Description

This No-Bake Chocolate Cherry Lush is a luscious layered dessert featuring a crunchy chocolate cookie crust, a creamy chocolate cheesecake layer, sweet cherry pie filling, and fluffy whipped topping. It’s a delightful combination of rich chocolate and fruity cherry flavors that requires no baking, making it an easy and impressive dessert for any occasion.

Ingredients

Scale

Crust

14.3 ounces chocolate sandwich cookies (approximately 36 cookies)
⅓ cup salted butter, melted (plus more for greasing the pan)

Chocolate Cheesecake Layer

16 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup half & half (or ⅓ cup whole milk as substitute)

Fruit & Topping

42 ounces cherry pie filling
16 ounces frozen whipped topping (Cool Whip), thawed
Chocolate sprinkles (optional)
16 maraschino cherries (optional)

Instructions

Prepare the pan: Grease a 9×13-inch glass baking dish with butter to prevent sticking, then set it aside.
Make the crust: In a food processor, pulse the chocolate sandwich cookies until they become fine, even crumbs. Add the melted butter and pulse a few more times to combine thoroughly.
Form the crust layer: Press the cookie crumb mixture firmly into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Place the dish in the freezer to chill while you prepare the next layer.
Make the cheesecake layer: Using a hand mixer, beat together the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and half & half until the mixture is smooth and fluffy.
Assemble the cheesecake layer: Spread the chocolate cheesecake mixture evenly over the chilled crust layer.
Add cherry layer: Carefully spread the cherry pie filling on top of the chocolate cheesecake layer. If the cheesecake layer feels too soft, chill the dish in the freezer for about 15 minutes before adding cherries to help the surface firm up.
Top with whipped topping: Spread the thawed Cool Whip evenly over the cherry layer, reserving about one cup if you want to pipe decorative swirls on top.
Decorate: Smooth the Cool Whip topping, then sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles. Use a piping bag fitted with tip #1M to pipe soft swirls of the reserved Cool Whip over the dessert.
Chill: Place the assembled lush in the freezer for at least 2 hours to firm up.
Final garnish: Just before serving, gently place a maraschino cherry on top of each piped whipped topping swirl.
Serve: Cut into squares and enjoy this rich, no-bake chocolate cherry dessert.

Notes

For a firmer texture between layers, chill the dish for 15 minutes after adding each layer.
You can substitute whole milk for half & half in the cheesecake layer if desired.
Use gluten-free sandwich cookies to adapt this recipe for gluten-free diets.
Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days; the crust may soften slightly.
Allow dessert to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before cutting for cleaner slices.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Category: Dessert
Method: No-Cook
Cuisine: American

Keywords: no bake dessert, chocolate cherry dessert, layered dessert, easy chocolate cheesecake, cherry pie filling dessert, cool whip dessert