Cherry pie filling dessert is basically a relaxed version of cherry cheesecake. This dairy-free and gluten-free fluffy cheesecake also doubles as a cherry delight dessert recipe.
Cherry Delight Dessert Recipe (Gluten and Dairy Free!)
Let me start with, this is not your traditional gluten-free cheesecake recipe. The delicious “cheesecake” portion is not firm, it is fluffy. This isn’t a dessert that you will be serving in a slice. This dessert is addicting and served by the spoonful!
If you are a fan of cream cheese desserts, this no-bake cherry cheesecake (again using that term lightly) will become a fast favorite with your family. This dessert can be served at Sunday Supper, on your Holiday table or for any dinner. It is beautiful and makes a statement on your dinner table, yet it is so simple to construct that your children could make it!
INGREDIENTS IN CHERRY DELIGHT
Gluten Free Graham Crackers - Crush these up in a zip top bag until they are crumbs.
Melted Butter - Added to the graham crackers, these makes the perfect crust for our dessert.
Cream Cheese - You can use traditional or dairy free cream cheese in this recipe.
Whipped Topping - You'll need about half of a tub, use the rest for something else yummy!
Powdered Sugar - adds sweetness and bulk to the filling.
Cherry Pie Filling - Canned pie filling makes this recipe so simple to throw together. Instead of pie filling you could use this fruit topping for cheesecake recipe.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment below and I will get back to you ASAP!
How to Make Gluten-Free Cherry Delight Dessert Recipe
The recipe is simple. I put the entire recipe at the bottom of the post in a printable recipe card.
- Place grahams into a baggie and gently squeeze to smash. This is a great job for your kids. If you can't get the grams ground into small pieces, you can use the back of a can to gently tap to help crush them.
- Combine smashed graham crackers with melted butter. Mix and then gently press them into an oiled dish. You are creating the bottom layer for this dish.
- In a mixing bowl combine cream cheese, whipped cream and powdered sugar. Blend until smooth. You can use an electric mixer if you wish. Place mixture on top of the gram mixture.
- Gently dump the cherries on top of the cream cheese mixture and spread. You can place some additional crumbled grams on top for garnish. ENJOY!
These numbered steps match the numbered photos above and are for illustration purposes. For the complete list of ingredients and instructions, please see the recipe below.
HOW TO MAKE GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST
You are going to crush the graham crackers. I love to put them into a bag and then smash them. This is a great job for your kids! It is an easy way to get them involved in the kitchen!
You are going to combine that with some melted butter. Pour crumbs into a tart pan. You could use any pan you’d like, whether square or circular. I used this tart pan. (affiliate ad link)
Dairy-Free Substitutions for Cherry Cheesecake
I used a dairy-free whip for this recipe, but if you are not dairy-free you could use cool whip or an alternative whipped cream like that. I also used dairy-free cream cheese and dairy-free butter. You are welcome to use ingredients that have dairy, if you do not have that dietary restriction.
Is cheesecake gluten-free?
That is a great question. It is typically NOT gluten-free. Cheesecake is often made with gluten ingredients. This particular recipe is gluten-free because we use gluten-free graham crackers to construct the graham cracker crust.
Do you bake cheesecakes?
Traditionally, yes you do bake cheesecakes but there are many recipes out there for “no bake” cheesecakes. With our recipe it is more of a light and fluffy dessert, than a traditional cheesecake!
I don’t like cherries!
What? Just kidding! That is totally okay if you do not like cherries. You can basically sub in any type of fruit pie mix spread that you like. Think peaches, blueberries, and apples! So many delicious choices!
If you are wanting to make a more formal dessert with a gram crust, I would suggest you check out my friend Chrystal's Gluten Free Graham Cracker Crust
Looking for a sweet and crunchy treat to pair with this dessert! I would recommend Gluten-Free Vegan Cannolis from my friend Chrystal at Gluten Free Palate! Or maybe you want another sweet treat that falls into the cherry theme? How about some Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream or this Cotton Candy Ice Cream Recipe!
Yay! You have made it this far, and I am so glad! Hey - If you make this recipe, I’d love for you to give it a quick review & star rating ★ below. Make sure you follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and Facebook, too!
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Simple Cherry Cheesecake Dessert
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 c crushed grams (about 2 boxes of Schar grams)
- ½ c melted butter (I used dairy free)
Filling
- 8 oz cream cheese softened (I used dairy free)
- 4 oz whipped cream about half a typical tub, (I used dairy free)
- 1.5 c powdered sugar
- 18 oz cherry pie filling
Instructions
- Place grams into a baggie and gently squeeze to smash grams. This is a great job for your kids. If you can't get the grams ground into small pieces, you can use the back of a can to gently tap to help crush them.
- Combine smashed grams with melted butter. Mix and then gently press them into an oiled dish. You are creating the bottom layer for this dish.
- In a mixing bowl combine cream cheese, whipped cream and powdered sugar. Blend until smooth. You can use an electric mixer if you wish. Place mixture on top of the gram mixture.
- Gently dump the cherries on top of the cream cheese mixture and spread. You can place some additional crumbled grams on top for garnish. ENJOY!
this is so delicious looking can't stop drooling!
AWE, thank you! Me either! It is SO delicious!
This dessert is amazingly simple! Wow! I'm always on the look out for gluten free items and struggle with finding alternatives. I'll be trying these graham crackers for sure.
Thank you so much, enjoy those grams!
Cheesecake is my favourite dessert - it is just so indulgent and cherry is my favourite flavour.
I love it too! Thanks for stopping by!
I'm sold! This cherry cheesecake looks so delicious and easy to make! I love that it's dairy-free! Hubby is going to simply adore this dessert!
Yay! Another one for the win! Sold to the highest bidder! 🙂 Fantastic! I hope that he loves it as much as well do!
What a fun and easy dessert! I bet this one will go crazy during the holidays! Can't wait to try it sometime...just pinned!
Thanks for pinning!
Oh, my! You have done it again -- created a simple, stunning recipe. I can't wait to make this for my family.
Thank you so much!! Enjoy!
Where did you find dairy free cream cheese and
Whipped cream? Can I also have the name of the company. This sounds so good! I can’t wait to make it.
Julie
Hi Julie!
So I LOVE coco whip by So Delicious. It comes in a tub like cool whip and in the freezer section. I've seen it as my Kroger and my Whole Foods. It is so good you will seriously have to hold yourself back from eating the entire tub. Or maybe that's just me! ha! So I use that. My stores seem to have it then run out then take a while to get it back in, so when I see it, I buy a couple to keep in my freezer. There are also at Whole Foods in the refridge section some whipped cream options (dairy free) in aerosol containers. I haven't tried those. The COCO whip is the easiest. For cream cheese, I LOVE the tofutti brand. I like their sour cream and cream cheese (both dairy free). I have seen that at Kroger (which is also a Fred Meyer store depending on where you live) and whole foods. Oh I think I've seen it at Meijer too! You can also get follow your heart brand of dairy free cream cheese too! 🙂
Thank you for the specifics here! It’s very helpful. Making it tonight for my hubby’s birthday. Thank you for the recipe!
You are welcome, this is one of my favorite treats!
This turned out better than expected. I was really worried about the taste of the whipped cream portion of this would taste, but it was very yummy. I’ve tried, with no success, to make dairy free whipped cream from coconut cream. Since this called for prepared dairy free whipped cream and dairy free cream cheese I was nervous that it would taste off , but everybody loved it. It did taste different and it was obvious that there was coconut in the cream mix, but my dairy free friends raved over it and my dairy eaters had no complaints! It was super easy to make which makes it a new favorite. I made it with gluten free Oreo cookies (after scraping out the cream centers) because they were easier to find than the graham crackers and because who doesn’t love a little chocolate cookie crumble 🙂
Hi Sue! Thank you for coming back and letting me know. This is SO SO helpful to me and other readers! I am so glad it was even better than expected. I like the ides of using gluten free oreo style cookies!!! 🙂