple graham cracker crust topped with a light, fluffy filling packed with fresh strawberries and lemon juice is sure to be a crowd-pleaser. The best part about this dessert is that you can keep it in the freezer until serving and just let it warm up for a few minutes before everyone dives in. You can also let them come completely to refrigerator temperature for a less frozen texture. Either way this is delicious, and you can pick what’s easiest for you.
- 12 graham cracker sheets
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 4 tbsp. granulated sugar
- 16 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- Juice of 1 lemon
- ½ tsp. lemon extract
- 1½ cups chopped fresh strawberries, plus additional for topping if desired
- Place graham cracker sheets in a food processor and process until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl and add melted butter and granulated sugar. Mix to combine.
- Spray an 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Line with parchment paper for easy removal. Press graham cracker mixture down firmly and evenly and freeze for 15 minutes while you make the filling.
- In a stand mixer or using a hand mixer, cream together cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Add vanilla extract, lemon juice, and lemon extract. Beat until light and fluffy.
- Add strawberries and mix to combine. The strawberries will break up as they are mixed in and you will see some pieces of strawberries as well.
- Remove prepared crust from freezer and spread cream cheese mixture on top. Freeze overnight or for at least 8 hours.
- Loosen the edges of the cheesecake bars with a knife and remove using parchment paper. Cut into pieces using a sharp knife. I cut mine into 12 bars but you can also cut into 9 for larger bars!
- Let bars sit for 15 minutes before enjoying. Bars can also be refrigerated or frozen until ready to eat.
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