My BEST Cherry Delight Recipe – a No Bake Dessert

I love everything about summertime. The sunshine, the swimming, the vacations, the fresh garden produce, and picnics with my favorite summer recipes, like this delicious Cherry Delight recipe. It’s no-bake, SO easy, and tastes incredible!

This cherry delight dessert recipe features a buttery graham cracker crust, a creamy layer with cream cheese filling, and then it’s topped with cherries! Cherry yum yum! Right?! Plus it’s such an easy dessert!

I was first introduced to this recipe by my mother-in-law. She’s been making it for years. It’s perfect for family gatherings, summer parties, and the summer holidays like Memorial Day and Independence Day/July 4th.

We are fortunate enough to live close to a family-owned farm that allows the community to come and pick their own produce. My kids love to opportunity to help pick fresh fruits (and take the tractor rides out to the fields!).

We’ve already made 2 visits to the farm so far this year and I have a feeling we will be visiting there many more times over the coming weeks as more and more produce becomes ready for picking. 

The first week we picked over 10 pounds of strawberries. This past trip we picked a quart of blueberries and about 4 pounds of fresh cherries. I like to freeze some of the fruits so we can enjoy them all year long, then we enjoy snacking on the remaining fruits.

Of course, one of our favorite things here is to utilize fruits in a yummy dessert. Today I wanted to share this Cherry Delight Recipe with you. It’s a no-bake recipe so it’s quick and easy and absolutely delicious! It’s one of our family favorites desserts.

You can make it with fresh cherries or if you’re looking for something a little bit faster (or cherries aren’t in season) you can make it with canned cherry pie filling as well. That’s how my mother-in-law has always made Cherry Delight.

One of the things about taking the kids to the farm to pick produce is that they want to sample it. I can’t blame them! Once we pay for our fruits, we find a place to sit down and I let them try a little bit before we head home.

The cherries and blueberries from our past trip were so good we decided we would have to return before the picking season for them was over. They were so good!

Ready for the recipe so you can make this Cherry Delight Recipe yourself? Here you go! It’s so easy and delightful! It’s sure to become a family favorite!

I learned about this classic cherry delight dessert recipe from my mother-in-law. I know some people complain about their mother-in-law, but I’m fortunate enough to have been blessed with a great mother-in-law that I really enjoy spending time with.

In fact, she even went with me and the kids on our last trip to the farm to pick the cherries.

She’s a great mother and grandmother! She’s also a great cook and is always sharing great new recipes with me!

She’s made this recipe a few times for me over the years and I was excited to make it myself with fresh cherries. Everything tastes better with fresh fruits, right?

This no-bake dessert is so easy to fix that it’s a great recipe to make with kids or when you have an event to attend and need to bring a dish you can make quickly.

I hope you enjoy this tasty summer treat! You could also add blueberries to it for a red, white and blue twist. I’m sure the blueberries would taste delightful as well, especially if you can pick them fresh. 

Don’t forget to make it for a yummy treat on Valentine’s Day too!

Related Posts

If you’re looking for a similar recipe that’s always a winner with kids, you’ll want to try to make this dirt pudding recipe. It’s easy and something my kids request all the time! I love no-bake recipes because it’s easier for my kids to participate and help too.

Cheesecake lovers will go crazy for this Caramel Brownie Cheesecake recipe. It’s another one that we love to take to summer gatherings!

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Cherry Delight Recipe

An easy and delicious cherry dessert using either fresh cherries or cherry pie filling. A great no-bake recipe for summertime or holiday gatherings.

Print Pin Rate

Course: Desserts

Keyword: cherry delight dessert recipe, cherry no bake recipe, cherry recipe, classic cherry delight recipe, fresh cherries, no bake recipe

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Additional Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 slices of pie

Calories: 349kcal

Author: Janessa

Ingredients

• 8 oz softened cream cheese
• 1 Whipped Topping like Cool Whip softened in the refrigerator (9 oz)
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 cups of fresh cherries with pits removed
• 1/2 cup crushed walnuts
• 1/2 cup crushed walnuts
• 1 graham cracker crust I purchase a pre-made one at the store

Instructions

• To Prepare Cherries
• Rinse cherries well and then dry.
• Slice each cherry in half and remove the pits and stems.
• If they seem tart you can add a litttle bit of sugar to them if needed. Ours were already very sweet and ready to go.
• To Prepare Cherry Delight Pie Creamy Filling
• Allow cream cheese to soften.
• Mix cream cheese with powdered sugar in a large bowl using an electric mixer.
• Mix in whipped topping until well mixed, trying not to over-mix (about 30 seconds -1 minute of mixing on medium speed in my Kitchen Aid mixer)
• Spread cream cheese mixture over graham cracker crumbs crust.
• Sprinkle nuts on cream cheese.
• Top with the sliced cherries.
• Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before serving.

Notes

Yes, you can use another type of nuts if walnuts aren't your favorite. Try pecans or pistachios, or even a blend of all 3! I purchase chopped nuts and then use a rolling pin to crush them into tiny pieces.

If you decide to substitute cherry pie filling, you'll want to use one can of cherry pie filling for the top. I feel like fresh cherries gives you the very best results, but it's still an amazing dessert either way.

Yes, you can add other fruits to the topping if you'd like. Fresh blueberries and/or strawberries make a nice addition to the cherry topping.

If you do not have Cool Whip or prefer a more natural whipped cream for the creamy cheesecake filling, you can substitute that with dream whip, homemade whipped cream made with whipping cream, or any other whipped-cream-like ingredient.

You can definitely make your own crust if you'd like. You'll need melted butter (about 6 tablespoons, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and enough crushed graham crackers to soak up all that butter and then be spread across the bottom of your pan. This graham cracker mixture works perfectly, I just often buy the pre-packaged crust to save time.

If you're on a gluten-free diet you can make this recipe using gluten free graham crackers. Make the crumb mixture the same way, just substitute the gluten-free crackers for the regular ones. The crunchy graham cracker crust is good either way!

Store any leftovers (which, to be honest, aren't likely) in the refrigerator with plastic wrap or aluminum foil over the top.

If you do not have a pie pan, a square pan works great as well. You can just spread your crust ingredients over the bottom of the pan and you won't need to worry about the sides. Then add the cheesecake layer and top it all with the cherry topping.

Nutrition

Serving: 1piece of pie | Calories: 349kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 197mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 17g

Speaking of caramel, if you’re a big fan of caramel desserts, you’ve gotta try making your own homemade caramel popcorn! It does NOT disappoint! This salted caramel billionaire bars recipe is also a huge hit!

As you can see, we love to make sweet treats at our home!