This cheesecake fruit salad is awesome for a side at a potluck or BBQ or even as a dessert! Plus it’s so easy it’s foolproof! The perfect summer salad!
Ummmmm I could eat this berry cheesecake salad recipe for the rest of my life and die happy. Seven years ago we posted this recipe and I’ve been waiting all winter for berry season to hit so we could bring this recipe back to the front for everyone to enjoy.
It’s sweet deliciousness. It seems a little wrong to take all of those healthy berries and turn them into a calorie fest with everything you put in this dish, but guess what, WORTH IT!!
Seriously, you should all make this on a perfect sunny day and eat outside with the family. Or maybe take it to a BBQ so everyone can ask you what the amazing recipe is.
Cheesecake Fruit Salad Ingredients
This fruit salad recipe is so versatile. I’m going to list out the ingredients that we love, but know from the start that you can totally swap out different fruits or flavors of yogurt. Here is what you will need:
- Instant Cheesecake Pudding: You want just the pudding powder to add that yummy cheesecake flavor.
- Cool Whip: adds sweetness and creaminess
- Strawberry Yogurt: adds more fruity flavor and creaminess to the salad
- Bananas: cut into 1/2 inch slices
- Strawberries: stem removed and sliced
- Raspberries: left whole but rinsed
- Optional: Blueberries, Blackberries, Peaches, Cherries or Grapes
- Graham Crackers: If you really want to make this salad taste like a true cheesecake, add crushed up graham cracker.
PRO TIP: After trying many different combinations of fruit in this recipe, I’ve decided my favorite concoction is fresh bananas, fresh strawberries, fresh blueberries, fresh raspberries and fresh blackberries. So fresh! Haha!
The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.
How to Make Cheesecake Fruit Salad
One of my favorite things about this side dish is that it couldn’t be easier! Just two quick steps and you have a delicious fruit salad.
- In a large bowl, mix the pudding powder, whipped topping and yogurt together.
- Add the fruit and carefully fold it into the creamy cheesecake mixture. Then let it chill in fridge until it’s ready to serve (at least 30 minutes).
These instructions can also be found in the recipe card below where you can also print or save the recipe.
Watch How This Fruit Salad is Made…
Some things just belong together…like raspberries and summertime or raspberry pretzel jello salad and your next BBQ! Three layers of jello salad joy.
Now I don’t know if this is a salad or a dessert, but it is so delicious that it doesn’t matter! It has a sweet and salty pretzel crust layer, a sweet cream cheese filling layer and a fruity tart jello layer on top.
I’m realizing people have a bigger opinion on berries than I ever knew. Are you a lover of raspberries and hater of blueberries?
If you had to pick would you go strawberry or raspberry?
Our strawberry pretzel jello salad brought up so many requests for one vs the other and since I happen to love both, I tend to pull for team strawberry, but I really had no choice but to create a raspberry pretzel jello version. I mean, it’s all in the name of research, am I right? 😉
Plus it tastes like cheesecake but you serve it as a side dish. Who in the world is the genius that brought this first to Thanksgiving dinner?
Ingredients Needed for Raspberry Pretzel Salad
Here is your grocery list for each of the three layers of this salad:
Pretzel Layer
- Pretzels: any brand or shape of pretzel will work great since they crushed into small pieces
- Butter: helps bind the crust together and adds rich yummy flavor
- Brown Sugar: adds flavor and sweetness
- Sugar: adds more sweetness
Cream Layer
- Sugar: adds sweetness to the creamy layer
- Cream Cheese: make sure it is softened to room temperature so it doesn’t get lumpy
- Cool Whip: adds sweetness, structure and creaminess to the cream layer
Jello Layer
- Raspberry Jello: you will follow the instructions on the Jello box to make this layer
- Water: used to make the Jello
- Raspberries: fresh or frozen can be used and will work great
The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card below.
How to Make Raspberry Pretzel Salad
The steps for making this recipe are simple. Here they are broken down by layer:
Pretzel Layer
- Preheat oven.
- Combine all the ingredients well.
- Press into baking dish.
- Bake and let cool completely.
Cream Layer
- Beat the sugar and cream cheese together.
- Fold in Cool Whip.
- Spread over cooled pretzel layer.
Jello Layer
- Mix the jello powder and boiling water until the powder is dissolved.
- Stir in the rasp
These Berries and Cream Cheesecake Bars are my favorite dessert! The easy oil pie crust pairs with the most delicately sweet cheesecake filling and is topped with a simple berry topping.
We’ve teamed up with my dream brand, Oregon Berries to bring you the BEST berry dessert that you will find online this year. I’M SERIOUS. I cannot stop eating it!!
I debated on whether to call these no-bake or not. You bake the crust, but the cheesecake layer is no-bake. And I’m telling you, this is a totally unique crust and it’s life-changing!
My friend Megan always tells me about this yummy chocolate pie business, but then she mentioned that there’s a berry version and I couldn’t help it, I needed the recipe immediately. Like, yesterday. And you all should be forever grateful that I got it because this is going to be one of the dreamiest berry desserts you’ll ever devour. In fact, I’m writing this post before I’ve even photographed the recipe because I’m just so excited!
Oregon Berries
Growing up in the Pacific Northwest I had berries written into my very soul! There is no berry quite like the Oregon Marionberry. Oregon was made for growing blackberries- HELLO, Optimal soil, air, water, climate and love!
It’s all about the local families who are total stewards of the land, supporting environmentally sustainable practices and always picking at the height of ripeness. And blackberries are actually good for you so you can feel good eating them in multiple ways.
If you’re the wanderlust or bucket list type of person I absolutely insist you make visiting the Oregon coast during the summer appear on your calendar. There is absolutely nothing like the breathtaking drives with music blasting, wonderful friends and conversation in the car and then pulling over to the roadside stands to buy freshly picked berries. It’s my favorite thing ever.
Ingredients for Berries and Cream Cheesecake Bars
I’m going to divide up the ingredients list into what you will need for each layer. Here is what you will need:
Pie Crust Layer
- Flour: just regular all purpose flour is all you need
- Sugar: adds sweetness to the crust
- Salt: enhances all the flavors
- Vegetable Oil: the fat needed to create a flaky strong base for the bars
- Milk: helps bind everything together
Berry Layer
- Berries: for this recipe we are using blackberries and raspberries, but you can use any combinations of berries you want (see section below for suggestions)
- Sugar: adds sweetness and balances the tartness of the berries
- Cornaby’s Ultra Gel: my favorite way of thickening the berry layer, cornstarch can be used as a substitute (see recipe card notes)
- Water: thins everything out to create a beautiful glossy berry layer
Cream Layer
I’m letting you in on a little secret for making a chewy, never dry, and always tender blondie recipe, and this one is loaded with raspberries and gooey white chocolate!
The day we listed our home for sale I photographed our TO-DIE-FOR Raspberry White Chocolate Cookies and have not been able to stop dreaming about them ever since. Which made me wonder… if I’m in a hurry, could I make a blondies recipe instead?
Now, in the cookie recipe I really like to use straight butter so that it has that classic cookie texture and flavor, but in these blondies I’ve found a preference for the cream cheese addition as bars need more time to bake and tend to dry out a little more which the cream cheese totally solves that issue. That’s secret! Cream cheese!!
And this white chocolate blonde brownies situation has totally triggered my need to create the perfect classic blondies recipe again. I’ve searched for years and years but have always been so, so disappointed. Any tips or tricks that you all believe in for the perfect Blonde Brownies?
There’s something quite luscious about biting into a soft and chewy blonde brownie that has the perfect amount of raspberries dotted throughout and all with little nuggets of melty, dripping-from-your-lips-white-chocolate. But the real winner ended up being the addition of almond extract and the white chocolate drizzle. Do not skip either one or you’ll be lacking that little something in flavor and texture.
What Are Blondies?
A blondie (or a blonde brownie) is a rich, sweet bar cookie that is similar to a traditional chocolate brownie, but substitutes vanilla for the cocoa, and usually contains brown sugar.
Ingredients for White Chocolate Raspberry Blondies
Here is your shopping list for these blonde brownies:
- Butter – unsalted and softened
- Brown Sugar – light
- White Sugar – regular granulated
- Cream Cheese – softened so it isn’t clumpy in the blondies
- Egg – gives structure to the bars
- Egg Yolk – add just a little extra richness and helps the bars be soft and chewy
- Vanilla – flavor
- Almond Extract – flavor
- Flour – all purpose
- Cornstarch – helps the blondies be crumbly but still tender
- Baking Powder – leavening agent
- Baking Soda – gives the blondies their rise and fluffiness
- Salt – cuts the sweetness enhances all the flavors
- White Chocolate Chips – we love Guittard or Ghiradelli brand chips
- Dehydrated Raspberries – it’s important that they are dehydrated or freeze dried raspberries, they add real raspberry flavor without adding any extra moisture
The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of thi
Giant chewy white chocolate raspberry cookies that melt in your mouth and are so indulgent, you’ll feel like you’re cheating on your boyfriend, the giant chocolate chip cookie.
Ok, so our daughter is crazy obsessed with the raspberry white chocolate cookies at Goodly here in Utah, but each location is just far enough away from us that we don’t get them very often. So, for over two years I’ve been bouncing around different versions of the cookie but they never hit the mark. Too fat, too thin, too wet, etc. and then I tried freeze dried raspberries. It was allllll over! They pack so much raspberry flavor, and I mean like fresh-off-the-bush raspberry, but without the added moisture.
Trick number two? I subbed a little cream cheese in there and oh man, they were so good!
Final tip? Chop up white chocolate bars vs chips, they melt down all creamy and wonderful while the chips tend to dry out and brown anywhere that’s exposed to the oven heat.
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