There are some occasions when I really take my time making a dessert and put in copious amounts of energy and work to make sure it turns out just right.
I take out my mixer, turn on the oven, dirty every dish in the kitchen, and really make a federal case out of dessert-making.
This dessert is not that occasion.
These little no-bake parfaits can be made quickly, which is the name of the tune come summer.
I’d rather be outside enjoying the weather, playing with my Skylar at the park, wasting time on Pinterest, catching up on the mountain of laundry I need to tackle, or doing just about anything other than preparing something labor-intensive and standing in a hot kitchen when it’s sunny and warm.
The cheesecake layer in these is of the no-bake, no-egg, no-fuss variety.
Just the way I like it.
It’s made with COOL WHIP Whipped Topping and softened cream cheese and you don’t even have to turn on a mixer.
Just whip it by hand in about 4.67 seconds.
But before you do that, there’s an easy graham cracker crumb and melted butter crust, which is packed into the bottom of the parfait glasses.
I found them at the thrift store for 50 cents each. Even if I never use them again, they made cheesecake parfait eating more fun. Skylar’s eyes lit up when she saw these on the table. Use whatever little mugs or bowls you have laying around or use the recipe as an excuse to go dishes shopping, which sounds great to me.
The crust is topped with a flood of caramel sauce and Rolo candies, two favorites of mine.
If you don’t like Rolo candies or caramel sauce, what’s wrong with you you can use another candy or another sauce such as butterscotch or chocolate sauce.
The crust mixture does double duty as a topping.
It adds a nice texture to the top of the parfaits and is heavenly when stirred up with the COOL WHIP and cream cheese mixture.
I purposely kept this recipe smaller scale. If you need more than four parfaits at once, go ahead and double it. And invite some friends over because these babies are rich.
If you don’t need all four at once, cover with plastic wrap, hide them deep in the refrigerator so your spouse can’t find them or so you don’t wander down to the refrigerator at 12:19 a.m. for a sip of water and reach for one of these rather than that water.
It happened. And I loved it.
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No-Bake Rolo and Caramel Cheesecake Parfaits
Makes 4 single-serving cheesecakes
Crust
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
3/4 to 1 cup caramel sauce or caramel ice cream topping, divided
20 mini Rolo candies, divided
Filling
4 ounces whipped cream cheese, softened
2 cups COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed
1/2 cup Confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping
2 tablespoons reserved graham cracker crumb mixture, divided
2 to 4 tablespoons Rolo candies, diced and divided
caramel sauce, for drizzling
Crust: In a small mixing bowl, combine the melted butter, graham cracker crumbs, and stir to combine. Divide mixture into four small bowls, mugs, parfait glasses, wine glasses, or similar. Reserve about 2 tablespoons mixture to use for the final topping. Press mixture firmly into the base of each bowl with the back of a spoon or fingertips. Pour caramel sauce over the crust in each of the bowls (2 to 4 tablespoons per bowl). Top with 4 to 5 Rolo candies per bowl (if you can’t find mini Rolo, use full size. The minis come unwrapped to save time. Or use another candy such as Butterfinger, Snickers, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, etc.).
Filling: In a medium mixing bowl, combine all filling ingredients and whisk until smooth and well combined. Pour mixture over the top of the candy layer, distributed equally among the bowl (about 1/2 cup per bowl). Place bowls in refrigerator until well-chilled, or flash-chill in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes.
Topping: Before serving, top each of the chilled bowls with a sprinkling of reserved graham cracker crumbs (about half of one tablespoon per bowl) and a sprinkling of diced candies. Optionally, drizzle with caramel sauce and/or additional COOL WHIP over the top of each. Serve immediately. If you do not need all four cheesecakes at once, the extras can be covered with plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
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Related Recipes:
Pink Lemonade Freezer Bars – also no-bake and made with COOL WHIP
Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups with Ice Cream – summertime means lots of cold desserts
Raw Vegan Cheesecake – (No-bake, vegan, gluten-free, soy-free) Excuse the vintage photography (the recipe still works though). Easy, fast, and very authentic-tasting.
Coconut Spice Cheesecake Bars – Cheesecake fans or carrot cake fans, here you go
White and Dark Chocolate Cream Cheese Chocolate Cake Bars – I made these for the bake sale and every time I make them and share them, people go nuts for these
Caramel and Chocolate Gooey Bars (GF with Vegan adaptation) – If you are a fan of caramel, this one is for you. Worth turning on the oven for.
What is one of your favorite easy and fast desserts to make during the summer? Do you have a favorite dessert you bring to summertime get-togethers and parties?
Links welcome
COOL WHIP is offering a Fan Dessert of the Month Contest on Facebook. The winner each month will win $500! All you have to do is make a COOL WHIP dessert, take a photo, and upload it on Facebook.
You’ve done it again and this time there’s chocolate involved. Well played Averie, well played. This was an excellent addition to the other Cool Whip recipes at http://blog.recipelion.com/tmhb-cool-whip-recipes/ Thanks again
~Katie
These look absolutely heavenly for such an easy recipe. and your pictures are so clear and bright! I’m definitely going to make these soon
Thanks, Colleen, and hope you make them!
Oh my! These look ADORABLE and DELICIOUS!!! Yay for Rolos! Yay for Cool Whip! ;)
Well each and every single thing you make is far more adorable looking than anything I could come up with – so thank you for saying that, Bridget:)
We LOVE your blog! And oh my goodness, those cheesecake parfaits look picture perfect! Thanks for linking up with us on “Strut Your Stuff Saturday!” We hope to see you next week! -The Sisters
You’re so sweet! Thank you for loving it…I happen to love yours! You all have such great and EASY straightforward recipes which are great :)
You are on to something dangerous here… and I like it. A lot.
Omg! This lookes insanely good. Wow.
thanks!
These look amazing!! Totally agree about baking in a disgustingly hot kitchen in the middle of summer. It’s already too hot in my kitchen. Thanks for another great idea!
Anything with Cool Whip is a winning recipe in my mind! Seriously, I would eat an entire tub of Cool Whip on its own for dessert, ha! These parfaits look awesome though, Rolos are so good.
You and my husband…he can eat scoops of frozen COOL WHIP like it’s scoops of ice cream! I do love it too, though!
I am glad I am not the only one who lacks motivation for baking in the summer. I wish I knew what was up, but I just don’t have the attention span for it right now! This little bad boys are the perfect kind of stick your spoon in it summer treat!
If you lack motivation, it sure doesn’t show. You’ve been rockin’ the delish goodies as always!
Oh my heck!!! I am speechless. These look so amazing! And who doesn’t like Rolos???!!! Pinning these, make these and then eat them all!!!
Lol — thanks for the pin! and the laughs. I agree, who doesn’t like Rolo but I had a few people say they didn’t. More for us. Lmk if you make them!
I am dying over these goodies! Where have you been all my life, girl! I’ll take one of each please :)
I seriously love EVERYTHING about these!!
FAST desserts are what I’m all about! No-fuss! Awesome :)
These are awesome. I have a similar no bake cheesecake recipe I made with Rolo’s last week!! (will be on blog soon). Love the little parfaits :)
can’t wait to see it!
I wish I lived at your house ; )
There is one easy summery dessert that I make that uses cool whip, cream cheese, icing sugar and frozen juice concentrate. It is all mixed together and poured over a graham cracker crust in a spring form pan and then frozen over night. Delish!
sounds similar to this!!
http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2012/04/pink-lemonade-freezer-bars.html
I’ve been stalking these pictures the past 24 hours! So gorgeous!!!
you’re so sweet :)
OMG – this sounds simple to make, per your instructions, but it looks so divine it looks as though someone spent hours making them in the kitchen! The best kind of recipe. I can’t believe they sell Rolos in the States! I ate those all the time during the few years I spent in England as a kid and for some silly reason never thought they had them over here. Doh!
Hours WERE spent…on the photography but not the actual recipe :) haha!
Oh wow! I used to LOVE Rolos. I haven’t thought about them in a million years.
Such a great idea! I love the presentation too, I made a no-bake oreo cheesecake recently and I think this would be a great way to serve it for an after dinner treat. Lovely!
presentation definitely matters…makes something easy to make look a bit more luxurious I think :)
absolutely look amzing! Love anything no bake and this is awesome
The ultimate sweet treat! Love it girl :)
Omg! These look and sound amazing! And so easy to do! Pinning this- thanks for the recipe!
Thanks for the pin!
When I see No bake, Caramel and Cheesecake abd all this followed by such great photos I just regret that I didn’t take the day off today, just to stay home, make these beauties and enjoy them all by myself!
Rolos take me back in time. Love this!
Oh my gracious those look good! Rolo’s are one of my favorite candy. I’m sold.
These look amazing Averie! We dont have COOL WHIP here in Ireland,could you recommend a subsitute? My dads a rolo nut so I’d love to do these for him!
Shirley x
You could use real whipped cream, whipped very stiffly, that’s been sweetened with extra confectioner’s or granulated sugar. If you have any whipped topping products that are sold in the grocery stores, use those. Usually they are sold in the frozen cases or in the refrigerated case for something like Reddi-Whip in a can.
Great,Thanks averie. I wasnt sure if I would get the same sweetness with sweetened whipped cream. Im goin to try it with the Reddi-Whip. Thanks so much :)
Shirley x
Yes Reddi-Whip is a fairly international product, I would use that and sweeten to taste after you mix in the cream cheese. LMK how it goes!
Oh lord, lady. If you made these in bar form, this would have midwest potluck written all over it! Love the classing up of it! I wish I could eat this stuff all day long!
this is SO MIDWEST, I know. It’s what my mom would make for a church potluck in the summer or a backyard bbq. Something or anything with COOL WHIP that was no-bake. Your relatives I think would like this :)
Very creative dessert, it looks awesome! And great recipe inspiration, so many tempting treats here! Banana soft serve in the Vitamix or frozen grapes are probably my favorite fast and simple desserts for summer.
Funny you should mention B.S.S. and frozen grapes…I had both in the past few days!
Averie, those parfaits are insane! So unhealthy, lol, but look sooo good! Im sure there’s a way to healthify them. I’m tempted! Of course all the other stuff looks delish too… my mouth is watering!
Well not everything needs to be broccoli or health food around here. Sometimes a little caramel sauce and COOL WHIP are just what the mental health doctor ordered :) You “could” healthify them with coconut milk, whipped cashew cream, raw caramel sauce made from dates and agave; it wouldn’t actually be too hard b/c cashews and/or coconut butter could be lovely in them but ya know…that wasn’t this recipe :)
I can see that this might also work with peanut butter cups? You have no idea how many times you have saved my butt when I needed a fast dessert. It’s like **PANIC**, then ‘ok, I know Averie will have something for me, reeeelax, Sara, it’s ok..). Taking time over something complicated is good, but who has the time for that more than once every two months or so? Life is busy.
Life is busy, you got that right! And yes it most definitely works with PB Cups :) I have tried that!
Oh man, my mom used to make this no-bake dessert that she called “The Streetwalker.” It was basically sweetened condensed milk, dark chocolate chips, and peanut butter chips all stuffed into an oreo pie crust. At least I think that’s it… but they were totally TOTALLY delectable – and RICH! I’d forgotten all about those – gonna have to dig up the recipe and make that one extra soon!
Love the name! I wonder how she came up with that??
Ok you have to get this recipe for me b/c I am a huge fan of sweetened cond milk and everything else you mentioned and it’s no bake! What else does she put with the sweet cond milk to “absorb” some of it so it’s not just floating in the pie crust?
Cheesecake and Rolo’s? Yes please!
These look delicious!
Another dangerous recipe, I love it!! haven’t had rolo’s in years!!
Better go pick some up :)
These look insanely good!
ooo fancy!
I am new to your blog and LOVE it!!
Thanks for saying hi!
I had forgotten how much I like Rolos until I saw these delicious parfaits – thanks for the reminder to stock up immediately! :) Love that these are no-bake for the summer!
Happy stock-piling :)
Niiiiceeeee. I might “borrow” your filling idea for a trifle I’m planning to make for an upcoming party. Loads simpler than making custard from scratch.
Borrow away! Because yes…wayyyyyy easier than making custard and to tell you the truth, not that much differnce!
Rolos rock–especially when they are cold! This looks like a great balance of creamy and chocolate with some crunch. Love it! I never got to my oven today–had a jewelry project giving me fits so I’m just finishing it up and I’m spent. On second thought, I think I deserve a decadent treat (haha). I decided on the mounds stuffed cookies but that will have to wait a few days (if the mounds bars make it that long)!
Sounds like you had a fun weekend! Keep me posted on the cookies if they happen.
You had me at no bake!!! Parfaits are the perfect summer dessert or quick breakfast. And I just LOVE graham cracker crust. And cream cheese + cool whip? Never would have thought of combining them… The cream cheese probably adds a thick creamy texture.. which I would obviously LOVE. These look great Averie!
Super easy summer dessert and yes, COOL WHIP and cream cheese are two peas in a pod :)
I love parfaits! The layers are just so fun and versatile! :)
Rolos are my favorite!! I can’t even buy them anymore because I have zero willpower around them. Your parfaits look amazing, they would be SO dangerous here!
Thus the small batch recipe size, by design :)
ohhh girl I’ll take 3 of those please.
Just had a killer yoga workout and now it’s time to party!
lol
Whoa! This sounds so insanely delicious!
So….when are you going to open up a bakery in Hillcrest?? I think that’s just what this neighborhood needs! I know we have Baby Cakes and now D Bar, but I think an “Averie’s Bakery” would be 10x better!!
I have been drooling at the sights of D Bar but I cannot justify their prices$ when my freezer is bursting with goodies. Lol. Thank you for your sweet words!
I’m such a fool for caramel anything. And the fact that these are no-bake just shot them up in amazingness in my ind, THese are over-the-top awesome!
Thanks, Cassie! Yes super thick layer of caramel involved. And no-baking. This is 180 degrees from a C. Tosi recipe :)
I don’t like Rolos or caramel, but the look of these are making me reconsider my stance. :)
you’ve done it again!! Another incredibly gorgeous dessert that combines quite possibly all the best flavors in the universe! haha Skylar is one lucky little girl! Thanks for sharing! And such cute dishes too!
She and Scott are fairly immune to most any desserts I make; like another cookie or brownie, big deal. But this got their attention in those glass glasses :)
Avery, these look amazing! I LOVE Rolos. Next time I have a dinner party I will definitely be whipping these up. They are total showstoppers even though they seem so easy!
The more show-stopping and in the least amount of time/energy/effort, the better, right!
Absolutely! And I do apologize for the brain burp yesterday in spelling your name incorrectly! It’s a long weekend, so I turned the brain off on Friday ;)
No biggie!