This Old Fashioned Cherry Delight Recipe has layers of graham cracker crust, creamy cheesecake in the middle and cherry pie filling on top. It’s a super easy, no bake dessert made in just 20 minutes with basic pantry ingredients.
If you’re a fan of no bake desserts, you might also like to try our No Bake Nutella Pie, No Bake Peanut Butter Bars and Easy No Bake Berry Pie.
This 3 layer dessert has been around for decades, so you might just have some childhood memories of this classic cherry delight. It’s a great recipe to bring to a barbecue, block party or church potluck. The filling is light and fluffy, and it’s reminiscent of cheesecake. It’s an easy dessert recipe to make during the hot summer months because you do not have to turn on the oven!
Ingredients Needed:
- Graham Crackers: You can use whole graham crackers and give them a whir in your food processor to process them into fine crumbs. Or you can buy a box of graham cracker crumbs in your market’s baking aisle (much easier!)
- Sugar: You’ll need granulated white sugar to add to the crust. And you’ll need powdered sugar for the cream cheese filling.
- Butter: Salted butter will give you a bit more flavor in the crust.
- Cream Cheese: Full fat cream cheese is what I use. But you can certainly lighten things up by using reduced-fat cream cheese.
- Cool Whip: Any kind of frozen whipped topping can be used. I use Cool Whip brand.
- Cherry Pie Filling: Any canned cherry pie filling will do. Or if you want to make homemade cherry pie filling then that will work too.
How to make this Old Fashioned Cherry Delight Recipe:
The complete, printable recipe can be found in the recipe card the end of this post. Here’s a brief overview.
- Combine the crust ingredients. Then press them crumb mixture into a parchment paper-lined 8×8-inch baking dish (or at least spray it with nonstick spray).
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the cream cheese and sugar. Then fold in the Cool Whip and spread on top of the graham cracker crust.
- Spoon the cherry pie filling on top. Cover with plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge until ready to serve!
Recipe Tips:
- Just use clean hands to press down the crust until it is nice and compact and even.
- Don’t use tub cream cheese! You want to use the cream cheese in a box for this recipe.
- Make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature before mixing. Cold cream cheese might result in a lumpy filling.
- Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract or almond extract for more flavor.
- Sift out any lumps in the powdered sugar.
- Make sure your Cool Whip is thawed completely before adding it to the filling.
- Chill until well-set before slicing into squares.
Substitution Suggestions:
- Change up the flavor of the crust. Use vanilla wafers, chocolate graham crackers or gingersnap cookies to turn into crumbs instead of graham crackers.
- Use any flavor of pie filling to spread on top. I suggest blueberry!
How to store Classic Cherry Delight:
Leftovers of cherry delight can be covered and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
This dessert may also be frozen. Don’t add the topping. Wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. Add the fruit topping when it’s defrosted and ready to serve.
What You’ll Love About This Recipe:
- This is a NO FAIL recipe. There’s not really any way to mess it up!
- It has the perfect, thick buttery graham cracker crust. Yum!
- It’s a great dessert to make when you are short on time. You might also like to try my Chocolate Delight recipe! It’s just as easy to make as the Cherry Delight!
- While it’s a nice summer dessert, it’s also a pretty one to make for Christmas or Valentine’s Day.
Old Fashioned Cherry Delight
Ingredients
CRUST:
- 1½ cups graham cracker crumbs
- ⅓ cup granulated white sugar
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted
FILLING:
- 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 8 ounces Cool Whip, thawed
- One 21-ounce can cherry pie filling
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the crust ingredients. Press the crust into the bottom of an 8×8-inch square pan that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the Cool Whip. Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over the crust.
- Spoon the cherry pie filling evenly over the top. Chill until set and easier to cut into squares for serving.