This no-bake peppermint white chocolate cheesecake is the perfect dessert to make for the holiday season. It is perfectly balanced with a fantastic peppermint and white chocolate flavor. And best of all you can make it ahead of time and have it ready whenever.
Tips, Tricks & Suggestions
- Crushing the vanilla wafers & peppermint candies: When it comes to crushing the vanilla wafers for the crust I suggest that you use a food processor. Mainly because it makes it super easy to get a really fine crumb that is best for the crust. That being said if you don’t have a food processor you can also crush the vanilla wafers with a plastic bag and something heavy like a rolling pin or a mallet. Just place them in the bag and pound on the wafers until they form a fine crumb. As for the peppermint candies, I think it’s best that you go with the bag option. Mainly because that will give you a slightly chunky consistency which is what you really want.
- Other crust options: If you don’t like vanilla wafers you have a couple of other options. My two personal favorites include crumbled graham crackers for a mellow honey-like taste, and crumbled Oreos for a more chocolate and cream based flavor. Or you can try out some of these other unique options suggested by eatdelights.com.
- Don’t have a stand mixer?: No worries! Just like with the food processor, a stand mixer isn’t necessary and is simply a tool that makes the job easier. So instead use a hand mixer and a regular old mixing bowl to beat the cream cheese and sugar together. And if you don’t have either a stand mixer or a hand mixer then you can still beat the ingredients together in a bowl with a spatula. But be warned, it will take a lot of elbow grease!
- Use a springform pan: While it’s not necessary I highly recommend that you make this cheesecake in a springform pan. They have removable sides that make slicing and removing pieces of cheesecake much easier.
- Make sure you use peppermint extract, not mint extract. Trust me they have a distinctly different flavor, with mint extract tasting more like toothpaste, yuck.
- For best results ensure that you let the cheesecake firm up in the fridge for at least 6 hours. If you get impatient and try to eat it earlier the whole thing might fall apart.
- Storage/How long will it last?: You can store this peppermint white chocolate cheesecake in either your fridge or freezer. It will be good for at least 5 days when stored in your fridge. And can last at least 2 months when stored in your freezer. Just make sure that you defrost the cheesecake in your fridge overnight if you do plan on storing it in your freezer.
- (Alternative) Make these into cheesecake cupcakes!: It’s really simple and is a great way to hand them out to friends and family in the neighborhood. Just place the crust into muffin tins lined with foil cupcake liners. Then distribute the filling into these and let them firm up just like in the recipe below. It’s that easy!
Other Great No-Bake cheesecakes You Might Like
Peppermint White Chocolate Cheesecake (No-Bake) Recipe
Prep time: 30 minutes
Rest time: 6 hours
Servings: 10
Ingredients
For the crust:
2½ Cups of vanilla wafer crumbs, from roughly 11oz.
8 Tablespoons of butter, melted
For the cheesecake filling:
8oz. Of white chocolate morsels, melted but cooled to just above room temperature
24 oz. of cream cheese, at room temperature
½ Cup of powdered sugar
1½ Teaspoons of peppermint extract
1 Teaspoon of vanilla extract
1½ Cup of whipped cream
¼ Cup of crushed peppermint candies
Optional garnish:
Additional crushed peppermint candies
Whipped cream, piped along the sides of the cake
Instructions
- Make the crust: Crush the vanilla wafers in a food processor until they form a fine crumb. Transfer them to a medium-sized bowl and pour the melted butter over the top. Use either your hands or a wooden spoon to mix these two ingredients together until thoroughly combined. It should have the consistency of wet sand. Transfer this to a 9-inch springform pan and firmly press the crust to the bottom and halfway up the walls.
- Place the crust in your fridge or freezer for 30 minutes to firm up.
- Melt the chocolate: Place the white chocolate morsels into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave this for 30 seconds then stir the chocolate so that it starts to melt. Keep microwaving the chocolate for 10-second intervals and stir it between each interval until the chocolate is fully melted. This should be about 1 to 2 minutes in total.
Then let the bowl of melted chocolate sit on your counter so that it cools down. We want the chocolate to be slightly warm, NOT HOT when we add it to the rest of the filling ingredients.
- Make the cheesecake filling: Add the cream cheese and powdered sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat these two ingredients for a couple of minutes or until combined and smooth. Then add the peppermint extract, vanilla extract, and (slightly warm) melted white chocolate to the same bowl. Beat for another minute until everything is combined. Finally, add the whipped cream and crushed peppermint candies to the same bowl. Gently fold these two ingredients with a spatula into the rest of the filling until thoroughly combined.
- Take the crust out of your fridge/freezer and pour the cheesecake filling into it. Then use a recessed spatula to smooth out the filling into an even layer.
- Place the peppermint cheesecake in your fridge and let it firm up for at least 6 hours, or preferably overnight.
- (Optional) Once the cheesecake is firm you can garnish it by piping on whipped cream along the sides and/or sprinkling additional crushed candy canes over top.
- Take the peppermint cheesecake out of the springform pan, slice it up, and enjoy!
Peppermint White Chocolate Cheesecake (No-Bake) Recipe
Servings: 10
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 2½ Cups of vanilla wafer crumbs from roughly 11oz.
- 8 Tablespoons of butter melted
For the cheesecake filling:
- 8 oz. Of white chocolate morsels melted but cooled to just above room temperature
- 24 oz. of cream cheese at room temperature
- ½ Cup of powdered sugar
- 1½ Teaspoons of peppermint extract
- 1 Teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1½ Cup of whipped cream
- ¼ Cup of crushed peppermint candies
Optional garnish:
- Additional crushed peppermint candies
- Whipped cream piped along the sides of the cake
Instructions
- Make the crust: Crush the vanilla wafers in a food processor until they form a fine crumb. Transfer them to a medium-sized bowl and pour the melted butter over the top. Use either your hands or a wooden spoon to mix these two ingredients together until thoroughly combined. It should have the consistency of wet sand. Transfer this to a 9-inch springform pan and firmly press the crust to the bottom and halfway up the walls.
- Place the crust in your fridge or freezer for 30 minutes to firm up.
- Melt the chocolate: Place the white chocolate morsels into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave this for 30 seconds then stir the chocolate so that it starts to melt. Keep microwaving the chocolate for 10-second intervals and stir it between each interval until the chocolate is fully melted. This should be about 1 to 2 minutes in total. Then let the bowl of melted chocolate sit on your counter so that it cools down. We want the chocolate to be slightly warm, NOT HOT when we add it to the rest of the filling ingredients.
- Make the cheesecake filling: Add the cream cheese and powdered sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat these two ingredients for a couple of minutes or until combined and smooth. Then add the peppermint extract, vanilla extract, and (slightly warm) melted white chocolate to the same bowl. Beat for another minute until everything is combined. Finally, add the whipped cream and crushed peppermint candies to the same bowl. Gently fold these two ingredients with a spatula into the rest of the filling until thoroughly combined.
- Take the crust out of your fridge/freezer and pour the cheesecake filling into it. Then use a recessed spatula to smooth out the filling into an even layer.
- Place the peppermint cheesecake in your fridge and let it firm up for at least 6 hours, or preferably overnight.
- (Optional) Once the cheesecake is firm you can garnish it by piping on whipped cream along the sides and/or sprinkling additional crushed candy canes over top.
- Take the peppermint cheesecake out of the springform pan, slice it up, and enjoy!
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