With a velvety smooth filling, Sugar Cookie No Bake Cheesecake is rich and tangy. Made on a chewy yet slightly crunchy sugar cookie crust, this cheesecake comes together in a delicious and festive dessert.
Sugar Cookie No Bake Cheesecake is hands down the best cheesecake I’ve ever made. Which is why it is the perfect way to celebrate the season and bring holiday cheer to any meal or gathering year round.
I especially love bringing it as an alternative to pie at holiday gatherings. For other festive Christmas desserts you'll have to try our Pop Tart Gingerbread Houses, Chocolate Pretzel Wreaths, and Popcorn Balls.
And if wanting more no bake desserts you've got to try our no bake Raspberry Cheesecake, Pumpkin Marshmallow Pie and easy Oreo Cheesecake.
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🥫 Ingredients
This dessert couldn’t get any easier with its simple ingredients and no bake filling. Just mix, assemble, let it chill, then slice and enjoy!
- Refrigerated Sugar Cookie Dough
- Heavy Whipping Cream
- Cream Cheese
- Granulated Sugar
- Powdered Sugar
- Sour Cream
- Lemon Juice
- Vanilla Extract
(Scroll down to the recipe card for exact measurements and full printable instructions.)
🥣 Step-by-Step Instructions
Firstly, preheat the oven to 350 F. When done you will want to generously grease your 9” springform pan. And to make it easier to serve later I like to line the bottom of my pan with a parchment paper circle.
Bake the Crust
Afterwards you can go ahead and begin breaking apart the refrigerated sugar cookies. Be sure to set aside 8 of the sugar cookies to bake separately. You will want these to garnish the cheesecake with later.
This will leave you with about 20 cookies to make your crust. Place the cookies snugly in the prepared pan. If any are leftover you can cut them to fill in any gaps. Place both the springform pan and cookie sheet with 8 cookies in the oven to bake.
To ensure the edges of the crust and garnishing cookies don’t brown too much cook for roughly 8 minutes. At this point the cookies should be done, your crust may need another minute or two.
Just keep an eye on it, we want both to stay nice and uniform with a light blonde sugar cookie color. When done remove both from the oven and allow to cool completely.
Whipped Topping
Meanwhile in a bowl go ahead and whip the heavy whipping cream. Whipped heavy cream gives the cheesecake it's mousse like consistency. The colder your heavy whipping cream the more stable your whipped cream will be.
Once you have stiff peaks go ahead and set aside the whipping cream. Later we will gently fold it in to the filling mixture.
Beat Filling
In a second bowl beat your room temperature cream cheese until smooth using a hand mixer. Cream cheese is what brings the rich, creamy flavor and smoothness to a good cheesecake.
Having your cream cheese at room temperature will make it much easier to blend and thus result in a silkier filling. When done beating, add the powdered sugar, sour cream, vanilla and lemon juice to the bowl. Continue to blend the filling mixture together.
Afterwards, gently fold in the prepared whipped cream. Be careful when folding in it in not to deflate the air from the mousse like whipped topping.
When the cookie crust is completely cool transfer the filling mixture to the springform pan. Then spread out the cheesecake filling with a spatula until smooth.
Chill and Serve
Cover the pan with clingwrap and allow the cheesecake to chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. However, the longer the cheesecake can chill the better it will be! Overnight is best if you have time to prepare it in advance.
Then when ready to serve remove the sides from the springform pan and garnish with dollops of whipped topping and the remaining baked sugar cookies and sprinkles and enjoy!
👩🏻🍳 Make it Your Own
Like so many of our other recipes, Sugar Cookie No Bake Cheesecake is easily adaptable. There are so many ways to tailor this dessert to your occasion or liking.
Crust
When it comes to crust, pretty much any of your favorite pie or cheesecake crusts will do! Want something more traditional?
Try our graham cracker crust variation from our Orange Creamsicle Pie. Gingersnaps, vanilla wafers, and homemade cookie dough would all make for tasty crust alternatives as well.
Flavors
Swapping your vanilla extract and lemon juice for a number of other flavors is another simple way to make this cheesecake your own. Peppermint would be an especially delicious and festive holiday option!
Garnishing
When it comes to decorating your finished Sugar Cookie No Bake Cheesecake the options really are endless. We like to garnish ours with extra whipped cream, baked cookies and festive sprinkles. But crushed peppermint or other candies, cookie dough balls, or white chocolate shavings, would all be other delicious choices.
💭 Top Tips
Cold Heavy Cream
Whipped heavy cream is what gives the cheesecake filling its mousse like consistency. For truly light and airy filling our heavy whipping cream has to be cold, cold, cold. The colder the cream the more stable it will be when whipped.
Once we've got the whipped cream prepared be sure to gently fold it into the cream cheese mixture. We don’t want to lose all that mousse like consistency by going and deflating all that air we just whipped in to it.
Room Temperature Cream Cheese
In an opposite fashion we want our cream cheese to be at room temperature before we beat it. Being at room temperature will make it much easier to blend and thus result in a silkier and smoother filling.
Chill don't Freeze
You want to chill NOT freeze your finished cheesecake. I know it may seem like a time saver, but trust me when I say it’s worth the wait. Freezing your cheesecake before it has set will only result in a grainier texture and messier slicing.
The longer you allow your cheesecake to chill in the fridge the yummier it will be! Try to shoot for a minimum of 3 hours. But chilling overnight is ideal if you can prepare the dessert ahead.
Serving and Storing
If you are struggling to get the springform pan to release, try gently running a warm knife around the edges to separate the cheesecake from the pan wall.
When ready to slice your cheesecake don't forget the colder it is, the easier it will be to slice cleanly! Wiping the knife clean after each cut will also help achieve beautifully perfect slices.
Store any leftover Sugar Cookie No Bake Cheesecake in the fridge in an airtight container. It will be good there for up to five days.
If wanting to freeze leftovers you can do that as well by storing individual slices in airtight containers for up to 3 months. To enjoy later you’ll just want to thaw 1-2 hours before serving.
📋 FAQ's
How do you cut cheesecake neatly?
When ready to slice your Sugar Cookie No Bake Cheesecake don't forget the colder it is, the easier it will be to slice cleanly! Wiping the knife clean after each cut will also help achieve beautifully perfect slices.
Can you freeze cheesecake?
Store any leftover Sugar Cookie No Bake Cheesecake in the fridge in an airtight container. It will be good there for up to five days.
If wanting to freeze leftovers you can do that as well by storing individual slices in airtight containers for up to 3 months. To enjoy later you’ll just want to thaw 1-2 hours before serving.
Sugar Cookie No Bake Cheesecake
Celebrate the season with this festive and rich, velvety smooth cheesecake made with a chewy, sugar cookie crust. Mhhhmmm!
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups heavy whipping cream
- 24 ounces cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- ¼ cup sour cream, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 packages refrigerated sugar cookie dough
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F and generously grease a 9" springform pan.
- Break apart the refrigerated sugar cookies and place pieces of dough in the bottom of the greased springform pan.
- Bake the sugar cookie crust and remaining 8 cookies separately for 8-9 minutes and allow both to cool completely.
- In a large bowl whip the heavy whipping cream and set aside.
- In a second bowl beat the cream cheese until smooth, using a hand mixer. Add powdered sugar, sour cream, lemon juice and vanilla to the bowl of beaten cream cheese. Blend filling mixture together.
- Fold in the prepared whipped cream. When the cookie crust is completely cool top with filling mixture. Smooth out the cheesecake filling with a spatula.
- Cover and allow the cheesecake to chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
- When ready to serve remove cheesecake from springform pan and garnish with dollops of whipped topping and the set aside baked sugar cookies and sprinkles.
Notes
Don't miss other helpful tips, recipe variations and storage information found in the full article above.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 351Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 89mgSodium: 201mgCarbohydrates: 16gFiber: 0gSugar: 14gProtein: 4g
Nutritional information provided is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products used and any changes made to the recipe. If these calculations are important to you, I recommend calculating them for yourself.