If you want a cherry cheesecake fast without waiting for the cheesecake to cook or set up in the fridge, make our beautiful dairy free cherry cheesecake cups! This creamy and gorgeous dessert comes together quickly and is also gluten free and can easily be made vegan as well.
Summer isn’t over just yet, so I’m still hanging on to those delicious summer flavors like cherries. If you’re craving a quick and creamy dessert that’s still allergy friendly, make our dairy free cherry cheesecake trifle!
This beautiful deconstructed cheesecake is perfect for party desserts or any time you want a quick and fruity dessert.
This recipe is based off of our vanilla cheesecake recipe, so if you’re looking for an actual no-bake cheesecake you can top with cherry pie filling, go check out that recipe (we included a cookie crust recipe as well).
Our cherry cheesecake cups are:
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Peanut free
- Egg free and vegan option (the cookies we used have eggs)
Why we love this no-bake cherry cheesecake recipe
Our recipe is basically a deconstructed no-bake cheesecake (or a cheesecake trifle) that’s read in just a few minutes, so it’s fast and super easy to make. You don’t need to find or make an allergy friendly crust for this or let it set up in the fridge for several hours before eating (unless you want to).
Another great thing about this recipe is you can choose the texture you’d like for this dessert. If you want the cheesecake filling to be light and fluffy, serve these cheesecake cups immediately.
If you want these to be more firm and more like a no-bake cheesecake filling, make these cheesecakes ahead and pop them in the fridge for a few hours. The cheesecake filling will firm up much like our other cheesecakes.
How to make dairy free cherry cheesecake cups
This recipe is super easy to make, here are the steps (this is just an overview, the full recipe is at the end of the post):
- In a large bowl, beat the dairy free cream cheese until it is softened (I used Violife cream cheese in this recipe).
- Add the powdered sugar and vanilla to the cream cheese and beat again until smooth.
- Add half the container of CocoWhip (the So Delicious coconut whipped cream) to the cream cheese mixture and beat together until smooth.
- Fold in the rest of the coconut whipped cream into the mixture until mixed together and smooth.
- Scoop the cheesecake filling into a large piping bag and set aside.
- Add the cookies to a zipper bag and break up into coarse crumbs.
- Assemble the cheesecake cups by filling 4 cups with layers of cherry pie filling, cookie crumbs, and cheesecake filling in the order you prefer, alternating the ingredients to create layers.
- The last layer should be a dollop of pie filling and a sprinkle of cookie crumbs for garnish.
- Serve immediately if you want the texture to be soft like whipped cream, or put in the fridge for a few hours to set up the cheesecake filling to be more thick and firm.
Allergy friendly cookie options
The cookie crumbs in these cheesecake cups replace the cookie crust you’d have with a normal cheesecake. You can skip the cookie crumbs if you like, but the extra crunch is awesome in this recipe!
I used the Kinnikinnick vanilla wafers that are gluten free and dairy free, but do contain eggs. If you can’t find these cookies or need an egg free option, here are some ideas for cookies that would make great crumbs for this recipe:
- Our sugar cookie recipe baked crispy (these would be great with soft cookie crumbles too!)
- Our roll out sugar cookies
- Kinnitoos vanilla sandwich cookies
- Partake crunchy birthday cake cookies
- Gwell tea cookies
Check out our other dairy free cheesecake recipes, our pumpkin trifle recipe, and our apple cheesecake cup recipe!
Dairy Free Cherry Cheesecake Cups (Gluten Free)
Ingredients
Dairy free cheesecake filling:
- 8 ounces dairy free cream cheese (Violife and Daiya both work well)
- 3 Tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 9 ounce container So Delicious Cocowhip* coconut whipped cream
Putting it all together:
- 21 ounce can cherry pie filling
- 3 to 4 ounces Kinnikinnick gluten free vanilla wafers** (about 1/2 box)
Instructions
Dairy free cheesecake filling:
- In a medium bowl, beat the dairy free cream cheese until it is softened.
- Beat in the powdered sugar and vanilla.
- Beat in half the container of CocoWhip until blended and smooth.
- Fold in the other half the of the So Delicious CocoWhip.
- Scoop the cheesecake filling into a large piping bag and set aside.
Putting everything together:
- Place the vanilla wafer cookies in a bag and crush into coarse crumbs.
- Set out 4 small dishes or glasses. Assemble by adding 2-3 Tablespoons of pie filling into the bottom of the cups, sprinkle some cookie crumbs on top (about 1 Tablespoon), pipe on a layer of cheesecake filling, and repeat until your ingredients are used up, ending with a little pie filling and dusting of cookie crumbs.
- You can serve these immediately or chill them for later. If you chill these for later, the cheesecake filling will firm up quite a bit more and be a bit more like a no-bake cheesecake in texture. If you eat these immediately, the cheesecake filling will be more soft like whipped cream.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Sarah Jane Parker is the founder, recipe creator, and photographer behind The Fit Cookie. She’s a food allergy mom and healthy living blogger based in Wyoming. Sarah is also an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer, ACE Certified Health Coach, Revolution Running certified running coach, and an ACE Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist