No Bake Marshmallow Cheesecake | Gluten Free Crust
This creamy, delicious marshmallow cheesecake with tons of vanilla flavor is made easily without turning on the oven. Make with an easy cookie crust, or no crust at all!
Yield: 8 slices cheesecake
Ingredients
For the crust
- 1 ½ cups (225 g) crushed gf chocolate graham crackers (or other crunchy cookie; See Recipe Notes)
- 6 tablespoons (84 g) unsalted butter melted
For the filling
- ¾ cup (6 fluid ounces) heavy whipping cream chilled
- 12 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon (8 g) unflavored powdered gelatin (See Recipe Notes)
- ½ cup (4 fluid ounces) cool water
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar
- Beans from half a vanilla pod (optional)
Instructions
Make the crust.
- In a large bowl, mix the cookie crumbs and melted butter until all the crumbs are moistened by the butter.
- Press the mixture into the bottom and halfway up the sides of an 8-inch greased springform pan or 9-inch pie plate.
- Place the pan or pie plate in the freezer until firm (at least 10 minutes, but longer is fine).
Make the filling.
- Place the heavy whipping cream in a large bowl and whip on medium-high speed with a hand mixer (or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment) until stiff (but not dry) peaks form.
- Transfer the whipped cream to a small bowl, and place in the refrigerator to chill.
- Place the cream cheese, vanilla, and salt in the mixing bowl, and whip on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
- Set the cream cheese mixture aside.
- In a small bowl, place the gelatin and about half of the water and mix to combine well.
- Transfer the hydrated gelatin to the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl to use with a hand mixer).
- In a small, heavy-bottom saucepan, place the remaining water, sugar, and cream of tartar, and whisk to combine well.
- Cook the sugar mixture over medium-high heat until it reaches the softball stage, between 238°F and 240°F, on an instant read thermometer.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat immediately, and pour the cooked sugar mixture down the side of the bowl of the stand mixer into the gelatin mixture.
- Beat the mixture on medium-high speed with the whisk attachment (or with a hand mixer) until the mixture is white, thick and glossy and nearly tripled in size.
- Add the cream cheese mixture and the optional vanilla bean seeds, and whip again on medium-high speed to combine.
- Remove the whipped cream from the refrigerator and fold it into the cream cheese and marshmallow mixture until no more than a few white streaks remain.
Assemble and chill.
- Pour the filling into the chilled crust and smooth with a spatula into an even layer. Place in the refrigerator until set (about 3 hours). Slice and serve chilled.
Notes
About the crunchy cookies.
For the no bake pie, I like to use my recipe for gluten free chocolate graham crackers. You can use any crunchy cookies you like, store bought or not. If you don't need this recipe to be gluten free, of course your cookies don't need to be gf.
About the gelatin.
I use Great Lakes brand unflavored grass-fed gelatin, but any unflavored powdered gelatin will work just fine. 1 packet of Knox gelatin is approximately 8 grams.
Originally published on the blog in 2013. In 2020, recipe tweaked slightly for simplicity, photos, video, and most text new.