Martha Stewart's No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Bites Are the Sweetest Way To Beat the Heat

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Just because it’s too hot to turn on the oven in the summer doesn’t mean that our cravings for sweet treats go away. In fact, surrounded by ice cream trucks and fresh fruit at the farmer’s market, if anything our desires are stronger than ever. We also love being social in the summer, whether we’re hosting a barbecue, attending a pool party, or heading to a potluck. Leave it to Martha Stewart, author of literally a hundred cookbooks and lifestyle manuals (her 100th cookbook comes out this year!), to have the best summer dessert solution that requires no cooking at all, just some of our favorite summer fruits and a bit of creamy indulgence.

Stewart’s no-bake strawberry cheesecake bites couldn’t be simpler to make, requiring just five ingredients. Even better? This dessert recipe is ready in 15 minutes, so you can spend less time working yourself to the bone in the kitchen and more time enjoying the sunshine (or, let’s be real, the air conditioning).

To make this crowd-pleasing summer dessert recipe, you’ll need to get a pint of strawberries. Hull them and hollow them out using a melon baller (but don’t throw away the strawberry insides — save them to make smoothies, ice pops, strawberry jam, you name it). You’ll also need to cut a little bit off the bottom of each berry so they sit flat on your serving tray.

Then you’ll whip up an easy no-bake cheesecake filling, which is a simple blend of cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla. We also like to add some lemon zest here for an extra burst of vibrant flavor.

Can you guess what comes next? You’ll add the filling to a pastry bag with a star tip (or a plastic bag with the corner snipped off!), then fill the strawberries with the mixture. Garnish each one with a blueberry, and dessert is done! If you’re feeling lazy, you could also just make a double batch of the no-bake cheesecake filling, then use that as a dip for fresh berries, sliced stone fruit, and graham crackers.

This easy summer dessert is a fun recipe for the kids to help make, and we love any sweet treat that incorporates fruit, especially anti-oxidant rich, in-season berries. The next time you need a dessert recipe for summer entertaining, step away from the oven and make Martha Stewart’s no-bake strawberry cheesecake bites instead.

In search of more summer recipes? Giada De Laurentiis has plenty:

Watch: How to Make Sugar Cookie Berry Pizza