Surprise Your Guests with No Bake Salted Caramel Cheesecake

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Indulge in a heavenly treat with our no bake salted caramel cheesecake! Creamy, rich caramel filling, topped with a sprinkle of sea salt for the perfect balance of sweet and salty.

 

I used to make cheesecake.  For some reason I haven’t made one in forever.  My past recipes focus on health.  I made them with low fat cottage cheese, cream cheese, and egg substitute instead of real eggs.  We used to eat healthier when we first started dating.  Now, not so much.

 

But I need to get back into eating healthier.  And that’s starting with this no bake salted caramel cheesecake.  Feel free to use the regular versions of the ingredients, but I used the reduced fat whipped topping and the reduced fat cream cheese.  I can’t do the no fat cream cheese.  It just doesn’t taste right to me.  And the texture is very different.

 

 

What is salted caramel?

 

Salted caramel is a delicious combination of rich caramel and sea salt.  This combination creates a perfect balance of sweet and savory flavors.  It is the perfect embodiment of how a twist in flavors can turn into the most desired combination of flavors.

 

Salted caramel was invented by a caramélier and chocolatier in France.  Henri Le Roux took his inspiration for salted caramel from the infamous butter of Brittany infused with the local sea salt.  He wanted to create something that stood out and would stand out amongst all the French confections in the world.  Combine caramel with the salted butter was divine enough, but he elevated it with some crushed nuts.

 

 

What is the difference between caramel, butterscotch, and toffee?

 

All three combine butter and sugar that is cooked to certain stages or candy temperatures.  Caramel combines butter and granulated sugar.  These two cook until it reaches 340 F to make the delicious confection we know and love. For the sauce, the sugar is cooked then the butter is added and cooked, and finally cream is added which makes the creamy sauce we love.

 

Butterscotch and toffee are closer in relation.  They’re both made using butter and brown sugar.  However, butterscotch is cooked to 289 F for a rich, buttery sauce.  Toffee continues to cook until to the hard crack stage between 295 and 309 F.  Butterscotch sauce is made the same way caramel sauce is, just with brown sugar.

 

 

How do you make the crust for this no bake cheesecake?

 

Most cheesecake recipes call for a graham cracker crust where crushed graham crackers are combined with melted butter and pressed into the springform pan.  There are many different graham cracker flavors out there.  Cinnamon sugar, chocolate, honey, and regular.  Goldfish has some interesting graham cracker fish flavors like strawberry shortcake, S’mores, and cinnamon roll.

 

For this no bake salted caramel cheesecake, I wanted to play on the salted caramel.  I combined my favorite cookie for crusts, Maria cookies, and combined them with some mini pretzels.  The combination of the sweet from the cookies and salty from the pretzels plays off the salted caramel filling of this no bake cheesecake.  The crunchy texture of the crust also adds an extra layer of deliciousness to each bite.

 

 

Ingredients for this no bake cheesecake recipe

 

There are only 2 ingredients that you might not have on hand and that’s the salted caramel sauce and butterscotch pudding mix.

Pantry ingredients – cookie crumbs, pretzel crumbs, butterscotch pudding mix, salted caramel sauce

Refrigerator ingredients – butter, cream cheese, milk, whipped topping

 

Instructions to make this salted caramel no bake cheesecake

 

Put 2/3 of a package of Maria cookies into the food process with 1/2 cup of mini pretzel twists and pulse until they resemble large crumbs.  I didn’t want to process them to a fine crumb because I wanted pieces of pretzel to stand out in the crust.  Next, combine them with the melted butter and press the crumbs into an 8 inch springform pan.  Refrigerate for about 30 minutes or until the crust hardens.

 

 

Since I had the food processor out, I combined the milk with the butterscotch pudding (I couldn’t find caramel pudding mix) and the salted caramel sauce and processed until it was smooth.  Next, I added cream cheese and continued to process the filling.

 

I poured the mixture into a large mixing bowl and folded in the whipped topping until the filling was light and smooth.  Finally, I poured the filling into the prepared crust and refrigerated it until it set up which took about 3 hours for me.

 

 

Serving your No Bake Salted Caramel Cheesecake

 

I spread some caramel sauce on top of my cheesecake for added caramel flavor.  And it makes for a nice topping that your pretzel pieces can stick to.  Since I included the pretzels in the crust I thought it would be a great twist to sprinkle some crushed pieces of pretzel on top.  That will let everyone know that there’s pretzels in the crust, too.

 

Alternatively, you could sprinkle some chocolate shavings on top or some crushed nuts.  I’m thinking of something buttery like cashews or toasted macadamia nuts.  Both of would elevate the buttery flavor of the salted caramel filling.  You could go with a toasted almond on top, too.  Or even a honey roasted peanut or peanut brittle!  The peanut brittle would really bring home the caramel flavor, too.

 

 

What does this no bake caramel cheesecake taste like?

 

I like that it’s not overly sweet.  The salted caramel sauce added the perfect amount of salt to pair with the pudding and cream cheese.  The cheesecake flavor comes through with the sweet tart cream cheese filling.  And then there’s the crust!  It has a sweet and salty flavor to it to pair with the salted caramel sauce.

 

This no bake cheesecake is a great dessert for your Easter or spring dinner.  It doesn’t take a lot of ingredients or skill to make this no bake dessert.  If you can use a processor then you’re golden!  It can easily be made a couple of days ahead of time.  Just make sure to put cling wrap on top of the filling so it doesn’t form a skin.  You could spray it lightly with cooking spray so it doesn’t stick but still keeps a skin from forming.

Monday #SpringSweetsWeek Recipes

• Basil Strawberries and Cream Cookies from The Spiffy Cookie
• Butter Toffee from Art of Natural Living
• Carrot Cake Shortbread from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
• Flower Pretzel Bites from For the Love of Food
• Funfetti Easter Cupcakes from Hezzi-D’s Recipe Box
• Irish Apple Cake from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Lemon Matcha Muffins from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• No Bake Salted Caramel Cheesecake from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Small Batch Carrot Cake from Cheese Curd In Paradise
• Twix Cookie Cups from Crazy For Couponing