mini no bake nutella cheesecakes party!

My Nutella obsessed teenager, Monica, has been creating up a storm in the kitchen! She recently made homemade Nutella ice cream (to die for) & now she has made these gorgeous No Bake Nutella Cheesecakes! If you haven’t tried Nutella it’s a chocolate hazelnut spread that is DELICIOUS served on pancakes, crepes, rice krispies treats, ice cream, fresh strawberries, or straight out of the jar on a spoon. 

This is a recipe she discovered & created & I happily devoured! It’s light & airy & thick & creamy & chocolatey! The no-bake makes it a PERFECT Summer treat. Another benefit is that it was twice as good the 2^nd day! Make-ahead AND no-bake…what are you waiting for?

Mini No Bake Nutella Cheesecakes

Recipe Source:  My Baking Addiction

ingredients:

12 Oreo Cookies (she used Kroger brand with chocolate cream)

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened (feel free to use light)

2/3 cup Nutella

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 container (8 oz.) Cool Whip, thawed (feel free to use light Cool Whip OR whip up your own heavy cream, as shown HERE)

Optional for garnishing: additional Cool Whip, chopped hazelnuts, chocolate chips, additional crushed Oreos

directions:

1. For crust: crush cookies in a food processor or in a Ziploc bag with a rolling pin. Stir together in a small bowl with the melted butter.

2. Divide crust into 4 individual serving glasses. You could also make this in a 9” pie pan.  Press crust lightly into the bottom of the dish(es). Set aside.

3. For filling: Beat softened cream cheese & nutella with an electric mixer until very smooth. Add vanilla & mix until combined. 

4. With a rubber spatula, fold the Cool Whip into the Nutella/cream cheese mixture until well blended. This takes awhile so just keep folding.

5. Pipe the filling from a piping bag or spoon it into the glasses on top of the crust.

6. Refrigerate until ready to serve or garnish as desired with optional garnishments. Monica piped extra Cool Whip on top & sprinkled with chopped hazelnuts. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

 P.S. My daughter used 4 10 oz. martini glasses & they were large desserts. You could easily use smaller serving dishes & make this into 6 servings. They stay perfect in the fridge for up to 3 days. If you use homemade whipped cream that is not stabilized (instead of Cool Whip), the cream will deflate & they should not be stored in the fridge more than 1 day.

She had some extra cheesecake filling that she piped between two mini 'nilla wafers & rolled the sides in chopped hazelnuts. Mmmmmmm!!!