24 Decadent Cream Cheese Desserts

Trending Videos

Applesauce cake with cream cheese frosting — The Spruce

Sweet, tangy, and irresistibly luscious, cream cheese desserts are in a class all their own. While cheesecake may be the first dessert you think of, cream cheese can go into all kinds of desserts—from cakes and pies to cookies, candies, and even ice cream. Make this crowd-pleasing collection of recipes for friends and family, or make them for bake sales and buffets. They're all guaranteed to be hits.

How to Soften Cream Cheese

01 of 24

Kołaczki (Polish Cream Cheese Cookies)

The Spruce / Julia Estrada

These tasty little Polish cookies are made with a rich-tasting cream cheese dough that chills in your fridge for an hour before being cut into shapes for baking. Fill them with your favorite flavor of fruit jam or preserves for a delectable treat that looks pretty on the plate.
02 of 24

Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Pete Scherer

Coffee cake with fresh raspberries, a layer of lemony cream cheese filling, and sweet streusel topping makes an outstanding dessert to serve at brunch or a special treat for your crafting or scrapbooking club.
03 of 24

No-Bake Peanut Butter Pie With Cream Cheese Filling

Joanne Schmaltz-StockFood Creative-Getty Images

Peanut butter loving kids and adults will cheer for this nutty pie that requires no baking whatsoever. Cream cheese, peanut butter, and a few other ingredients are folded into a prepared graham cracker crust, then chilled. It's a wonderful alternative to a traditional birthday cake—just top with chopped peanut butter cups for added flair.
04 of 24

Chocolate Cream Cheese Truffles

Elizabeth LaBau

Chocolate cream cheese truffles make an impressive after-dinner dessert or holiday gift idea and need only a handful of ingredients. Make them easily in well under an hour with cocoa powder, cream cheese, unsweetened baking chocolate, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and just a little salt.

Continue to 5 of 24 below.
05 of 24

Pumpkin Cake Roll With Cream Cheese Filling

The Spruce / Cara Cormack

Pumpkin puree makes this top-rated, delectable cake roll super moist. It's filled with an irresistible cream cheese filling that will keep you coming back for more. The cake also freezes well in individual slices, for serving when friends and family stop by.
06 of 24

Red Velvet Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting

Mrs_2015/Getty Images

Red velvet cupcakes look super-pretty and have a rich chocolate flavor that makes them a wonderful hostess gift or a special treat after family dinners. They are topped with a sweet and creamy cream cheese frosting that you'll want to slather on muffins and other cupcakes.
07 of 24

S'mores Cheesecake

The Spruce / Leah Maroney

One of the most popular cream cheese-based desserts is the almighty cheesecake. For a different take on the classic dessert, chocolate and marshmallow come together to make a s'mores version. It's a show stopper than kids and adults with love.
08 of 24

No-Bake Cool Whip Cheesecake

Leah Maroney

These individual no-bake cheesecakes combine cream cheese and Cool Whip dessert topping for a rich and fluffy treat. Top them with fresh berries, slices of kiwi, chunks of pineapple, or other favorite fruit. You can make these up to two days in advance and store them tightly wrapped in the refrigerator. Add the fruit just before serving.

Continue to 9 of 24 below.
09 of 24

Tiramisu Cake

The Spruce / Kristina Vanni

This fast-and-easy tiramisu cake recipe is made with a prepared or purchased angel food cake and, instead of a mascarpone filling, sweetened cream cheese with coffee liqueur is used. It's a tall show-stopper with all the coffee and chocolate flavors you've come to expect from a traditional tiramisu.
10 of 24

Carrot Cake Ice Cream

Joy/Flickr

Ice cream that tastes like your favorite carrot cake? Yes, please! This scrumptious recipe uses all the ingredients of traditional carrot cake, including cream cheese, cinnamon, golden raisins, and walnuts (plus optional rum for an adults-only dessert).
11 of 24

Swiss Chocolate Cake With Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Lauri Patterson/E+/Getty Images

Old-fashioned Swiss chocolate cake is made from scratch in this recipe, with evaporated milk. It's frosted with a to-die-for chocolate cream cheese frosting, making it a fantastic birthday cake or an impressive dessert for dinner parties.
12 of 24

Apple Pie With Cream Cheese Pastry

Diana Rattray

What could be more homey and comforting than a fresh apple pie cooling on the counter? Earn kudos for your baking skills when you make this extra-special, sweet-tart apple pie with a rich and delicious cream cheese pastry. Enjoy slices solo or topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Continue to 13 of 24 below.
13 of 24

Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies

The Spruce / Chosen Posture

Lovely lemon cream cheese cookies have a soft and tender texture and bright-tasting citrus icing, perfect for enjoying with a cup of afternoon tea or coffee. They're super easy to prepare, bake in about 10 minutes, and will probably be gobbled up faster than that.
14 of 24

Peaches and Cream Cake

Diana Rattray

Celebrate peach season with this summery fruit dessert that resembles an upside-down cobbler. It's got a vanilla pudding center and a rich, sweetened cream cheese topping. Go ahead and use canned peaches when fresh fruit is not available.
15 of 24

Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies

Diana Rattray

Win your next bake sale or potluck event with these tender brownies. Thanks to an indulgent sweetened cream cheese swirl, they look and taste like you went the extra mile. No one would ever guess that they were made them from scratch in less than an hour!
16 of 24

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Kristina Vanni

Pumpkin and cream cheese go together perfectly and are combined to make a lovely dessert in this recipe. Make pumpkin cheesecake bars for a potluck, bake sale, or a change of pace for fall holidays.

Continue to 17 of 24 below.
17 of 24

Cream Cheese Thumbprint Cookies

Diana Rattray

Classic thumbprint cookies are made with rich butter and cream cheese dough and filled with your favorite jam or fruit preserves. Kids will have fun helping you to put the thumbprint indentations in the center.
18 of 24

Unicorn Pop Tarts

Kristina Vanni

This recipe for unicorn pop tarts plays on Kellogg's classic breakfast treat. The colorful pastry crust holds sweetened cream cheese and rainbow sprinkles. With vanilla glaze and more rainbow sprinkles, this homemade version tastes best enjoyed fresh from the oven.
19 of 24

Pineapple Pie With Cream Cheese

Diana Rattray

Just a handful ingredients are needed to make refreshing tropical pineapple pie. Heavy cream, cream cheese, and sugar are whipped into a fluffy filling and folded into a prepared pastry shell with crushed pineapples. Simply chill and serve.
20 of 24

Cream Cheese Fudge

The Spruce / Sonia Bozzo

Creamy and smooth, this fudge is a wonderful treat any time of year. It has the pure taste of tangy cream cheese, enhanced by walnuts and a hint of lemon. Cut it into squares for storing in the fridge, so kids can help themselves.

Continue to 21 of 24 below.
21 of 24

No-Bake Cherry Cream Cheese Dessert

The Spruce Eats / Leah Maroney

Dessert is easy with this layered cherry and cream dessert that requires no cooking. Sweetened cream cheese and chilled whipping cream are combined with cherry pie filling, then chilled in the fridge until set inside a homemade graham cracker crumb crust.
22 of 24

Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake

Brian Leatart/Getty Images

Serve up the ultimate autumn cheesecake with this rich and delicious recipe. It has the spiced, savory flavor of your favorite pumpkin pie and is impressive to look at, with its swirled filling. Follow the recipe for a homemade gingersnap and pecan crust or save time with prepared pastry.
23 of 24

Fresh Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie

Fuse/Getty Images

To make this beautiful bakery-style pie, fresh strawberries are flavored with vanilla and layered with a sweetened cream cheese filling into a baked pastry crust. Lemon juice and zest add a zingy, refreshing note that lifts the flavor of the berries.
24 of 24

Applesauce Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

The Spruce Eats

Plenty of applesauce makes this nicely spiced cake extra moist, while walnuts and raisins add great texture. The cream cheese frosting is flavored with vanilla extract. It's a great snacking cake or a lunchbox treat for kids.

24 Decadent Cream Cheese Desserts That Are Impossible to Resist

Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Red Velvet Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies

Unicorn Pop Tarts