So this cheesecake is *almost completely no-bake. The only time you need to turn on your oven is to bake the pretzel crust for 12 minutes, but besides that – you’re refrigerator is doing all the work!
The no-bake cheesecake filling is smooth and creamy, sweetened with a touch of honey and swirled with fig preserves. If a fig newton and cheesecake had a baby – this would be the result. To balance the honey and fig cheesecake flavors, the base crust is made out of pretzels for a little salty bite. The crust couldn’t be any easier than throwing mini pretzels into a food processor with melted butter and then pressing into the bake tin to bake. The hardest part is not snacking on any pretzels while making this crust!
This cheesecake is very creamy because it’s no-bake and it actually reminds me of that strawberry pretzel pie my aunt always makes for cookouts (who knows what I’m talking about?). Before serving this no-bake cheesecake, I would take it out of the refrigerator and pop it into the freezer for 30 minutes to cut easier, however, I’ve served this without doing this step and it was fine – the knife will just need a paper towel wipe between each slice.
Creamy Honey & Fig No-Bake Cheesecake
Makes 16 cheesecake squares
Total time: 4 hours (chilling time included)
2 ½ cups mini pretzels
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp granulated sugar
(2) 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, room temperature
(1) 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
¼ cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp fig preserves or spread
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 8 ½ inch square baking pan with parchment paper leaving an overhang on 2 of the sides (to easily pull the cheesecake out for serving) and lightly spray with nonstick spray.
- Combine the pretzels, butter, and sugar in a food processor until and pulse until medium to fine crumbs. Pour crumbs into the baking pan and make an even layer on the bottom, pressing with your hands or the bottom of a cup. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.
- Using a handheld mixer, whip the cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually whip in the condensed milk and honey until incorporated. Mix in the vanilla extract.
- Using a spoon, dollop the fig preserves on the mixture and gently fold into the cheesecake filling to create a fig swirl. When the crust has cooled, spread the cheesecake filling evenly over the crust. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours and enjoy!
- Optional: Put into the freezer 30 minutes before serving for a more clean cut.
If you make this No-Bake Cheesecake, I’d love to hear what you thought of it! Feel free to tag me on instagram @theladlebearer when you make it too!