Betty Dickson

I am a lover of cheesecake. I have never made a no bake one before but the temperature the last few days has been too hot to bake. I love this recipe. It is super simple. The only hard part was waiting for it to set up. I only put in a tablespoon of vanilla. Three seemed a bit much and it is so darned expensive. I left the rest as written except I used cherry pie filling like the picture. :) It was a little on the sweet side so less sugar could be used, but we liked it as written. It perfectly filled my 9.5 inch pyrex pie dish that I made my crust in. Whenever I make a no bake cheesecake I will certainly use this recipe.

I made the baked version. I left out the cinnamon as it isn't my favorite spice unless I am using apples or peaches and I was making a no bake cherry cheesecake.I used 1 package of graham crackers from the box. It was 9 full crackers. The stated ingredients mixed well and was easy to press into my 9.5 inch pie plate.I was so tired of buying premade in too small of a dish that never held up well. This will be my go to from now on.I noticed some reviews that claimed it was mushy, used too much butter and or was too sweet. I agree the sugar could be cut back a little and possibly the butter but it may not hold up as well. I think those reviewers must have used margarine with water in it or used really hot melted butter. I let my unsalted butter cool a bit after nuking it until it was mostly melted. Stirred it and let it sit a couple of minutes. I drizzled it into my crumbs while stirring to incorporate it into them.

I made it knowing it wasn't anything like my grandmother's recipe. I wanted to try it though. I did not care for the flavor and it was not firm even after a full night in the fridge. Going back to Grandma's recipe even though it is more work.

I added some Cajun seasoning to the cream cheese to give it some extra flavor. I used frozen cocktail shrimp that were easily thawed under cold water in a colander. I made my own cocktail sauce a couple of days ago for some larger shrimp I fried. It was so good today after a few days of melding in the fridge. I did not add any lime as it wasn't needed. The homemade cocktail sauce had plenty of kick. I forgot to take a picture but we will be having it again soon and I will take a pic of that one.

THey were doughy though I cooked ten minutes beyond what was stated. Another ten minutes they still weren't done. Temperature not right I think. Back in in a cast iron skillet as it fell apart when I flipped it. 375 this time.

I will make this again. I used Ricotta instead of cottage cheese as the other half does not care for cottage cheese. I skipped the butter to make it a bit less greasy and lower the calories a bit. It was fine without it.